To Venice the pollution produced from the great cruise ships is diminished thanks to the fuel "green"



Although the traffic and the dimensions of the great cruise ships are in increase, amazingly in the lagoon of Venice record a reduction of the pollution. It evidences a study of the Institute of Sciences of the Atmosphere and Climate (ISAC) of the National Research Council (CNR) of C#lecce carried out in collaboration with the University House Foscari of Venice that is published on the magazine "Atmospheric Environment".

"The job - Daniele Contini has explained, investigator ISAC-CNR - has analyzed the data obtained in the summery period of 2007, 2009 and 2012 in the city area and has turned out that the impact of the naval traffic on the fine concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (Pm2.5) due to the senior issues, that is emitted as such from the fireplaces of the ships, it is diminished by 7% of 2007 to the 3,5% of 2012. In the same period, the tonnage associated to the naval traffic fleeting instead is increased of 47%".

"To determine this upturn - it has specified Contini - the fuel employment "green" to low sulfur content, in ottemperanza to the European normative new and second the Blue agreement "Venice which signed Flag" between local authorities (Common, Harbour Authority and Harbour office). For the first time the results show that the strategies of mitigation to international and local level, based on the reduction of the sulfur content in fuels to naval use, are effective in reducing the primary impact of the particulate matter and not only in pulling down the secondary impact of the sulfate and sulfur oxide concentrations".

The investigator of the ISAC-CNR has moreover emphasized that "the impact of the naval traffic is meaningfully greater on particles of small dimensions (ultraFini particles and nanoparticles) regarding particles of greater dimensions Pm2.5 or Pm10. A conclusion - it has specified Contini - online with the observations carried out in other ports of the Mediterranean basin, that it shows as the concentrations of such particles could be a more suitable parameter to the monitoring and the analysis of the impact of the naval traffic in the coastal areas".

The study is carried out in the within of the Poseidon project, financed from the European program Med (2007-2013) for the territorial and coordinated cooperation from Contini, that it sees the participation of the University of Venice, Patrasso (Greece) and the School of Medicines of Rijeka (Croatia). In the course of the project the search will be extended also to these others two harbour cities and Brindisi.