MARITIME EMISSIONS (GHG, SOx) (2008-2023)

And now comes the area in which I have written most of my papers, maritime emissions. It all started with a small project on ship emissions, funded by the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (HCS), in 2008. Many more projects followed.

NTUA

Projects:

• “Ship Air Emissions Study,” Study funded by Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (January- June 2008)
• “Effective Bulk Transport,” Gift Agreement  funded by Det Norske Veritas (January 2008- December 2010).
• “Assessment of Environmental Impact in Marine Transportation andRelated Activities,” project funded by American Bureau of Shipping (June 2008-May 2011).
• “Centre of Excellence in Ship Total Energy-Emissions-Economy” project funded by The Lloyds Register Educational Trust. NTUA-LMT in Tracks 3 and 4 (Feb. 2010- Feb. 2016).
• “Envi-Shipping: Green Assessment of a Ship’s Lifecycle” multi-partner project funded by the General Secretariat of Research and Technology, Consortium Leader: NTUA, H.N. Psaraftis Consortium Manager (May 2011-May 2014).

Papers: No. 1 to 17 (scroll below).

Paper No. 1, outgrowth of the  HCS project, was ranked No. 1 (or top 0.3%) in Google Scholar citations among 325 papers published in the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs during the period 2002-2019. Christos Kontovas was the co-author. 

The last paragraph of that paper is interesting: "At the latest MEPC (58th session in London, October 2008) it was clear that the subject of GHG emissions from shipping remains a very difficult one to resolve. In spite of various studies and much debate as regards where we stand and where we should be going, the IMO is yet to reach a consensus on what should be done to effectively curb CO2 and other GHG emissions. More important, significant divergence of opinion seems to exist among IMO member states on how to proceed. Phase 2 of the GHG study is just underway, and the hope is that this may used to bring about the action that is necessary to move ahead on this difficult problem. One thing is certain: it will not be easy."

In 2008, GHG emissions from ships were not regulated. 15 years later they are, starting with EEDI in 2011 and all IMO and EU action since then. But the difficulties on how to proceed still exist. And GHG emissions are still rising.

(NOTE ADDED IN 2025: SEE HERE FOR LATEST)

I would not imagine back then that I would eventually write more than 70 papers on emissions, not counting those related to ship speed modelling and optimization (listed separately, see HERE).

Three facts that are not widely known are worthy of note:

ONE: In 2008, and before paper No. 1 was published, my co-author Christos Kontovas and I tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Greek maritime authorities to submit the results of the HCS emissions project to the IMO. Their rationale was, they could not evaluate these results! So after that meeting in which we were told that there would be no IMO submission on this topic, I told Christos: let's try to publish a paper at least.

TWO: In 2010, and before IMO adopted EEDI (2011), Greece tried unsuccessfully to persuade the IMO to change the EEDI formula, and my team and I at NTUA supported the related submission with some relevant analysis. The rationale was that EEDI encouraged solutions in which EEDI compliance was achieved via a smaller engine, which would compromise safety. After a set of regression analyses, an alternative formula was suggested. This request was rejected, as the IMO did not want the EEDI discussion to be side-tracked. The paper that describes Greece's unsuccessful attempt is No. 32, see below. There is also a related IMO submission.

THREE: In 2010 I was appointed by the IMO Sec'y General Efthymios Mitropoulos, upon nomination by Greece, to the Expert Group on Market Based Measures (MBMs) to reduce GHG emissions from ships. The EG was chaired by none other than MEPC's chairman, Andreas Chrysostomou of Cyprus. This initiated my long involvement in the MBM saga, which R&D-wise culminated a few years later at DTU, see below (MBM-SUSHI project). The IMO MBM discussion was suspended in 2013 but restarted in 2022. 

Overall, the number of submissions by Greece to the IMO in which I was involved was more than 15. An incomplete subset can be found HERE. Not all pertain to emissions. 

 DTU

 Projects:

• “RoRoSECA- Mitigating and reversing the side effects of environmental legislation on RoRo shipping in Northern Europe,” funded by the Danish Maritime Fund and the Orients Fund (2015-2017).
• ShipCLEAN, partner in a project led by Chalmers University, funded by Swedish Energy Agency (2017-2019).
• DMA-DTU project on impact assessment, funded by Danish Maritime Fund, 2019-2020.
• DMA-DTU project on Market Based Measures, funded by Danish Maritime Fund, 2020.
• Market-Based Measures for Sustainable Shipping (MBM-SUSHI), PhD project funded by the Orients Fund, 2019-2023.

Note that the RoRoSECA project was a project to examine the impact of the 2015 sulphur regulations on modal split in Northern Europe. Thalis Zis was the main researcher on that project, and in fact he was hired by me in 2015 specifically for that project. The project's industrial partner was DFDS, and I am grateful to Poul Woodall for the excellent collaboration. Thalis left DTU at the end of 2021, after working on several other projects, including SIMOS, ShipCLEAN, AEGIS, and some of his own. He is now an Assistant Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology.

The MBM SUSHI project (2019-2023) was a scaled down version of a project which I had applied for, unsuccessfully, to the European Research Council (2017). It was a PhD project with Sotiria Lagouvardou selected as the PhD student. Sotiria defended her thesis in March 2023 and was then hired as a DTU postdoc. I also received a smaller MBM project in 2020, commissioned by the Danish Maritime Administration.

As late as summer of 2024, I still strive to follow the IMO GHG discussion, on and off. Wondering if we are in a better position now than we were in 2010. I am not so sure.

Papers: No. 18 to 72. 

No. 41 is my second Springer book, the one on Sustainable Shipping (2019). See also HERE.  

Paper No. 36 (with Thalis Zis) received the Maritime Policy & Management Best Manuscript Award for  2019. 

Papers No. 37 and 59 were outgrowths of the (unfunded) MSc. theses of Dimitra Topali (2017) and Vasiliki Zisi (2019) respectively, both dealing with sulphur emissions. A coincidence that they appeared in the same journal, Maritime Business Review.

Paper No. 67 was in the context of the PhD thesis of Roy Tan, a joint PhD between DTU and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore, which I co-supervised on behalf of DTU. NTU was the home university and DTU hosted Roy for almost a year in 2019-2020 (cut short due to Covid19). He defended his thesis in February 2022.

Paper No. 69 proved critical in shaping EU policy on the inclusion of shipping into the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and also resulted in the 2023 Young Researcher Award for Sotiria Lagouvardou, awarded by the International Transport Forum (ITF) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). See also HERE. Sotiria also received two more awards for her PhD thesis. 

The 70+ papers are as follows:

1.   Psaraftis, H.N. and C.A. Kontovas, 2009, CO2 Emissions Statistics for the World Commercial Fleet, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 8:1,  1-25.

2.    Psaraftis, H.N., Kontovas, C.A., 2009, A web-based open emissions calculator, Int. J. Ocean Systems Management, Vol. 1, No. 2.

3.       Psaraftis, H.N., C.A. Kontovas, 2009, Ship Emissions: Logistics and Other Tradeoffs, 10th Int. Marine Design Conference (IMDC), Trondheim, Norway, 26-29 May.

4.       Kontovas, C.A., Psaraftis, H.N., 2009, An Online Ship Emissions Calculator as a Decision-Making Aid and  Policy Evaluation Tool, Proceedings of the 13th Congress of the International Maritime Association of the Mediterranean (IMAM 2009), October 12-15, Istanbul, Turkey. 

5.  Psaraftis, H.N., Kontovas, C.A., 2010, Balancing the Economic and Environmental Performance of  Maritime Transportation, Transportation Research Part D 15, 458-462.

6.   Gratsos, G.A., H.N. Psaraftis, P. Zachariadis, 2010, Life-cycle CO2 emissions of bulk carriers: A Comparative Study, Transactions RINA, Vol 152, Part A3, International Journal of Maritime Engineering, Jul-Sep.,  A 119-A 134.

7.    Kontovas, C.A. and H.N. Psaraftis, 2010, Reduction of Emissions Along the Intermodal Container Chain, IAME 2010 Conference Proceedings, July 7-9, Lisbon, Portugal. 

8.   Kontovas, C.A., H. N. Psaraftis, Carbon Dioxide Emissions Valuation and its Uses, 3^rd International Symposium on Ship Operations, Management and Economics (SOME), SNAME Greek Section, Athens, Greece, 7-8 Oct. 2010.

9.       Lindstad, H., O. T. Morkve, H. N. Psaraftis, 2010, Establishment of a system to compare Energy Usage and Emissions for all transport modes, 3rd International Symposium on Ship Operations, Management and Economics (SOME), SNAME Greek Section, Athens, Greece, 7-8 Oct..

10.  Psaraftis, H.N., 2010, Green maritime logistics: some simple models, in Maritime Wirtschaft- Theorie, Empirie und Politik, ISL publication to honor Prof. M. Zachcial, Peter Lang GmbH.

11.     Kontovas C.A. and H.N. Psaraftis, 2011, The link between economy and environment in the Post-Crisis Era: Lessons learned from slow steaming, European Conference on Shipping Intermodalism & Ports (ECONSHIP 2011), June 22-24, Chios, Greece.

12.  Kontovas, C.A., H. N. Psaraftis, 2011, Reduction of emissions along the maritime intermodal container chain: operational models and policies, Maritime Policy and Management Vol. 38, No. 4,  451-469.

13.     Kontovas, C.A., H. N. Psaraftis, 2011, Climate Change Policy in Shipping Focusing on Emission Standards and Technology Measures, Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, Vol. 10, Issue 10, 1589-1596..

14.     Kontovas, C.A., H.N. Psaraftis, 2011, The link between economy and environment in the post-crisis era: lessons learned from slow steaming, Int. J. Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, Vol. 3, Nos. 3/4,  311-326.

15.     Psaraftis, H.N., 2012, Market Based Measures for Green House Gas Emissions from Ships: A Review, WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs 11, 211-232.

16.     Stamatopoulou, I.V and H.N. Psaraftis, 2012, New Regulations & Climate Change: Effect on Modal Split & Modal Choice, Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Ship Operations, Management and Economics, ISBN: 978-618-80301-0-7, Athens, Greece, November.

17.     Psaraftis, H.N., C.A. Kontovas, 2012, Ship Emissions, Costs and Their Tradeoffs, in Advances in Maritime Logistics and Supply Chain Systems, E.P. Chew, L.H. Lee, and L.C. Tang (eds), World Scientific Books.

18.     Kontovas, C. A., and H. N. Psaraftis, 2013, Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap in Shipping: The case of Principal- Agent Problems in operational emission reduction measures. 2013 IAME Conference, Marseille, France, July.

19.     Stamatopoulou, I. V., and H. N. Psaraftis, 2013, Northern Sea Route: Effect on Modal Shift and Modal Choice, 2013 IAME Conference, Marseille, France, July.

20.     Kapetanis, G.N., K. Gkonis, H.N. Psaraftis, 2014, Estimating the Operational Effects of a Bunker Levy: The Case of Handymax Bulk Carriers, TRA 2014 conference, Paris, France, April.

21.     Panagakos, G., I. V. Stamatopoulou, and H. N. Psaraftis, 2014, The Possible Designation of the Mediterranean as a SECA: a Case Study, Transportation Research Part D, 28, 74-90.

22.     Lindstad, H., Eskeland, G. S., Psaraftis, H. N., Sandaas, I., & Stromman, A. H. 2015, Maritime shipping and emissions: A three-layered, damage-based approach. Ocean Engineering, 110, 94-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2015.09.029

23.     Kontovas, C.A., H.N. Psaraftis, 2016, Transportation Emissions: some basics, chapter in Green Transportation Logistics: in Search for Win-Win Solutions, H.N. Psaraftis (ed.) Springer.

24.     Psaraftis, H. N., 2016, Green maritime transportation: market based measures, chapter in Green Transportation Logistics: in Search for Win-Win Solutions, H.N. Psaraftis (ed.) Springer.

25.     Kontovas, C.A., G. Panagakos, H.N. Psaraftis and E. Stamatopoulou, 2016, Being green on sulphur: targets, measures and side-effects, chapter in Green Transportation Logistics: in Search for Win-Win Solutions, H.N. Psaraftis (ed.) Springer.

26.     Zis, T., Angeloudis, P., Bell, M. G., & Psaraftis, H. N., 2016. Payback Period for Emissions Abatement Alternatives: The Role of Regulation and Fuel Prices. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2549), No. 2549, 37-46.

27.     Psaraftis, H.N., 2016, Green Maritime Logistics: the Quest for Win-Win Solutions, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,  Special Issue: Proceedings of Transport Research Arena 2016, Volume 14, 133-142,.

28.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2016, The implications of the lower sulphur limits on Ro-Ro shipping in Northern Europe, IAME 2016 conference, Hamburg, Germany, August.

29.     Psaraftis, H.N., 2017, Decarbonization of Maritime Transport: At a Crossroads with Uncertain Outcome. IAME 2017 conference, Kyoto, Japan, June.

30.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2017, The implications of the new sulphur limits on the European Ro-Ro sector, Transportation Research Part-D, 52, 185-201.

31.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2018. Key performance indicators to assess and reverse the negative impacts of SECA policies for Ro-Ro Shipping, FME Transactions, Vol. 46, Issue 3, 347-354.

32.     Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, Decarbonization of maritime transport: to be or not to be? Maritime Economics and Logistics 21, 353–371(2019), doi.org/10.1057/s41278-018-0098-8.

33.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, Reducing sulphur emissions: logistical and environmental considerations, chapter in Sustainable shipping: a cross-disciplinary view. H.N. Psaraftis (ed.), Springer.

34.     Zis, T. and Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, The costs of averting modal shifts in the European Short Sea Shipping sector. Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., USA. January 2019.

35.     Psaraftis, H. N., 2019, Speed Optimization for sustainable shipping, chapter in Sustainable shipping: a cross-disciplinary view. H.N. Psaraftis (ed.), Springer.

36.     Zis, T. & Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, Operational measures to mitigate and reverse the potential modal shifts due to environmental legislation, Maritime Policy & Management, 46:1, 117-132, DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2018.1468938

37.     Topali, D., Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, the Enforcement of the Global Sulphur Cap in Maritime Transport, Maritime Business Review, doi.org/10.1108/MABR-12-2018-0050

38.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., Panagakos, G., Kronbak, J., 2019, Policy measures to avert possible modal shifts caused by Sulphur regulation in the European Ro-Ro sector, Transportation Research Part D 70, 1–17.

39.     Lindstad, E., Borgen, H., Eskeland, G., Paalsson, C., Psaraftis, H.N., Turan, O., 2019, The Need to Amend IMO’s EEDI to Include a Threshold for Performance in Waves (Realistic Sea Conditions) to Achieve the Desired GHG Reductions, Sustainability 11, 3668; doi:10.3390/su11133668.

40.     Panagakos, G., de Sousa Pessoa, T., Barfod, M., Desypris, N., Psaraftis, H.N., 2019, Monitoring the Carbon Footprint of Dry Bulk Shipping in the EU: An Early Assessment of the MRV Regulation, Sustainability, 11, 5133; doi:10.3390/su11185133.

41.     (BOOK) Psaraftis, H.N.(ed), Sustainable Shipping: A Cross-Disciplinary View, Springer, 2019.

42.     Psaraftis, H.N., Lagouvardou, S., 2019, Market Based Measures for the reduction of green house gas emissions from ships: a possible way forward, Samfundsøkonomen 4/19, 60-70.

43.     Psaraftis, H. N., Woodall, P., 2019, Reducing GHGs: the MBM and MRV agendas, chapter in Sustainable shipping: a cross-disciplinary view. H.N. Psaraftis (ed.), Springer.

44.     Psaraftis, H.N., Zachariadis, P. 2019, The way ahead, chapter in Sustainable shipping: a cross-disciplinary view. H.N. Psaraftis (ed.), Springer.

45.     Psaraftis, H.N. 2020, Energy Efficiency of Ships, chapter in R. Vickerman (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Transportation, Elsevier.

46.     Psaraftis, H.N., Kontovas, C.A., 2020, Influence and Transparency at the IMO: the Name of the Game. Maritime Economics and Logistics, Vol. 22, issue 2, 151-172.

47.     Wang, S., Zheng, L., Psaraftis, H.N., 2020, Three potential benefits of the EU and IMO’s landmark efforts to monitor carbon dioxide emissions from shipping, Frontiers of Engineering Management, https:// doi.org/10.1007/s42524-020-0096-2

48.     Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2020, A Literature Survey on Market-Based Measures for the Decarbonization of Shipping, Sustainability, 12(10), 3953; doi.org/10.3390/su12103953

49.     Tillig, F., Ringsberg, J., Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2020, Reduced environmental impact of marine transport through speed reduction and wind assisted propulsion, Transportation Research Part D,  83, DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2020.102380.

50.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., Tillig, F., Ringsberg, J., 2020, Decarbonizing maritime transport: A RoPax case study. Research in Transportation Business and Management, Volume 37, December 2020, 100565.

51.     Solakivi, T., Panagakos, G., Psaraftis, H.N., 2020, Backshift effects of Sulphur Emission Regulation in Baltic Sea Ro-Ro Traffic, TRA 2020 conference, Helsinki, Finland, April 2020.

52.     Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., 2020, The role of Market Based Measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships , IAME 2020 conference, Hong Kong, China, June 2020.

53.     Psaraftis, H.N., (2021), Shipping decarbonisation: overcoming the obstacles. Chapter in the Third edition of the Handbook of Maritime Economics and Business, C. Grammenos, Editor,  Lloyd’s List, Routledge/Taylor and Francis.

54.    Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2021 , Moving perishable cargoes and decarbonization targets of shipping, TRB conference, 2021.

55.    Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2021, Investigation of the short term impacts of the implementation of a bunker levy in the shipping sector, IAME 2021 conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 2021.

56.    Tan, R., Psaraftis, H.N., 2021, Optimal fuel mix under an environmental constraint, IAME 2021 conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 2021.

57.     Psaraftis, H.N., Kontovas, C.A., 2021, Decarbonization of maritime transport: Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Sustainability 13, 237. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010237

58.     Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2021, Impact assessment of a mandatory operational goal-based short-term measure to reduce GHG emissions from ships: the LDC/SIDS case study, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 21,  445–467, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-020-09523-2

59.     Zisi, V., Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2021, The impact of the global sulfur cap on CO2 emissions, Maritime Business Review, https://doi/10.1108/MABR-12-2020-0069

60.     Wang, S., Zheng, L., Psaraftis, H.N., Yan, R., 2021, Implications of the EU’s inclusion of maritime transport in Emissions Trading System for shipping companies, Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2021.01.007

61.     Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., Lagouvardou, S., 2021, A comparative evaluation of Market Based Measures for shipping decarbonization, Maritime Transport Research, Volume 2, 2021, 100019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.martra.2021.100019

62.     Zis, T., Psaraftis, H.N., 2021, Impacts of short‑term measures to decarbonize maritime transport on perishable cargoes, Maritime Economics and Logistics, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41278-021-00194-7

63.     Wang, S., Psaraftis, H.N., Qi, J., 2021. Paradox of International Maritime Organization's carbon intensity indicator. Communications in Transportation Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commtr.2021.100005

64.     Psaraftis, H. N., 2021, Shipping decarbonization in the aftermath of MEPC 76, Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clscn.2021.100008

65.     Yan, R., Wang, S., Psaraftis, H.N., 2021, Data analytics for fuel consumption management in maritime transportation: Status and perspectives, Transportation Research Part E, Volume 155, 102489, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102489

66.     Qi, J., Wang, S., Psaraftis, H.N. 2021, Bi-level optimization model applications in managing air emissions from ships: A review. Communications in Transportation Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commtr.2021.100020

67.     Tan, R., Psaraftis, H.N., Wang, D.Z.W, 2022, The speed limit debate: Optimal speed concepts revisited under a multi fuel regime, Transportation Research Part D, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103445

68.     Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., Zis, T., 2022, Impacts of a bunker levy on decarbonizing shipping: a tanker case study, Transportation Research Part D, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103257

69.     Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., 2022,  Implications of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) on European container routes: a carbon leakage case study, Maritime Transport Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.martra.2022.100059

70.  Lagouvardou, S., Psaraftis, H.N., 2022, Shipping decarbonization: the MBM track, Proceedings, Annual Conference 2022, Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology, Athens, Greece, 22-23 November.

71.     Lagemann, B., Lagouvardou, S., Lindstad, E., Fagerholt, K., Psaraftis, H.N., Erikstad, S-O., 2023, Optimal ship lifetime fuel and power system selection under uncertainty, Transportation Research Part D,       https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2023.103748 

72.     Lagouvardou, S., Lagemann, B., Psaraftis, H.N., Lindstad, E., Erikstad, S-O., 2023, Marginal abatement cost of alternative marine fuels and the role of market-based measures, Nature Energy, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01334-4

73.   Zhen, L., Yuan, Y., Zhuge, D., Psaraftis, H-N., & Wang, S., 2023, Subsidy strategy design for shore power utilization and promotion, Maritime Policy and Management, https://doi.org/10.1080/03088839.2023.2263010