Emissions from international shipping in the Belgian part of the North Sea and the Belgian seaports

The objective of this study is to estimate the atmospheric emissions by international merchant shipping of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) during 1 year in the Belgian part of the North Sea, including the four Belgian seaports: Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend and Zeebrugge. The estimated emissions are based on a bottom-up, activity-based methodology (Group 1), covering more than 90% of shipping activity, complemented with a top-down fuel consumption methodology for the remaining activities. In total, an estimate of 1880 kton CO2, 31 kton SO2 and 39 kton NOX is emitted over the period April 2003 until March 2004. Compared to national inventories (2003 data) this accounts to 1.5% for CO2, 30% for SO2 and 22% for NOX of total emissions of these gases in Belgium. When the CO2 figure is compared with the current estimate of CO2 emissions from international shipping, based on sold bunker fuels (22 754 kton CO2), the relevance of a detailed and precise emission inventory becomes clear. In the end, the Belgian estimates are validated by comparing them with Dutch, EU and international emission estimates.