Saturday, 5 February 2011
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Methane gas powered VLCC oil tankers
http://www.tankeroperator.com/news/todisplaynews.asp?NewsID=2402
Gas-powered VLCC on the horizon?
(Dec 9 2010)
More than half the vessels ordered from 2020 could be powered by natural gas, a leading class society forecast.
DNV CEO Henrik Madsen said: “I am convinced that gas will become the dominant fuel for merchant ships. By 2020, the majority of owners will order ships that can operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG). As a leading class society, DNV has an important role to play in finding more environmentally friendly solutions for the shipping industry.”
He was speaking at the launch of an environmentally friendly VLCC design powered by LNG. The conceptual design project – Triality – has a hull shape that removes the need for ballast water, thus eliminating ballast water treatment systems, will almost eliminate local air pollution and will also recover hundreds of tonnes of cargo vapours (VOCs) per voyage, he claimed.
Triality has been developed through a DNV innovation project. As its name indicates, DNV said that it fulfils three main goals: It is environmentally superior to a conventional crude oil tanker; its new solutions are feasible and based on well known technology and it is financially attractive compared to conventional crude oil tankers operating on heavy fuel oil.
DNV compared its concept with a conventional VLCC. Both ships will have the same operational range and can operate in the normal spot market.
Compared to the traditional VLCC, the class society claimed that the Triality VLCC will:
- Emit 34% less CO2.
- Eliminate entirely the need for ballast water.
- Eliminate entirely the venting of VOCs.
- Use 25% less energy.
Less harm will also be caused to the health of people living close to busy shipping routes and ports as NOx emissions will be reduced by more than 80%, while emissions of SOx and particulate matter (PM) will fall by as much as 95%.
The new concept tanker has two high pressure dual fuel slow speed main engines fuelled by LNG, with marine gas oil as pilot fuel. The next phase of the Triality concept development will review the use of dual-fuel medium speed engines and pure gas engines, DNV said.
Two IMO type C pressure tanks capable of holding 13,500 cu m LNG - enough for 25,000 nautical miles of operation - are located on the deck in front of the superstructure. The generators are dual fuel (LNG and marine gas oil) while the auxiliary boilers producing steam for the cargo oil pumps operate on recovered VOCs.
A traditional tanker on a ballast voyage needs ballast water to obtain full propeller immersion and sufficient forward draft to avoid bottom slamming. The new V-shaped hull form and cargo tank arrangements completely eliminate the need for ballast water in the VLCC version. There will also be much less need for ballast water on other kinds of crude oil tankers, such as Suezmax, Aframax and smaller vessels.
The new hull shape results in a reduced wetted surface on a round trip and has a lower block coefficient and thus a more energy efficient hull, DNV claimed.
A VLCC in ballast will normally carry between 80,000 and 100,000 tonnes of seawater containing organisms that can cause damage when released into foreign ecosystems. In addition, a lot of fuel is needed just to transport this extra water. And finally, the initial coating and later maintenance of ballast tanks during operations are among a shipowner’s main concerns, DNV said.
The Triality VLCC can collect and liquefy more than 500 tonnes of VOCs during one single round trip. These liquefied petroleum gases will then be stored in deck tanks and up to 50% will be used as fuel for the boilers during cargo discharge, while the rest can be returned to the cargo tanks, or delivered to shore during oil cargo discharge.
When it comes to the additional cost of building a vessel such as the Triality and the reduced cost of operating it, Madsen’s conclusion was clear: “It is possible to develop an environmentally superior ship and be profitable at the same time. Our best estimate is an additional capital expenditure of 10-15% for a Triality VLCC newbuilding compared to a traditional VLCC. Even with this extra cost included, we estimate a reduced life cycle cost equal to 25% of the newbuilding cost for a traditional VLCC.
“Triality is a concept vessel and a shipbuilder will need to prepare a detailed design before the first Triality crude oil tanker can be constructed. The Triality concept is based on well known and proven components and systems, so in principle a Triality crude oil tanker introducing all or some of the innovative elements in the concept can be designed today. I am convinced that the Triality concept will create great interest among shipbuilders and crude oil tanker operators, so that the first Triality crude oil tanker will leave a shipyard before the end of 2014,” Madsen said.
He also said a few shipowners and at least three South Korean shipyards, plus MAN Diesel had already looked at the concept with interest.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Brazil coastline showing fog moving inland where vegetation is present and an area of desert devoid of fog.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Mabinogogiblog: Fredome symposium on global reafforestation
APPCCG-FREdome Carbon Cycling successful presentation at the Houses Of Parliament 18th November 2010
Al list of downloadable documents from our recent presentation of Carbon Cycling introducing the scope of the OASIS Solution to mitigate climate change.
The meeting was attended by professors, doctors, scientists, environmentalists, politicians, the young and the not so young.
Emerging from the meeting we now have a panel of experts who have offered their services and support for the concept of returning the waste water from Europe to the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East to reforest the coastline and alter the local climate, causing rain to fall more frequently on land that has inherent water scarcity.
This was a truly fantastic day for all peoples.
We are putting together a new website titled http://www.operationoasis.com Watch this space for more exciting news about this application of common sense which solves many emerging serious global problems, including famine, floods and drought.
Turning excess carbon emissions and a major pollution problem into profitable renewable materials, food, employment, by reclaiming arid waste lands, while resolving the carbon emissions from shipping, providing shipping owners with a profitable paid return cargo, instead of using sea water as ballast (current practice) must be achieved!
We simply cannot afford to fail!
Monday, 8 November 2010
Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story - South African Institute of International Affairs
Greening the Namibian Desert: An African Success Story
A determined entrepreneur turns an arid landscape into a burgeoning vineyardSUN-scorched and starved of rain, Namibia's endless desert and scrubland is an unforgiving place for a determined farmer with a dream. Only 2% of the country receives enough rain to grow crops. Irrigation from rivers is possible only along a few border rivers in the far north and south and borehole irrigation is prohibitively expensive.
Yet Dusan Vasiljevic, a lone entrepreneur with a feel for horticulture and global markets, observed that Namibia's mild coastal climate was perfect for growing table grapes for Europe at times of the year when they are most vulnerable to frost elsewhere in the world. Since first connecting those dots in 1988, Vasiljevic - and those who have followed in his footprints - built a new agricultural industry from scratch on land that received less than 50mm of rainfall a year.
Spreading the benefits
Vasiljevic's market knowledge and contacts paid off handsomely. Fresh table grapes sell wholesale for about $3,800 per tonne (after duty) in Europe, and these good prices allowed Vasiljevic to restructure his debt and start planting new vineyards. Today, about 75% of all Namibian table grape sales are to the EU.
Following his initial success, Aussenkehr Farms planted more vineyards, and currently has 350 hectares under production. Vasiljevic sold some land to the Namibian Government at a reduced price, and the parastatal agency the Namibia Development Corporation has planted more vineyards, as has a black empowerment corporation (the Namibia Grape Company (NGC), supported by the Government Institution Pension Funds of Namibia) on 360 hectares adjacent to Aussenkehr. The government is also developing new production areas on the farm Tandjeskoppie, next to Aussenkehr with assistance from the Arab Development Bank, and plans another 5,000 hectares under irrigation.
'Quite a few other farmers, although not on the same scale, have followed his example and have learned from him how to produce and successfully export table grapes of high quality standards worldwide,' said de Naeyer. 'Namibian grapes are well sought after in the European and Asian markets before and around Christmas time.'
Total Namibian table grape production has grown from 1,000 tonnes produced by Aussenkehr's first 150 hectares in 1991 to more than 12,000 tonnes in 2003. The approximate value of these exports is about N$180 million ($29 million).
Roughly 3,500 new permanent employment opportunities have been created by the table grape industry with another 7,000 workers employed as part-time harvesters for three to four months a year. The industry is the largest employer in the impoverished, underdeveloped Karas Region where Aussenkehr is situated. For every 1,000 tonnes of table grapes Namibia has produced and exported, an estimated 300 new permanent and 600 part-time jobs were created, and these workers earn a total of about N$6,000,000 (about $967,000).
Methane Power in Melbourne Australia
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