Project Name: Evaluation, control and Mitigation of the EnviRonmental impacts of shippinG Emissions
Project Acronym: EMERGE
Project Website
EMERGE is an innovative 4-year project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme. The project aims at quantifying and evaluating the effects of potential emission reduction solutions for shipping in Europe and developing effective strategies and measures to reduce the environmental impacts of shipping. EMERGE will systematically analyze the complex interactions between technological options, pollutant emissions and dispersion, and the environment.
The project will include measurements and modelling of actual vessels. Those will focus on abatement techniques and will include emissions to, and concentrations in water, air, and marine biota. A wide spectrum of models will be used, including those for ocean circulation, biogeochemical processes, atmospheric dispersion, and the bioaccumulation of pollutants.
EMERGE includes five geographical case studies, in different ecologically vulnerable regions, and a mobile onboard case study. The case study regions are (i) Eastern Mediterranean (port of Piraeus), (ii) Northern Adriatic Sea (the city of Venice), (iii) the region surrounding the Lagoon of Aveiro, (iv) the Solent Strait (including the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth) and (v) the Öresund Strait. The mobile onboard case study will be deployed in various European sea regions.
EMERGE will develop an integrated modelling framework to assess the combined impacts of shipping emissions on the aquatic and atmospheric environments, and the effects on marine ecosystems. The assessment will include the benefits and costs of control and mitigation options affecting water quality, air pollution exposure, health impact, climate forcing and bioaccumulation of pollutants. EMERGE will provide recommendations and guidance for stakeholders and decision-makers on cost-beneficial options for sustainable use of shipping on the medium and long term.
