EFFORTS-Project Ports and Environment

[greentransport.eu] Upbeat with transport related reports from the UN-Climate Conference in Copenhagen

2009-12-07T10:05:00.000+01:00

Dear colleagues,

we have started a new webpage at TuTech carrying the title

Here we will from now on fuel the debate about transport and protection of
the environment, especially climate protection with our blog articles.

The upbeat will be direct reports from the UN Climate Conference in
Copenhagen from Monday 7 until Friday 18 December 2009.
As far as possible with pictures and sound.

You can follow the blog posts of greentransport.eu on twitter under the
name greentransprt

And you are all invited to comment the blog entries in order to start the
debate, in German or English, as you like!

Best Regards

Jan Prahm

--
TuTech Innovation GmbH
Jan Prahm
Diplom-Kaufmann
EU Office
Harburger Schlossstrasse 6-12
21079 Hamburg, Germany
Tel.: +49 40 76629-6363, Fax: +49 40 76629-6369
mailto:prahm@tutech.de
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Geschaeftsfuehrer: Dr. Helmut Thamer
Handelsregister: HRB 51682 Hamburg
USt.-ID-Nr.: DE 811 481 083

Public Responsibility Forces Ports to Reduce their Noise Impact on the Citizens

2009-08-18T14:16:00.003+02:00

Noise is inevitable in port operations, but has become a constant source of confl ict with the residents close to the port. In order to contribute to good neighbourship, ports are actively trying to reduce noise disturbances. Novel ways of assessing the perception of noise disturbances emanating from ports have been identifi ed and are being presently tested. Hitherto, investigations of noise disturbance have mainly focussed on sound pressure. The researchers found out that sound frequency, the repetition rate and the repetition frequency play also an important role in the question, whether and how sound is perceived as disturbing. Still not satisfi ed with the fi ndings, sociologists were sent around to interview effected residents. They established that perceived disturbance varied not only in response to the parameters mentioned above, but also in response to individual subjective experience. Based on this realisation, researchers will now be able to devise noise protection measures for individual ports that will be more focussed and more cost effective.

On 08 October 2009 in Dublin / Ireland these results will be demonstrated to the public.

Ports have to manage their Environment in a Responsible Manner

2009-08-18T12:44:00.004+02:00

Foreign invasive marine species that are carried in the ballast water of ocean vessels pose a great threat to our local marine environment. The addition of biocides together with the use of mechanical filters is up to now the only known effective measure to combat this threat. The question remains, what effect biocide-contaminated ballast water will have on indigenous marine species, once it is released from the vessel. Tests that will be explained and demonstrated have found biocides that have neglectable effects when applied correctly. Aluminium anodes are extensively used to protect submerged steel structures in ports from corrosion that mainly occurs through galvanic currents. Anodes are used to divert the negative effects of the galvanic current away from the steel structure. In the process, the metal of the anode goes into solution with the water, hence the name sacrificial anodes. The question was whether the dissolved aluminium in the water has a toxic effect on the marine environment. It was found that the ions turn into a metal state very quickly and that the aluminium deposited in the sediment does not pose a toxic threat. An explosive-proof system for the rapid oxidation of cancer-causing volatile organic compounds was developed. Volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere during the handling and transfer of hydrocarbon products, for instance fuel and bunker oils. In order to reduce air pollution in ports due to bunkering activities, the developed systems had to withstand the harsh working environment in ports.

From 22. - 23. September 2009 in Le Havre / France these results will be demonstrated to the public.
For the detailed agenda and registration for this event please click here.

PORTS BECOMING GOOD NEIGHBOURS TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS

2009-06-08T17:14:00.006+02:00

Jens Froese presented the results of the sub-project 2 Ports and Environment at the Green Ports Conference in Naples 24. & 25. February 2009. The research project EFFORTS (effective operations in ports) is not re-stricted to environmental issues, however, it is understood that the port environment is a crucial production and image factor of a port. Therefore “port environment” is one of the three thematic columns of the project. Energy management, ships’ ballast water, diluted aluminium from ca-thodic protection of port steel constructions, port air quality tackling VOCs and noise annoyance are the key words to describe EFFORTS work related to the port environment. The paper provides a brief overview to explain the course of activities and expected results which will allow ports to strengthen their role as environmental protagonists and to improve trust in residents in the vicinity of ports taking their environmental responsibil-ity very seriously.

Click for full text.

WP 2.4. Noise Annoyance of Ports: Outdoor sound propagation

2008-12-15T17:16:00.011+01:00

Most of the environmental factors have some effect on sound propagation outdoors. Many of these factors can be properly implemented to a sound propagation model. However, it is not easy to handle sound scattering due to the turbulence, and at the same time, the turbulence is the most important source of uncertainties. Concurrently with the studies of turbulence models we have developed a concept to get an estimate of the excess attenuation using a state-of-the-art physical model and to evaluate the uncertainties using a statistical model. This statistical model is based on two years continuous measurements using extensive acoustical and meteorological measurement facilities and producing over 100 factors hourly. Many meteorological factors had a strong and significant correlation with the excess attenuation, but between each other too. To avoid instable model due to the collinearity many factors were abandoned. In this paper the criterion and methods to select best explaining factors and to form this statistical model are considered.

Click for full text.

WP 2.3. Port Air Quality

2008-11-13T17:59:00.001+01:00

By Jerome Taranto, BIOWIND, France

Currently sulfur and Volatil Organic Compounds (VOCs) are the main air pollutants from port areas. The sulfur compounds are responsible for acid rains and some of the VOCs are toxic or carcinogenic. The VOC emissions from petroleum roducts loading operations constitute around 1% (140.000 t/a) of all VOC emissions in EU. Solutions exist, but their effi ciency and/or cost can be improved. Therefore the treatment of the port air is necessary for the protection of the environment and health and to improve safety.

Click for full text.

WP 2.2 Water Quality

2008-06-26T16:56:00.006+02:00

A multidisciplinary approach for the future port environment management and water quality survey

By Samuel Pineau, Corrodys, France

Port environment is probably the highest interface between human activity and marine environment, including the influence of industries, cities, indirect impact from onshore activities such as industry and agriculture, ships and port activities. Click here for full text.

WP 2.1 Clean Energy Management

2008-06-26T16:04:00.008+02:00

By Jean Claude Dellinger, AREVA TA, France

In the light of developing countries' legitimate ambitions, industrialised countries will need to reduce their emissions by a factor of 3 to 5 by 2050 to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions linked to human activity to a level that the planet can recycle naturally by the middle of the century. This is a major challenge in and of itself. It has been made even more difficult for the period in question by a spontaneous trend towards growth in energy demand, even in industrialised countries, and by constant readiness to satisfy most of this demand through accessible fossil energy reserves without an immediate risk of running out.

The response to this challenge, which the economic actors have not yet entirely sized up, will call for changes in behaviour, in regulations and in energy prices, but above all for technological innovations which are essential to maintain, or further improve, standards of living and international competitiveness, the two of which are inextricably linked together.

Click here for full text (pdf)