The Department for Transport (DfT) is working on a new service to monitor CO2 emissions from ships.
It has carried out a discovery project and is now seeking support for an alpha phase, with the option to move to beta, for the UK Ship Emissions Reporting Service (UK-SERS).
The DfT’s maritime environment team is looking to establish what a minimum viable product will look like, with a need to receive and store data on annual CO2 emissions from ship operators whose vessels call at UK ports.
This derives from the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) regime that has been continued since the UK left the EU, and is likely to be a component of any future maritime emission trading scheme.
The market notice says: “The service needs to be able to analyse, interpret and publish emissions data. It should also provide an improved user experience to that offered by the European Commission’s THETIS-MRV digital service, used by vessels within scope of the equivalent EU MRV regime.”
Target dates
DfT is aiming to have a minimum viable product, which would comply with the requirements of the Central Digital and Data Office, in place before the end of the first quarter of 2023. If this is not possible it wants the service to be ready in time to receive emissions reports in the first quarter of 2024.
It will involve ship operators, for whom the first reporting period for the UK MRV is this calendar year, being able to complete their emissions reports, have them verified by a third party then upload them into the new system.
This will enable DfT policy officials to analyse and publish the data and use it in future climate change policy.
