NEWS

New energy for automobiles and clean electricity have become the trend of today's energy consumption. New energy and clean energy are sweeping all fields of energy consumption. Of course, as an important means of transportation in modern society, ships have also become new energy objects. Modern ships, especially ocean-going ships, due to high power and other reasons, traditional fossil fuels make the pollution of ships very serious. Data show that the air pollution and water pollution caused by traditional diesel engine ships during the driving process are very alarming, and the amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons produced after a ton of diesel combustion is very large.

For reasons such as environmental protection, the new energy of ships is imperative. Today, the tentacles of new energy have touched the clean energy of ocean-going ships and the electrification of inland shipping ships.

Ship pollution is a prominent problem

With the development of modern shipping technology, ocean-going ships and inland waterway ships have developed rapidly, especially in the context of the rapid development of world and regional trade, ship transportation is still an important channel for bulk cargo transportation. As far as China is concerned, coastal shipping in the Bohai Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea, as well as waterway transportation arteries such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, are supporting the circulation of goods and personnel throughout the country and the world, and are indispensable modes of transportation for a prosperous economy.

But the boom in modern shipping has also brought unprecedented pollution. According to information from the Ministry of Transport, from 1973 to 2014, there were 3,200 ship oil spills along China's coasts, with a total oil spill of about 42,936 tons, of which 91 major oil spills with oil spills of more than 50 tons. In addition to a single emergency, the continuous environmental pollution caused by ship transportation is also quite serious. Monitoring data show that the entry and exit of ships and trucks into and out of the port brings cargo and economic development, but also exacerbates air pollution in the port and surrounding areas. It is estimated that national transport vessels (excluding fishing vessels) alone will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by about 950,000 tons per year and PM emissions by about 110,000 tons per year by improving fuel quality. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in 2013, the country's ships accounted for about 8.4% of the country's total sulfur dioxide emissions, and nitrogen oxide emissions accounted for 11.3%. Port cities are the most affected by ship pollution, followed by riverside cities.

The problem of ship pollution is very prominent in advocating clean and green today. The issue of ship pollution has also attracted continuous attention from regulatory authorities. Previously, the Ministry of Communications issued the Implementation Plan for the Special Action on Pollution Prevention and Control of Ships and Ports (2015-2020), which formulated a timetable and roadmap for pollution prevention and control of ships and ports in the next five years. According to the plan, by 2020, the sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter of ships in the waters of the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) will drop sharply compared with 2015. At the same time, according to the newly revised relevant standards for pollutant emission of ships, the transformation of existing ships will be completed by the end of 2020, and if the transformation still cannot meet the requirements, they will be eliminated within a time limit. From May 1, the revised "Provisions on the Environmental Management of Ship Pollution of Inland Waters" will be officially implemented, stipulating that new requirements for the prevention and control of air pollution by ships are added, clarifying that the fuel used by ships should meet relevant national or local standards, encourage ships to use clean energy, and give priority to the use of shore power after ships dock to reduce air pollution to port cities when ships berth.

As one of the core ports of national shipping and river transportation, Shanghai Port is also declaring war on ship pollution in all directions. The "Measures for the Prevention and Control of Ship Pollution in Shanghai Port" promulgated and implemented in June last year added regulations on the prevention and control of air and noise pollution of ships, actively promoted the use of shore power by berthing ships, and ships must not engage in operations that are prone to generate dust under the condition of early warning of heavy air pollution, clarified that ships should use fuel oil that meets the prescribed standards, and encouraged the use of low-sulfur oil and clean energy, ships should abide by the national and municipal air pollutant emission standards and other regulations, and put the prevention and control of air pollution on the agenda. In terms of the prevention and control of ship noise pollution, the measures require that ships should use as little or no sound devices as possible without endangering navigation safety, and the noise emitted by ships when sailing or operating in sections adjacent to noise-sensitive buildings or wharves should comply with the national regulations on ship noise levels, and a clear prohibition was added for pulp hanger ships with serious noise pollution to sail in the Huangpu River and all inland navigable waters of the city.

Electrification exploration

Rectify ship pollution and promote the electrification of ship power, which is the first to be started on inland shipping ships with short and medium-distance transportation and small and medium-sized transportation.

Previously, Shanghai Ruihua Group demonstrated a 500-ton pure electric drive inland shipping cargo ship independently designed and developed to test the "new energy" of inland shipping ships. According to Shuai Hongyuan, chairman and president of Shanghai Ruihua Group, the air pollution and water pollution caused by traditional diesel engine ships during driving are very alarming. Studies have shown that the amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons produced after a ton of diesel fuel is very large. In the context of emphasizing air pollution control and water pollution control, inland shipping ships urgently need to be transformed. The 500-ton cargo ship previously displayed by Shanghai Ruihua Group uses supercapacitor plus power lithium battery (referred to as "double electric") as the energy storage system, with a speed of 8 km / h to 10 km / h, and a sailing time of up to 50 hours after a full charge. According to reports, compared with traditional diesel-driven ships, the cost of using pure electric boats can be reduced by about 10% when driving more than 100 kilometers per day.

In addition to the "new energy" of inland shipping vessels, the electrification trend of short-distance passenger transport, ferry and scenic sightseeing ships launched in various places in recent years is obvious. Compared with traditional power ships, electric ships have unique advantages in controlling emission pollution and noise pollution. Some foreign institutions predict that the electric ship market, including water and underwater, will grow rapidly from US$2.6 billion (about 16.14 billion yuan) in 2013 to US$7.3 billion (about 45.31 billion yuan) in 2024. In addition, as high-power pure electric versions become more and more feasible, the scope of use of electric ships will be further expanded.

But electric ships still need more exploration. According to Shuai Hongyuan, inland shipping ships still have problems such as high transformation costs and few supporting facilities. At present, in terms of ship transformation, relevant policies and measures have been introduced to support the clean energy and electrification of ships, and the improvement of charging facilities requires the coordination of multiple regulatory departments and funds. According to reports, in June 2015, Jiangsu Electric Power Company laid ship power supply facilities to ports and terminals along the coast, along rivers, rivers and lakes to provide clean energy for berthing ships and promote energy conservation and emission reduction of ships. In 2015, Jiangsu Province built one set of high-voltage shore power systems in each of the five green and low-carbon demonstration ports including Lianyungang, about 200 sets of low-voltage shore power systems in coastal and river-level berths, and about 3,000 sets of small-capacity power connection facilities along rivers and lakes.

Multi-form cleaning

From the perspective of technology and practicality, the electrification of ships is still limited by battery life, charging speed and charging facility distribution. Especially for some coastal and ocean shipping that sail long distances and transport goods in large quantities, the electrification of ships is still difficult to meet the actual needs. Under the background of clean power energy, multi-form promotion of clean energy use of ships has become a multi-party choice.

Recently, the media reported that the LNG (liquefied natural gas) powered demonstration ship "Canal Star 2000e" developed and built by Dalian Yuchai Energy Co., Ltd. was successfully launched in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. This is China's first inland pure LNG electric propulsion vessel and is built in full compliance with CCS standards. "Canal Star 2000e" adopts pure LNG electric propulsion system, which has six characteristics of "safety, economy, green, intelligence, noiseless and advanced". The power system adopts the self-developed "Galaxy Power EYS249-2" power package, intelligent and convenient operation, equipped with Yuchai YC6T340NL-C20 pure gas engine as the prime mover generator set, so that the engine is operated under economic working conditions, truly achieving the purpose of high efficiency, energy saving and more airworthiness.

Relatively clean and economical use costs make LNG more widely used on ocean-going ships. Data show that the substitution role of LNG in the traditional energy market is becoming more and more obvious, and China is making more explorations and attempts in the global marine fuel market. The Ministry of Communications has studied and proposed a framework for green transportation systems to promote sustainable development of transportation. Among them, the realization of green shipping is one of the goals of China's green transportation system. In order to achieve green shipping, the current alternative fuels in China's shipping industry include liquefied natural gas powered ships, alcohol/ether powered ships and fuel cell powered ships, of which liquefied natural gas power ships have the fastest development. The China Maritime Safety Administration and the National Energy Administration are comprehensively promoting the use of liquefied natural gas on ships to promote energy conservation and emission reduction of ships. According to the plan of the Ministry of Communications, the scale of LNG-powered ships will reach more than 1,000 in 2016. At the same time, the layout of China's marine LNG bunkering station network has gradually taken shape, and it will be combined with the distribution of water transport to form a two-horizontal, two-vertical and two-network eighteen-line LNG-powered ship bunkering network.