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Need to get it done
Overhauls can be stressful for any industry, but there’s good news. We know that the supply chain for bunker fuels, including shipowners, can react quickly. We’re nearly one year into the International Maritime Organization’s (IMOs) ruling to cut the sulphur limit on bunker fuels from 3.5 per cent to 0.5.
Removing these three percentage points marked one of the bunker fuel industry’s biggest overhauls in decades. The ruling was designed as part of the IMO’s initial greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy to cut carbon intensity of international shipping by 40 per cent by 2030, compared to 2008. And it wasn’t cheap.
It is almost 20 years since Concorde s last flight and the end of supersonic air travel that cut flight times between London and New York to just three hours - for those with deep enough pockets. But now a handful of companies are working on passenger aircraft capable of breaking the Mach 1 sound barrier of 700mph (1126kmh), potentially ushering in a new age of high-speed travel. Start-ups such as Aerion, Boom Supersonic and Spike Aerospace have either attracted hundreds of millions in funding or billionaire backers. Business jet makers and Virgin Galactic are also thought to be mulling projects. Some companies have attracted support from industry heavyweights such as Boeing, GE and Rolls-Royce. Concorde was a marvel of technology, says Simon Carlisle, director of strategy at Rolls-Royce. The physics haven t changed. We just need smarter ways of solving the problems supersonic flight presents.
Ugo Aliogo in this report examines the implications of the proposed Economic Community of West African States fuel grade and vehicle emission policy on the Nigeria economy
In 2018, the Economic Community West African States (ECOWAS) inaugurated a study for the development of a regional framework for the harmonisation of fuel grade and vehicle emissions standards in the ECOWAS Region.
The study was awarded to CITAC Africa limited, a UK-based, independent consultancy company focusing on the downstream African Energy market. CITAC is the primary consultant. ECOWAS later brought in a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) on environmental studies known as the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), to jointly offer the necessary expertise to undertake the study.