CEDA: Energy Efficiency of Dredging Activities

The Central Dredging Association (CEDA) WG Energy Efficiency is well on track with its paper titled: ‘Energy Efficiency of Dredging Activities’.

The paper will cover the subject energy efficiency of dredging activities from a project – as well as an equipment related perspective.

For a project it is noted that the greatest opportunities regarding energy efficiency are in decisions made in the early phases of the project life-cycle. Therewith challenge is to mobilize relevant expertise regarding energy efficiency opportunities from the very first design phases, according to CEDA.

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) covering the construction-, maintenance – & end of life lifetime phases of dredging equipment clearly shows: It is (fossil) fuel consumption during the operational lifetime phase, together with the emissions related to this fuel consumption, that greatly dominates the environmental impact of dredging equipment over its entire life cycle.

Therewith, the relevance of energy efficiency of dredging equipment is substantiated within an ‘equipment perspective’, said CEDA.

Another example of an actual topic covered in the paper will be: ‘legislation’.

For illustration, most dredging equipment has to comply with international regulations as set by the International Marine Organization (IMO) and the national regulations as applicable for dredging projects.

The resulting complexity often stems from a difference in level of ambition regarding wanted reductions of fuel and related emissions.