Health costs and economic impact of wind assisted ship propulsion

Abstract

World seaborne transportation is crucial for world trade and global economic growth. Shipping has been increasing since 2009, including oil & gas, dry bulk and container freight, and is very likely to continue this trend in the near future. However, international shipping also produces 2.7% of the world's total CO2 emissions, and globally, air pollutants emitted from international shipping are increasing due to the rise in trade. It is a well-established fact that Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) cause climate change and that air pollutants trigger a range of health issues for humans. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework, this paper will focus on a general assessment of the health-related externality of air pollution emitted from wind-assisted hybrid ship propulsion within two different emission reduction scenarios. The paper will further analyse the emission impact from both individual scenarios. A Chemical Transport Model (CTM) is used to estimate the realistic concentration of relevant air pollutants, and the Economic Valuation of Air-pollution Model (EVA) is applied to assessing the health-related economic externalities of air pollution.