Issue 252 / 23 March 2022
express
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Ocean Outlook
Decarbonisation. Plastic Pollution. Floating homes
It's War on Three Fronts
Scrap Sun Tzu's Art of War!
We need John Elkington's Triple Bottom Line:
People, Planet, Profit
....for Peace!
  • If it wasn't enough to deal with the pandemic. Trying to manage a global outbreak of the nastiest virus Earth has seen for more than 100 years. Still raging. Still out of control. Millions dead.
  • If it wasn't enough to deal with the impact of extreme weather events for months on end. Australia gets the worst floods ever. Killing people. Destroying towns, schools, hospitals and homes. Wild fires in Texas, USA. New extreme temperatures in the Antarctic and Artic.
  • If it wasn't enough to cope with the aftermath of ongoing outbreaks of violence and destruction in Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, we have Russia's Putin starting a war in Europe. Invading Ukraine, a peaceful neighbour. People are dying. Cities destroyed. A beleaguered nation is holding its own. but we're seeing the biggest number of refugees since the end of the Second World War.
Along with all that, the world is facing a food security crisis and massive energy security issues, compounded by the ongoing climate emergency and the global pandemic's health and economic impacts.
Have three - or all four - of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrived on a shore near you? Racing to trample us all. The Bible story tells of War, Pestilence, Famine and Death. Some parts of the world are getting all four now. In spades.
Stop the war. Yes. But at the same time, the world must:

  • Move faster than ever in its determination to switch from dirty fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.

  • Stop the destruction of our forests. Plant more trees. Zero deforestation.

  • Cut emissions in every sector: buildings, fashion, technology, transport, agriculture, industry.

  • Stop wasting food. There is enough for everyone if it's produced and distributed fairly.

  • Give much higher priority to Energy security and Food security.

  • Stop producing so much plastic that is going to waste. Polluting our rivers and our oceans. Dumped, not recycled.

We need leadership like we've not to seen for a long time. Ukraine's President Yelensky is showing the way. Brave. Defiant.

But where's the leadership from UN, EU, NATO, UK, US?

Could China's leaders stop Putin in his war-mongering tracks? Maybe they're the only people Putin will listen to. They could lead us to a better place. It's in China's interests - and Russia's - to stop this war now.
Ken Hickson

Read more in ABC Carbon Express and our new magazine "Ocean Outlook".
ABC Carbon Express
How badly will Russia's war torpedo hopes for global climate cooperation?
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the prospect of industrial nations coming together to quickly enact meaningful cuts to greenhouse gas emissions seemed slim. But with Russia blowing apart the world order, advocates for international climate action say their cause is looking ever more bleak, just as the effects of warming are looking more ominous. Oleg Anisimov, Russia's U.N. climate delegate—who publicly condemned the invasion at a 27 February virtual meeting of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said: "Let me present an apology on behalf of all Russians who were not able to prevent this conflict," Anisimov was reported as saying before the IPCC's release of its latest report, that it's clear that climate change and the war on Ukraine "have the same roots, fossil fuels, and our dependence on them," according to at least one delegate at the IPCC event. Read the rest in Phys.org.
IEA's 10 Point Plan to Drastically Reduce Europe Reliance on Russia for Natural Gas


The European Union could reduce its imports of Russian natural gas by more than one-third within a year through a combination of measures that would be consistent with the European Green Deal and support energy security and affordability, new IEA analysis shows. This was announced on 3 March by IEA's Fatih Birol (pictured). Europe’s reliance on imported natural gas from Russia has again been thrown into sharp relief by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The IEA’s 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union’s Reliance on Russian Natural Gas includes a range of complementary actions that can be taken in the coming months, such as turning more to other suppliers, drawing on other energy sources and accelerating efforts to provide consumers, businesses and industry with the means to use clean and efficient alternatives to natural gas. See and read the rest here from IEA.
China, US, India, Russia & EU are the World's Top Five Biggest Emitters
By 2030, nine out of ten of the world’s nations can expect unprecedented hot years— the sort of annual temperature averages once experienced maybe once a century — every other year, without stronger climate action. And a huge proportion of the responsibility will lie with just five economies: China, the United States, the European Union, India, and Russia, scientists at ETH Europe and Climate Analytics report in a new analysis released in January this year. These regimes between them, will have generated 52% of global emissions between 1991 and 2030. Without the carbon pollution from the world’s five biggest greenhouse gas emitters, fewer than five out of ten nations would feel such intense heat, so often.
Changi Airport to become Hub for Hydrogen and Sustainable Aviation Fuels
A highlight of the Singapore Airshow last month was the Airbus media conference, when the European plane-maker signed a Cooperation Agreement with Changi Airport Group, global industrial gases and engineering company Linde and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on a potential plan for a future hydrogen hub in the city state. Under the collaboration, the partners will look at how hydrogen can be transported, stored and delivered to aircraft at existing and new airports. And there's competition which Singapore thrives on. Singapore Airlines announced at the Airshow that it was joining forces with Temasek, CAAS and - of all people, Exxon Mobil - to supply and deliver Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This product will comprise 1.25 million litres of neat SAF (sustainable fuels that are unmixed or undiluted), which will be supplied by Neste and produced from used cooking oil and waste animal fats, and blended with refined jet fuel.
Singapore’s Power Sector can be
Net Zero by 2050
It is “technically viable” for Singapore’s power sector to achieve net-zero emissions and aspirations to do so by 2050 are "realistic", an expert committee tasked to examine the future of the country’s energy system said in a report just released (Tuesday 22 March).
To achieve that, “transformational changes” will have to be made to the entire energy value chain – from supply and demand to the development of the country’s power grid.
Singapore must diversify its energy supply by having more electricity imports and using low-carbon hydrogen for power generation, as part of nine recommended strategies laid out in the 56-page report. Read the CNA news report.
Coming Clean Together

Singapore and Indonesia inked a climate change partnership this week - a first for Asia, as far as we know - which could see the two countries working together on clean energy/technology research and pilot projects related to various eco systems on land or sea. Four key areas that both nations will collaborate on are carbon pricing and markets, nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approach, clean technology and solutions, and green and blended finance. Read more in the Straits Times.
Net Zero Hotels

Hotels in Singapore have been urged to recycle food waste and install solar panels/water meters, among other measures, as part of the industry’s first green plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. They will start to track carbon emissions by next year and reduce them by 2030. It's all outlined in the Hotel Sustainability Roadmap launched Monday, set by the Singapore Hotel Association and Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Read the rest in TTG Asia.
Ocean Outlook
New Maritime Magazine Feature
Acronyms all at sea: GCMD, CSA, APM, DNV, SMI & CCUS
Decarbonisation: Are we heading in the right direction?

That was the title of a lively session at Asia Pacific Maritime, the first major 'live" conference and exhibition at Marina Bay Sands for two years. "Yes, but we have to move faster", insisted panelist Dr Shahrin Osman (pictured), the Regional Head of Maritime Advisory, who is also Director Maritime Decarbonisation for DNV. He made the point that the whole shipping ecosystem must get "future fuel ready" and we have to move together in a transparent fashion. Dr Sanjay Kuttan, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) joined in to reinforce the importance of collaboration. "There's no silver bullet and not one single solution". He advocates a multi-fuel scenario. Elfian Harun of Intertanko, wants to see more consultation with independent tanker owners and operators (which Intertanko represents), as its members are committed to amending the level of ambition set by IMO to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Another panelist Jon Loken of ChordX felt there should be more incentives for industry to decarbonise and penalties for the laggards. The maritime industry needs to make better use of digital data as this leads to greater operational efficiency and can reduce maritime emissions at the same time.
Electric Powered Harbour Craft Key for Singapore's Coastal Sustainability Alliance
More than S$20 million is being injected into Singapore’s coastal shipping system, which will include offshore wireless charging points for ships and electric boats, enabling drones to facilitate faster refueling and essential deliveries. This was announced at the Coastal Sustainability Alliance (CSA) launch at the ShangriLa Hotel on 14 March 2022. The 7-member Alliance will lead the transition of Singapore’s current 1,600 low-tech harbour craft, to run on environmentally-friendly fuel, and be more efficient as older craft are gradually phased out. CSA is led by Kuok (Singapore) Maritime Group, with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), GenPlus, Jurong Port Singapore, TCOMS, Sea Forrest and TES. Trials of electric vessels may commence as early as 2024. Singapore's Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng, welcomed this move, as it was in line with the island city state's Maritime Singapore Decarbonisation Blueprint 2050, announced in Parliament a week earlier. Read all about it.
Offshore Wind to lead Blue Economy funding

Offshore wind will overtake the oil and gas sector to receive the largest investments in the Blue Economy, says DNV's Ocean Future report to 2050:

  • Offshore wind will grow from a small base to account for 50% of ocean capital expenditure (capex) in 2050, while oil and gas industry will shrink from 80% of total capex to just 25%. 
  • By 2050, offshore wind will provide about as much energy as offshore oil, the production of which will shrink 51% compared with 2019 levels. 
Fishing for Sustainable Food Systems & Supply Chains
The ocean plays a significant role in global food supply through the harvesting of nutritious seafood from aquaculture and fisheries. This forecast shows that as a result of overfishing and climate change global fisheries will continue to decline, thereby increasing the demand for aquaculture products to 2050. This from Ocean Future report, but the same independent body that provides assurance, certification and verification services worldwide, DNV, announced in February the creation of a new research and development unit: “Sustainable Food Systems and Supply Chains.” The programme will take off from Milan, Italy and will initially focus on the Food & Beverage sector. 
How can the Maritime Industry Respond to the Global Climate Challenge to Limit Temperature Rise to 1.5 °C?
Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is gaining traction around the world as a technological solution which can conceivably reduce the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. 
Regional Manager for DNV Maritime Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria (pictured), who covers South East Asia, Pacific and India from her Singapore base, points to two fundamental reasons why CCUS may be a prerequisite to keep global emissions well below 2°C and ideally closer to 1.5°C:
  • Without using CCUS, it may be impossible to get emissions to net zero fast enough.
  • There are currently no competitive alternatives to CCUS for certain hard-to-mitigate sectors.
Research undertaken by DNV and its partners, as well as by others in the shipping and energy industries around the world, suggest that there are distinct possibilities that CCUS could well become economically viable as a means to cut emissions, by safely transporting CO2 where it can be best utilised, sequestered or stored. Read more in Manifold Times.
Nations sign up to End
Global Scourge of Plastic Pollution
More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by plastic pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers, while around 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow each year into the ocean. This could triple by 2040. An historic resolution, entitled “End Plastic Pollution: Towards an internationally legally binding instrument”, was agreed at the 3 day UNEA conference in Nairobi on 2 March, attended by more than 3,400 in-person and 1,500 online participants from 175 UN Member States, including 79 ministers and 17 high-level officials.
We're also aware of the work of The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organisation developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. It brought the first batch of ocean plastic to shore on their first mission end 2019 to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world’s largest accumulation of plastic waste in the world, spanning an area of 1.6 million square kilometers. This plastic is tracked, traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. 
Decarbonisation game-changer

The global maritime industry might efficiently move 90% of goods around the world, but it’s also responsible for around 3% of global emissions of greenhouse gases. Committed to decarbonisation, the industry is still not moving fast enough, according to industry panelists who took part in a “Live from Singapore” webinar on 25 January. Organised by DNV, the panel discussion caught the interest of more than 1,100 registrants mainly from the South East Asia, Pacific and India region. One panelist, Rashpal Singh Bhatti, Vice President of Maritime & Supply Chain Excellence, BHP, insisted that it is an imperative that the industry sets the pace, just as BHP has done with the commissioning of five LNG fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers this year. DNV's Ms Saenz de Santa Maria reinforced the importance of energy efficiency. “We can also reduce energy emissions through ship design, as well as by better managing ship operations.” Read more
Singapore Safety Study on Ammonia

A consortium led by DNV in Singapore has been awarded the ammonia bunkering safety study by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD). DNV, a globally established class society, is partnering with Surbana Jurong and the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA). It will define a robust set of safety guidelines and operational envelopes to establish the basis of a regulatory sandbox for ammonia bunkering trials at two local sites. Ammonia appears to be "rising to the top" as a preferred clean alternative maritime fuel. A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S, Fleet Management Limited, Keppel Offshore & Marine, Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, Sumitomo Corporation and Yara International ASA announced on 10 March they have agreed to jointly conduct a feasibility study with the aim to be one of the pioneers in establishing a comprehensive and competitive supply chain for the provision of green ammonia for ship-to-ship bunkering at the Port of Singapore, the largest bunkering port in the world. Read more
Floating Homes Evolve from Nautilus Water Suites Pilot
Kevin Hill happens to be a man of the world who loves the sea, architecture and working with timber, so it might come as no surprise to hear he’s thinking seriously – even planning - to apply his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to tackle some global issues. How about rising seas levels and climate change? Now he’s making his original concept – which he calls the Nautilus WaterSuites - more relevant than ever. “With fresh ideas, along with partnerships in design, engineering, and taking healthy lifestyles into account, I believe our concept can lead us to create floating housing to help overcome the impact of rising sea levels.” Mr Hill reveals that he’s already worked on what are effectively floating structures for resort living in the Maldives - through Venturer Timberwork - and now he’s started on a new project that brings together his WaterSuites concept with his sustainable timber building approach. Read the article and see more images on Linkedin.
Advancing Floating Solar in APAC
DNV has brought its broad experience and deep expertise in solar, power grids and marine engineering in advising a combined 2 GW of floating PV projects worldwide, including Singapore’s Tengeh reservoir and Indonesia’s Cirata FPV projects. DNV also led the collaborative joint industry project (JIP) involving 24 industry participants which produced a set of recommended practices for accelerating the safe, sustainable and sound construction of floating solar projects in March 2021. So, catch the DNV webinar on Floating Solar on 24 March 2020. It will cover Monitoring and Data Collection for Floating PV Plants; Enabling confidence in FPV, and How to keep FPV in place with Floating Solar Mooring System Simulation. Speakers include:
  • Albert Carrera, Regional manager ASIA, Green Power Monitoring and Solutions
  • Harald Hammer, Technical Lead – Solar, Energy Assessments
  • Zhang Ding, Senior Engineer, Floaters and Offshore Operations.
Memo from the Editor: Ocean Outlook is a new online magazine feature initiative by ABC Carbon/SASA to showcase the work of DNV, GCMD, CSA, APM, MPA and others in the maritime industry, as well those like The Ocean Cleanup engaged in protecting the world's oceans. We welcome receiving news, comments and advice on events from public and private organisations, including NGOs. Email me: kenhickson@outlook.com
Last Word: A Connected World
We've said it before and we say it again. Everything's connected. And this issue of ABC Carbon Express, with it's new Ocean Outlook feature, emphasises this time and time again.
We reported earlier what IEA has come up with for Europe to cut its reliance on Russian Natural Gas. It's also proposed a new 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use, to lower oil demand globally by 2.7 million barrels a day within four months – equivalent to the oil demand of all the cars in China. 
We're working on a Ten x 10% People Plan for individuals to adopt too, because if we can each commit to cut 10% (of energy, water, waste, purchases, transport etc) to reduce our carbon footprint, it will send a clear signal to Governments and industry, that individual actions matter and we mean business.
Just like WWF and Earthhour encourages us to go beyond turning out the lights one night a year.
Because it's all connected: Energy. Food, Water. Waste. Pollution. Consumerism.
You can look forward to our other magazine features Focus of Forests and The Art of Travel in an additional issue coming to you before the end of March.