Domestic shipping’s air pollution impact miscalculated for years

Shipping in UK waters releases far more air pollution than had been estimated, according to a consultancy.

Ricardo Energy & Environment, whose report for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was published on 15 December, has detailed serious and chronic failings in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). Its analysis shows that current emission figures are based on obsolete ship movement data that does not properly account for the full variety of vessels and routes.