Fresh calls for a tougher regulatory ban on the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) and a switch to distillates for ships working in the Arctic are being made in advance of a ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council next month.

Bryan Comer, the marine programme lead at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), said that if ships operating in the Arctic switched to distillates, their fleetwide black carbon emissions would be reduced by 44%.

In a webinar hosted by the Iceland Nature Conservation Association and the Clean Arctic Alliance, Comer listed other advantages of switching to distillates. They include reducing air pollution, enabling the use of particulates filters and other after-treatment technologies and lowering potential spill costs.

But he acknowledged that the main barrier is the cost of the fuel.

He said ships will switch fuels “only if the economics make sense ... or if there is a clear regulatory mandate".

Warming impact

Pam Pearson, the co-chair of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, said black carbon arises from incomplete or poor combustion.

She said the small lightweight particles, which can travel large distances when airborne, are usually deposited close to the source, which is important aspect for shipping.

Pearson said black carbon has a greater warming impact when deposited on snow and ice, and this is a concern with shipping moving closer to the ice pack.

She said that while the impact of black carbon from global shipping is small because very little reaches the Arctic or deposits on ice and snow there, the impact from Arctic shipping is much greater.

Comer said that in what the International Maritime Organization’s defines as the Arctic, which excludes Iceland, total black carbon emissions from ships burning all types of fuels grew by 85% from 2015 to 2019. That includes HFO, distillates and LNG.

This figures compares to just 8% growth for ships globally.

This means black carbon emissions from ships increased 10 times faster in the Arctic than the rest of the world.

Scrubbers no solution

The IMO is banning the use of HFO in its definition of the Arctic from July 2024.

But Comer said that with all the exemptions and waivers included in the IMO agreement, three-quarters of the HFO-fuelled fleet will be able to continue to use HFO in the Arctic.

As a result, he said the policy will only reduce HFO carriage by 30%, lower HFO use by 16% and decrease black carbon emission by just 5%.

Comer added that ships fitted with scrubbers and using HFO emit 80% more black carbon emissions than a vessel using marine gasoil.

“Scrubbers are not a good solution for the black carbon problem compared to using distillate fuels,” he said.

He added that they also create an ocean acidification problem when their waste water is discharged.

Focus

Pearson said the impact of black carbon from Arctic shipping really needs to be a focus for the IMO and the Arctic Council.

She said the Arctic is warming more quickly than the rest of the world and losing sea ice.

“Halting black carbon emissions from Arctic shipping is not going to solve the problem of loss of ice or Arctic warming feedbacks," she said.

"But Arctic ice is already on the edge and every effort is needed to decrease the pressure and associated risks, and black carbon really does have an impact."