The costs and benefits of reducing SO2 emissions from ships in the US West Coastal waters

Potential costs and benefits of policy options for reducing offshore ship pollution are examined using a meta-analysis of studies synthesized regionally for the US West Coast. Net benefits of reducing SO₂ emissions from cargo ships in the US West Coast waters are found to range between $98 million and $284 million, annually; the benefit–cost ratio varies between 1.8 and 3.36, depending on the size of the control area and the sulfur content limit. The results show that about 21,000 tons of on-land equivalent SO₂ emissions or about 33% of SO₂ emissions from all mobile sources in California in 2005 can be reduced annually if the US West Coast exclusive economic zone is designated as an International Maritime Organization-compliant SO_x emission control area (SECA) with fuel-sulfur content not exceeding 1.5%. The analysis demonstrates that designating this area reduces more emissions than establishing a smaller zone at a lower but favorable benefit-cost ratio. Control measures that require 0.5% low-sulfur fuels reduce more SO₂ emissions, and also may have higher net benefits. Technological alternatives may achieve benefits of emissions reductions on the US West Coast across higher ranges of potential fuel prices. Combinations of fuel switching and control technology strategies provide the most cost-effective benefits from SECAs on the US West Coast and other world regions.     

路面平整度对小汽车噪声的影响研究

噪声作为交通环境污染的主要类型之一,正呈现出越来越严重的趋势。国内外大量研究表明,车辆在城市道路上行驶时产生的噪声主要有动力噪声和轮胎噪声两部分。而平整度对这两部分噪声的噪声源都有重要的影响。本文主要研究的是城市道路中路面的平整度对小汽车的噪声产生的综合影响。结果表明,在正常行驶时(不固定排档),平整度与噪声间有明显的线性关系。这一结果使得交通噪声的预测精度得到了一定的提高。     

《燃油公约》的实施对建立和完善我国污染损害赔偿机制的作用

随着我国海洋经济的迅猛发展,海上船舶活动密度迅速增加,船舶发生污染事故的风险也随之增加,导致对船舶污染损害赔偿的压力增大。文中通过《2001年国际燃油污染损害民事责任公约》的生效实施对我国污染损害赔偿机制的作用分析,提出建立和完善我国污染损害赔偿机制的意见和建议。     

振冲技术在洋山港区地基处理工程中的试验与应用

洋山一期陆域工程深厚吹填砂区为粉细砂陆域,一般工程性质较差,必须采用适当的加固措施进行处理。介绍了对几种地基处理方案的比选,提出采用振冲法。较详细阐述了振冲法在洋山港区地基处理工程中的试验和应用,并通过表层沉降观测数据表明,效果很好。最后得出洋山港大面积深厚粉细砂无填料振冲法地基处理成功的结论,可为同类工程借鉴。     

中俄界河水域国际航行河船检验管理方式探讨

中国是国际公约的缔约国,但目前在黑龙江水域从事国际航运的中国籍河船的检验仍然执行内河的相关标准,尚没有完全履行国际公约的要求.2020年4月,交通运输部海事局发布《船舶技术法规体系框架(2020)》,明确了制定《国际航行河船检验规则》来解决这一问题.文中通过对照现行检验技术规则内容,对中俄界河水域国际航行河船检验管理方...     

International container design regulations and ISO standards: are they fit for purpose?

Increasing stack heights on container ships and growing volumes of high density cargo have increased the loads and stresses placed on containers, requiring an assessment of current container strength specifications. Growing adoption of terminal automation is also requiring greater standardisation in the codification and marking of containers. However, it is shown that there is widespread misunderstanding of the roles of the IMO and the ISO in regulating and promoting standards in the design, dimensions, ratings, coding, marking and strength of containers. In this paper the legal status of the IMO’s Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) and ISO standards is clarified, and a common container specification framework is developed to assess the extent to which international regulations and standards are aligned. The analysis identifies gaps and inconsistencies between regulations and standards and assesses the impact these have on operations and safety. The study highlights to policy makers anomalies arising from the recent inclusion in the CSC of direct references to ISO standards. Finally, in providing a comprehensive definition of container specifications the paper provides a knowledge base to promote theory building for applied researchers in the field of container technology and operations.     

ISO/TS 22163:2017技术规范变更管理要求在铁路企业的应用

从ISO/TS 22163:2017《铁路应用质量管理体系铁路组织业务管理体系要求:ISO 9001:2015在铁路领域应用的特殊要求》对变更管理的要求出发,介绍变更管理的定义、分类、原则、控制要求等内容.分析典型变更管理流程,为铁路行业相关企业提供借鉴和参考.     

Bunker levy schemes for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in international shipping

A fuel levy is one of the market-based measures (MBMs) currently under consideration at the International Maritime Organization. MBMs have been proposed to improve the energy efficiency of the shipping sector and reduce its emissions. This paper analyses the economic and environmental implications of two types of levy on shipping bunker fuels by means of an analytical model built on the cobweb theorem. A unit-tax per ton of fuel and an ad-valorem tax, enforced as a percentage of fuel prices, are examined. In both cases, a speed and fuel-consumption reduction equivalent to an improvement in the energy efficiency of the sector would be expected as a result of the regulation enforcement. The speed reduction in the unit-tax case depends on fuel prices and the tax amount, whereas in the ad-valorem case it relies upon the enforced tax percentage.Both schemes lead to industry profit decline, the extent of which depend on the structure of the levy and market conditions. Since there is concern that the costs resulting from the policy will be passed from shipping companies to their customers along the supply chain, the paper dwells on how the costs arising from the enforcement of the levy will be actually allocated between ship-owners and operators, and cargo-owners. In a market characterised by high freight rates and with no or limited excess capacity, a higher percentage of the total tax amount is transferred from ship-owners to shippers. In case of a recession the opposite happens.     

Analysis of a proposed mechanism for carbon-neutral growth in international aviation

In October 2013, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced that it would put in place a market-based mechanism to cap net greenhouse gas emissions from international civil aviation at 2020 levels. This paper analyses the obligations that would be placed on real airlines under an initial draft “Strawman” proposal that was originally formulated as a starting point for discussions within ICAO, and the extent to which such a proposal would succeed in keeping emissions at or below the desired level. The provisions of the ICAO proposal were then applied to more than 100 existing airlines. In order to protect commercial sensitivities, we used hierarchical cluster analysis to identify groups of different types of airlines. We report the results for these groups rather than for individual airlines. While ambiguities in the Strawman proposal complicated the analysis, we found that, depending on their size and rate of growth, airlines will be required to offset very different proportions of their emissions from international flights. A system of de minimis exemptions, as currently proposed, would benefit some rich countries as well as poor ones. Targeting such exemptions more narrowly would raise practical difficulties, which we describe. We conclude by recommending that ICAO design and implement a much simpler system; and propose one alternative.     

The Next Step of Devising China's Legal Regime for Deep Seabed Mining—The Environmental Regulation under China's Deep Seabed Mining Law

The due diligence obligation of sponsoring states requires state parties to enact laws and take administrative measures to secure effective regulation of the contractors of deep seabed mining and ensure that the contractors comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and regulations issued by International Seabed Authority (ISA). China has invested significantly in the exploration and exploitation of the deep seabed resources in the Area and China enacted its deep seabed mining law (DSM Law) in 2016 to fulfill its due diligence obligation as a sponsoring state. Environmental regulation is an important part of devising the international legal regime of deep seabed mining, and the ISA has been in the process of drafting Environmental Regulations. It is the sponsoring states' obligation to ensure that the contractors comply with the environmental rules issued by the ISA. China's DSM Law has many provisions stating the environmental obligations of its contractors; however, these provisions are phrased in rather general terms. It is necessary for China to take the next step as a sponsoring state and promulgate its domestic environmental regulation under its DSM Law in order to further fulfill its due diligence obligation. A procedure-oriented approach should be adopted for drafting the environmental regulation under China's DSM Law. Ideally, the environmental regulation under China's DSM Law should specify the rights and obligations of the contractors and domestic regulatory agency, delineating the environmental measures that the contractors need to take in different stages of exploring and exploiting deep seabed resources in order to comply with the environmental rules issued by the ISA.