Collaboration required to make inland shipping cleaner
Last month seventeen parties, including Marine South East, governments, businesses, and knowledge institutes from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom formalised their commitment to work together on the European LIFE project - CLINSH, or CLean INland SHipping.
By testing innovative technologies, alternative types of fuel, and shore power, the initiative is seeking to achieve big reductions in the emissions caused by inland shipping.
The effects of the tests will be monitored continuously on 30 ships and the data will provide a direction for policymakers in local, regional, national, and international governments and organisations. CLINSH also aims to identify the business cases of the various measures to enable shipping companies to encourage the fleet to become more sustainable.
90 people attended the launch meeting. The conference was opened by President-director Thomas Delschen of LANUV Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rik Janssen, a member of the Provincial Executive of the province of South Holland. Other speakers were Mr Guido de Wilt from the European Commission, and Mr Hans van de Werf, the secretary-general of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine. The Province of South Holland and the Port of Antwerp gave presentations on CLINSH and the demonstration project, respectively.
The inland shipping industry is currently facing a tough challenge in terms of sustainability. That means that the sector will need to invest in cleaner ships. This is because the international requirements relating to energy-saving and cleaner air are becoming stricter. Customers, too, are increasingly setting good environmental performance as a precondition for the purchase of services.
During the meeting in Düsseldorf, several of those present emphasised the importance of collaboration - not just between the parties in CLINSH, but also with the road and rail sectors, for example, and with the various governments and their agencies. At the starting phase in particular of the changes that the inland shipping sector is experiencing, leaders are needed, as are parties with the courage to invest. To be successful, the CLINSH partners must build connections with administrators, policymakers, and providers of finance. The collaboration between ports, governments, knowledge institutes, and businesses in the four countries was described at the meeting as unique.
The European inland shipping sector has almost fifteen thousand vessels. CLINSH has set itself the objective target of limiting emissions and of reducing the concentrations of nitrogen oxides and particulates caused by inland shipping. It is expected that a quarter of inland shipping vessels will have been adapted to limit emissions by 2025. By 2050, it should be half of all vessels. This will yield a saving of 141 kilotons of nitrogen oxides between 2020 and 2030. In monetary terms, the gain to the environment will be 1.6 billion euros - achieved through lower fuel consumption and better air quality, for example.
For more information on the CLINSH programme please follow the link to this excellent CLINSH movie:
http://www.strawberryfields.nu/project/clinsh.html
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