Paris (AFP)

Slowing the speed of ships to limit pollution: this idea, revived by French President Emmanuel Macron G7 Biarritz, is one track among others to reduce the environmental footprint of shipping.

- The ecological impact of the sector

Maritime transport represents 2.3% of CO2 emissions, according to Armateurs de France, the professional organization of maritime transport companies. The share of air transport is 2%, says the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

But the more than 90,000 ships (bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, etc.) that make up the world's commercial fleet are propelled mainly by heavy fuel oil, a fuel with a high content of sulfur and nitrogen oxides and fine particles.

And if shipping accounts for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, "its environmental footprint is expected to rise to 17% by 2050 if nothing is done," says the Higher Institute of Maritime Economics (Isemar). The volume of sea freight must indeed be multiplied by more than four by then.

- Commitments already made

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has decided to limit the sulfur content in marine fuel to 0.5% by 2020, compared with 3.5% currently (outside sensitive areas where it is already limited to 0.1% ).

IMO also adopted a strategy in April 2018 to reduce the sector's CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 2008 and by 50% by 2050.

But "the negotiations stumble on the adoption of short-term measures" to implement this strategy, acknowledged the French government at the end of an IMO meeting in May.

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- Improve fuel or give up fossil fuels

To meet the new standards next year, shipowners will have to use a low-sulfur marine fuel oil. But such fuel will keep a strong carbon footprint, especially since it will be further processed into a refinery.

They will also be able to install scrubbers or turn to alternative modes of propulsion. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) - adopted for future ships of several French companies - seems the preferred solution today, but it requires supply infrastructures, specific storage capacities on board and a suitable engine.

Other tracks that are currently not necessarily very suitable for long journeys: biofuels, hydrogen or electric, or even the reinvention of sailing ships.

- Slow down the boats

Considered by Emmanuel Macron as "one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions", the reduction of the speed of ships was proposed by France to the IMO in April.

For example, an oil tanker that lowers its speed by 12 to 11 knots (22.2 to 20.4 km / h) reduces its fuel consumption by 18%, the reduction reaching 30% if it only advances to 10 knots ( 18.5 km / h), according to the French Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Reducing speed also limits noise pollution and reduces the risk of collisions with whales.

IMO postponed the debate in November.

- Protect certain areas

The French group CMA CGM pledged on Friday to never use the Northeast Passage, a sea route passing off Siberia that global warming will soon make practicable.

The world's third largest container shipping company is taking a risk against its competitors, as this much shorter route is expected to save time - one to two weeks - and fuel compared to the conventional route via the canal. of Suez. It also opens the debate on the protection of the Arctic.

France is also pushing for the establishment of a pollutant emission control zone in the Mediterranean Sea by 2022, as is already the case in the English Channel and the North Sea, as well as in the Baltic Sea.

- To act also in the ports

It is less well known: ships continue to burn fuel when they are docked, exacerbating pollution. The idea is simply to connect them to the electrical system of the port, but neither the infrastructures on land, nor the boats themselves have been thought for such a connection. La Méridionale (Stef group) and Corsica Lines try the experience in Marseille.

© 2019 AFP