CRI听力:Experts Call for Reducing Shipping Emissions

China takes the lead in the global shipbuilding industry. Last year, the country's shipbuilding enterprises completed 45.3 million deadweight tons of orders, accounting for 41 percent of the world's shipbuilding output.

By the end of 2013, China was home to a total of 16 ports capable of handling 200 million tons of cargo.

Wu Xuefang, a researcher at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, notes that these staggering statistics provide context for understanding the considerable impact the rapid development of shipping on China.

"The underdeveloped management of vessels in China has led to increasingly high ship emissions contributing to noticeable air pollution in a number of port cities. However, much more attention is generally paid to emissions from fixed pollutants sources and vehicles than ships. According to our statistics, there are currently 25 pollutant discharge standards for fixed industrial sources in place and 17 for transport exhaust emissions, which have been set with the aim of controlling the discharge of nitrogen oxide."

The undated picture shows a vessel at the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Emissions from ships at the river are a major source of pollution, alongside contributors such as industrial waste, restaurant emissions and automobile exhaust fumes. [Photo: eastday.com]

In addition to nitrogen oxide, exhaust gas from ships contain high sulphur oxide and carbon dioxide content.

According to the international ocean conservation organization "oceana.org", more than three percent of global carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to ocean-going ships. Meanwhile, some 90,000 marine vessels are responsible for transporting 90-percent of global trade across the world's oceans.
 
Cao Dingliang, general manager of Jiangsu LvYuan Environmental Protection Technology Company Ltd, suggests that Chinese enterprises employ diesel engine emission control technologies in order to upgrade their vessels to keep up with more advanced international practices.

"I think that many domestic enterprises can employ upgraded vessels with marine diesel engine emission control technologies following independent research and development efforts. I propose that prosperous areas and trade zones like Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei as well as the Yangtse River Delta and Pearl River Delta lead in playing an exemplary role in controlling emissions from mobile sources of pollution."

The workshop was jointly sponsored by the International Energy Conservation Environmental Protection Association and the UN Industrial Development Organization.

For CRI, I'm XYee.