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Scrubbers to clean up shipping

May 1, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cargo ships are significant sources of global air pollution because of their fuel oil. Most ships burn heavy fuel oil that is loaded with sulfur, so when it is burned it produces noxious gases and fine particles that can harm human health and the environment. The International Maritime Organization enacted a mandatory cap of 0.5% for the sulfur content of marine fuels in 2020. Heavy fuel oil has a sulfur content of 2 to 3 percent.

Shipping companies can comply by burning low-sulfur fossil fuels or biofuels, but these are much more expensive. The most feasible and cost-effective option is to install exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as scrubbers.

A scrubber is a huge metal tank installed in a ship’s exhaust stack. Seawater is sprayed from nozzles to wash the hot exhaust. The seawater reacts with sulfur dioxide and converts it to sulfates, which are environmentally benign natural components in seawater.

A study by the National Technical University of Athens in Greece has performed a lifecycle assessment of the use of scrubbers and has found that burning heavy fuel oil with the use of scrubbers can match or even surpass the benefits of using low-sulfur fuels.

Producing low-sulfur fuel causes additional greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions in refineries. On the other hand, scrubbers reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 97% and dramatically reduce other pollutants as well.

The study shows the importance of incorporating lifecycle assessments into evaluation of environmental impact reduction policies.

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Study: Burning heavy fuel oil with scrubbers is the best available option for bulk maritime shipping

Photo, posted August 3, 2015, courtesy of Lotsemann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Vehicle Tax Credits | Earth Wise

February 17, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As of January 1, many Americans can qualify for a tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying an electric vehicle. The credit is one of the changes enacted under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The purpose is to encourage EV sales and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

There has been a tax credit for EVs for more than a decade, but its provisions made cars from any manufacturer ineligible as soon as that manufacturer had sold more than 200,000 cars. Notably, this eliminated the credit for purchasing cars from Tesla and General Motors. Given that electric cars are now selling in the millions, the 200,000-unit cap on the tax credit essentially made it useless as a real force to grow the industry.

The new tax credit has a somewhat complex set of requirements for determining the applicability and amount of the credit. There are price limits on eligible vehicles depending on vehicle type and there are requirements on where vehicles are manufactured, where batteries are manufactured, and where other components are made. The intent is to encourage American manufacturing of the cars and trucks to the greatest extent. There are also income limitations on buyers who want to take advantage of the credit, but those are quite large. The Department of the Treasury has online detailed information about the requirements for the credit and, of course, EV manufacturers can provide the specifics for their own vehicles.

For their part, automakers are adjusting prices, building domestic manufacturing plants and battery factories, and otherwise trying to position themselves for their customers to take advantage of the credit.

The new law also provides a smaller tax credit for the purchase of used electric vehicles.

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Electric vehicle tax credits explained: What’s new in 2023?

Treasury Releases Additional Information on Clean Vehicle Provisions of Inflation Reduction Act

Photo, posted December 9, 2022, courtesy of Choo Yut Shing via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Natural Climate Solutions Are Not Enough

April 1, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new policy perspective published in Science by researchers at seven prestigious institutions looked at the role of natural science solutions in stabilizing the Earth’s climate for people and ecosystems. While they asserted that it is imperative to ramp up natural climate solutions, they also concluded that natural solutions alone will not be sufficient.

Natural science solutions include such things as enhancing carbon sinks from forests, agriculture and other lands. Doing these things are very beneficial in their own right as they lead to improved forests, croplands, grazing lands, and wetlands.

However, these things will not be enough to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and must be combined with rapid efforts to decrease emissions from the energy and industrial sectors. Among their various findings, the researchers warn that a ten-year delay in emissions reductions from these sectors could completely negate any potential benefits of natural climate solutions.

As has become increasingly clear, there is not an either-or situation with regard to the actions that need to be taken with respect to climate change.

Maximizing natural climate solutions and reducing emissions from the energy and industrial sectors will provide broad benefits beyond climate change mitigation. Doing these things will improve forests and habitats, reduce the risk of wildfires, and decrease air and water pollution thereby improving human health and well-being.

Of course, to reduce cumulative emissions and put a cap on the warming of the planet, there will need to be policy mechanisms and incentives in place that support both natural climate solutions and increasing mitigation efforts across the energy and industrial sectors.

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Natural Climate Solutions Are Not Enough

Photo, posted February 11, 2012, courtesy of Joao Andre O. Dias via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

CO2 Emissions Stalled

December 13, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For the third year in a row, global emissions of carbon dioxide have remained unchanged. This indicates that efforts to reduce emissions have had an effect, but that there is much more to be done. It is essential to reduce emissions, not just cap them.

Biodegradable Bottles

April 21, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Plastics are the ubiquitous workhorse material of the modern economy. Their use has increased 20-fold in the past half century, and production of plastics is expected to double again in the next 20 years.