Belgian heavy lift major Sarens is in the process of switching to biodegradable oil for all its ballasting systems on its barges.

As part of this important environmental initiative, all Sarens ballasting systems will convert to using Biohydran TMP hydraulic fluid in 2020, and 40% have already made the switch. This move represents Sarens’ commitment to protecting the environments in which it operates.

Oil is necessary for heavy lifting work where hydraulic systems are used to move heavy loads in an efficient way. The zinc added to commercial hydraulic oils, however, can cause environmental damage in the case of a malfunction or oil spill. This has serious implications for aquatic environments where barges operate.

Biodegradable oil replaces zinc with a natural additive to help maintain hydraulic components like motors and cylinders. This is important because Sarens uses submersible ballasting pumps with up to 1.000l/h pumping capacity to load out heavy modules. Because this system operates within water environments, using more environmentally-responsible oil creates an added layer of protection for fragile ecosystems and marine life.

Sarens has invested €500K in this important environmental project, which includes implementing the new hydraulic oil, regenerating it for reuse, and modifying older ballast pumps to avoid oil spills in the case of malfunction. As part of this initiative, Sarens is bringing all ballasting equipment, which is spread across Europe, back to its base in Wolvertem, Belgium to make the switch.

By Jake Frith

Source: Maritime Journal, Oct 20, 2020

New grant funded research into the sustainable protection of vulnerable coastal areas aims at using seagrasses for their boosts to biodiversity and wave dampening.

The presence of seagrass is decreasing worldwide due to poor water quality, plant diseases, climate change and coastal erosion. With the innovation project ‘PLANT ME’, the research team wants to enable the restoration of this ecosystem by developing a new planting technique for seagrass.

The research partners Ghent University, Jan De Nul Group, DEME Group and CCMAR combine their expertise as researchers and hydraulic engineers to boost the planet’s biodiversity. The partners also work together in the Coastbusters project, a research project on a nature-based type of coastal defence. This is where the ‘PLANT ME’ concept came into being, with its specific focus on protecting coastal strips by planting seagrass beds.

Worldwide, seagrass beds have been disappearing dramatically for decades and continue to do so as a result of poor water quality, plant diseases, climate change and coastal erosion. However, these seagrass beds are of great importance for shallow marine coastlines, because they provide a habitat for a high diversity of underwater fauna and flora and capture more CO2 than rainforests. In addition, seagrasses dampen waves to lose up to 75% of their strength, thus significantly reducing erosion.

With ‘PLANT ME’, the research partners want to enable the restoration of this precious coastal ecosystem by developing a new planting technique for seagrass. The great advantage of this method is that it is cheap to produce and that the used materials are biodegradable. With this new technique, new seagrass beds can be easily and quickly planted in shallow coastal ecosystems.

Emile Lemey, Project Development Engineer at Jan De Nul Group: “Seagrass is one of the most important breeding habitats in the sea, providing shelter for juvenile fish and securing the bottom it is growing in. Within PLANT ME Jan De Nul wants to contribute to saving this valuable marine ecosystem through researching novel grow-out and planting techniques.”

Tomas Sterckx, Project Manager at DEME: “As part of our sustainability efforts, DEME wants to build and revive marine, coastal, inland waterways and terrestrial ecosystems adding to a broad spectrum of nature-based solutions. This initiative fits perfectly with our own sustainability goals and we want to make full use of our expertise to support this innovative project.”

Riccardo Pieraccini, PhD student at Ghent University: “Seagrasses occur in every coastal zones on each continent, except Antarctica. Seagrass beds create unique habitats, supporting the biodiversity of coastal ecosystems, benefiting humans and animals. Seagrasses act as ecosystem engineers, stabilizing the seabed and reducing coastal erosion. The PLANT ME project has the ambitious mission of reverting the loss of seagrass ecosystems by creating an innovative, large-scale restoration technique based on natural biodegradable substrates overgrown with seagrass plants.”

Aschwin Engelen, researcher at CCMAR: “This project and its unique collaboration between science and industry to develop new large-scale applicable sustainable techniques for seagrass restoration will contribute strongly to the required future restoration of seagrass beds and coastal marine biodiversity.”

MAJOR CHALLENGES
Climate change and coastal erosion pose major challenges. ‘PLANT ME’ fits within a new research trend focusing on innovative solutions to protect coasts in a sustainable and efficient way. In the past, breakwaters and dikes were built, but in many cases they disrupted the natural supply of sand. Today, scientists are working on solutions that also involve nature, hence the term ‘nature-based solutions’. Elements provided by nature are used in an innovative, sustainable and resilient way to protect the same natural habitat. This does not only protect people, but also promotes services provided by nature such as biodiversity on the land-water boundary.

The ‘PLANT ME’ project is one of a series of projects that encourages industry to innovate and search for future-proof and sustainable solutions for a better world. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a valuable reference framework for this. With ‘PLANT ME’, the research team contributes to a set of objectives that focuses on climate and biodiversity. Moreover, this project unites the academic and business worlds with the aim to achieve concrete results.

By Jake Frith

Source: Maritime Journal, Oct 13, 2020

Saudi Aramco said it has shipped 40 tons of “blue” ammonia from Saudi Arabia to Japan for use in zero-carbon power generation.

The announcement comes amid growing appreciation of the role hydrogen will play in the global energy system. Ammonia, a compound consisting of three parts hydrogen and one part nitrogen, can contribute to addressing the challenge of meeting the world’s growing energy needs in a reliable, affordable and sustainable manner, the company said.

“The use of hydrogen is expected to grow in the global energy system, and this world’s first demonstration represents an exciting opportunity for Aramco to showcase the potential of hydrocarbons as a reliable and affordable source of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia,” said Ahmad O. Al-Khowaiter, Aramco’s chief technology officer. “This milestone also highlights a successful transnational, multi-industry partnership between Saudi Arabia and Japan. Multinational partnerships are key in realizing the Circular Carbon Economy, championed by the Saudi Arabian G20 Presidency. Aramco continues to work with various partners around the world, finding solutions through the deployment of breakthrough technologies to produce low-carbon energy and address the global climate challenge.”

The Saudi-Japan blue ammonia supply network demonstration spanned the full value chain, including the conversion of hydrocarbons to hydrogen and then to ammonia, as well as the capture of associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

It overcame challenges associated with the shipping of blue ammonia to Japan for use in power plants, with 30 tons of CO2 captured during the process designated for use in methanol production at SABIC’s Ibn-Sina facility and another 20 tons of captured CO2 being used for Enhanced Oil Recovery at Aramco’s Uthmaniyah field.

This milestone highlights one of several pathways within the concept of a global Circular Carbon Economy, a framework in which CO2 emissions are reduced, removed, recycled and reused as opposed to being released into the atmosphere.

Toyoda Masakazu, chairman and chief executive officer of IEEJ, said blue ammonia is critical to Japan’s zero carbon emission ambitions to sustain the balance between the environment and the economy.

“About 10% of power in Japan can be generated by 30 million tons of blue ammonia,” Masakazu said. “We can start with co-firing blue ammonia in existing power stations, eventually transitioning to single firing with 100% blue ammonia. There are nations such as Japan which cannot necessarily utilize Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or EOR due to their geological conditions. The carbon neutral blue ammonia/hydrogen will help overcome this regional disadvantage.”

Dr. Fahad Al-Sherehy, vice president of Energy Efficiency and Carbon Management at SABIC, said SABIC can economically leverage existing infrastructure for hydrogen and ammonia production with CO2 capture.

“Our experience in the full supply chain along with integrated petrochemicals facilities will play an important role in providing blue ammonia to the world,” he said.

Ammonia contains approximately 18% hydrogen by weight and is already a widely traded chemical on the world stage. It releases zero CO2 emissions when combusted in a thermal power plant and has the potential to make a significant contribution to an affordable and reliable low-carbon energy future. SABIC and Mitsubishi Corp., which is represented on the IEEJ study team involved in the project, are overseeing the transport logistics in partnership with JGC Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd., Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and UBE Industries, Ltd.

Source: Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide

RARE OCCURRENCE: Most sea turtles go to beaches in Siaoliouciou, Orchid Island or Penghu to lay their eggs, and do not often visit Dawan Beach, a veterinarian said.

By Shella Shan

Twenty-four baby sea turtles on Sunday night safely returned to the ocean at Kenting National Park’s Dawan Beach with help from government workers and National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium veterinarians.

This was the second time since 2017 that baby sea turtles were found in Kenting National Park.

The turtles were discovered on Sunday night by Kenting Chateau Beach Resort employees, who quickly contacted the Kenting National Park Administration Office.

Representatives from the office, coast guard and the museum arrived at the beach, as the turtles were crawling toward the lights at the hotel.

As baby turtles can die of exhaustion if they do not find their way to the sea, staff from the agencies worked to help them along.

After measuring their shells and checking their bodies for injuries, staff used a white container to carry the turtles to the beach and carefully released them into the ocean.

Museum veterinarian Lee Tsung-hsien (李宗賢) yesterday said that the breeding season for sea turtles is from May to October, with the peak occurring in July and August.

Due to topographical changes and abandoned fishnets littering the coastline, sea turtles in the past few years rarely come ashore to lay their eggs in Taiwan proper, he said.

Most turtles lay their eggs at beaches on Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球), Penghu and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), he said.

Kenting is a natural habitat for sea turtles, but not many frequent the beaches in the park, because the sands are often packed with tourists, making it difficult for turtles to dig holes to lay their eggs, Lee said.

As such, turtle eggs are mostly found on beaches with relatively few people, he added.

Animal conservationists last month found traces that could have been left by sea turtles on Dawan Beach, Lee said, adding that female turtles were probably looking for a proper beach to lay their eggs.

Once they find a suitable place, they tend to return to the same beach six to seven times, he said.

The 24 baby sea turtles probably came from different mothers which laid the eggs about two months ago, he said, adding that more sea turtle eggs could be hatched at the beach in the days to come.

“It is exciting to know that sea turtles have returned to the Hengchun Peninsula again to lay their eggs. We hope that visitors will avoid Dawan Beach at night, when turtles would come ashore,” Lee said. “We will also speak with hotels about dimming their lights so that baby sea turtles would not go astray.”

“Beach visitors should refill the sandpits before they take off and leave no items behind to facilitate the sea turtles’ trips to the beach,” Lee added.

Source:https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/11/2003741475