2 BOATING EMISSIONS UNDER SCRUTINY
The government has begun a new consultation on exhaust emissions from leisure and commercial craft. The latest informationgathering exercise comes hot on the heels of a previous consultation on the future of red diesel, leading some motorboat owners to feel their hobby is under attack.
The consultation forms part of the Government’s Clean Air Strategy that covers all forms of transport on both land and sea. However, this is the first time that the UK government has specifically sought to quantify the effect of privately owned leisure craft in addition to larger commercial ships.
Its ultimate ambition is to achieve a zeroemissions maritime sector by 2050 through the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuels in boats.
The document, called Air Pollutant Emissions from Domestic Vessels and Inland Waterways — A Call for Evidence, is aimed at private vessel owners and operators as well as ports, marinas and interested bodies.
It claims the aim of the plan is to ‘promote innovation and encourage the uptake of zero emission technologies in the maritime sector, rather than prescribe a specific approach or set of measures for vessel owners and industry to take.’ However, many boat owners fear this may be the first step towards tighter government regulation of boat ownership.
The feedback they are asking for includes the size and characteristics of the sector, how effective the current rules on air pollution from vessels are, innovative approaches already being taken, and barriers to the introduction of new emissions-reduction technology.
To have your say go to: www.gov.uk/ government/consultations/domestic-shippingair-pollution-call-for-evidence
Although, HM Revenue & Customs’ consultation on banning the use of red diesel in private pleasure craft has now come to a close, no announcements have yet been made as to how or when the European Commission’s ruling will be applied in the UK.
The RYA continues to lobby for any new legislation to include a lengthy transition period to allow for changes in the supply chain and to acknowledge that traces of red diesel will be detectable in boat fuel systems for a considerable period of time after the change to white diesel.