Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) policy innovation in

petrochemicals river barge transportation
Marina Mihajlovi
ca Jovanovi
c b, *, Radmilo Pesi

c a, Mi
c c, Jovan Jovanovi

c a,
Zorica Milanovi

cd
a
Innovation Center, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
b
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
c
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia
d
Institute of Transportation CIP, Nemanjina 6/IV, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The aim of this paper was to emphasise the need for a volatile organic compounds VOC policy review in
Received 25 October 2013 the field of river barge transportation of petrochemicals. Review of the VOC policy shows that barges
Received in revised form neither fall under an integrated pollution prevention and control permit nor any other regulation or
2 February 2015
incentive related environmental policy. Current situation and trend in this area is presented through a
Accepted 19 April 2015
case study of the Danube River, Serbia. The case study shows that evaporative losses have increased c ca
Available online 30 April 2015
22 times in period 2006e2010 and, that vapour collection system can reduce VOC emissions by up to 3
times. A proposal for improved VOC policy has been developed in detail based on the following ele-
Keywords:
VOC emissions
ments: a) The appropriate Best Available Techniques reference document (BREF) should include the
Barge transport transport sector; b) Mandatory reporting of VOC emitted during barge transport of crude oil and crude oil
Eco-charges derivates should be introduced, and c) A pollution charge should be introduced on all barges without
vapour collection system installed “onboard”. Three potential scenarios for the VOC charge are presented,
which vary according to the charge introducing dynamics. The differences between scenarios are in
initial levels of charge, but the final charge is same for all three and it is proposed to be 220 V per ca-
pacity ton.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Waterway transport of crude oil derivates is increasing, it is
considered to be safe and inexpensive. For example, one barge
carries the same amount of cargo as 46 rail wagons or 144 semi-
tractor/trailers (U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime
Administration, 1994, the Texas Transportation Institute, 2007).
The European waterways are 37,000 km long and they connect
hundreds of cities and industrial regions. Some 20 out of 27 EU
Member States have inland waterways (EC, 2013). The most
important inland waterways in Europe are the Rhine and the
Danube Rivers. Accompanying the development of EU environ-
mental regulations, chemical industries (including oil refineries)
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ381 3303699.
E-mail addresses: msavic@tmf.bg.ac.rs (M. Mihajlovi
c), mica@tmf.bg.ac.rs
(M. Jovanovi

c), radmilo@sbb.rs (R. Pesi

c), milanovicz@sicip.co.rs (Z. Milanovi

c).
have moved to Eastern Europe. Hence, there is a potential for sig-
nificant increases in the transportation of crude oil derivates.
Crude oil and its derivates are a significant source of NMVOC, i.e.,
volatile organic compounds without methane. Methane is excluded
because its main sources are mostly agricultural and it has a
different environmental impact (IMPEL, 2000). NMVOC can be
released in any stage e from drilling to the final use. In the pro-
duction chain of crude oil derivates, the main sources of NMVOC are
diffuse emissions. Diffuse emissions are all emissions from large
non e point sources, e.g., leakages from equipment (i.e., fugitive
emissions), loading and unloading operations, evaporation losses
from storage tanks and waste water treatment. For regional air
pollution inventories of VOC, emissions from area sources are a very
important component (Placet et al., 2000). Some of the VOC,
particularly benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene (BTEX), are
marked as highly toxic or are a carcinogen. Among these pollutants,
benzene is the most hazardous (Ashford and Caldart, 2001). Ac-
cording to the World Health Organisation, benzene is classified as a
carcinogenic and mutagenic substance (WHO, 2000). Due to its

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.080
0959-6526/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1560 M. Mihajlovi
c et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567
properties, the EU air quality standards set the limit value for
benzene concentrations in ambient air at 5 mg/m3 by 1 January 2010
(EC, 2008). Several authors presented health risk assessments for
benzene-exposed oil refinery workers (Jackson, 2006, Majumdar
(nee
Som) et al., 2008; Tompa et al., 2005; Widner et al., 2011). In
addition, VOC have effects on the global environment because of
the production of photochemical smog and ground level ozone
(Rypdal et al., 2005). Atmospheric concentrations of hydrocarbons
levels that surround the oil and petrochemical industry were
investigated in a number of studies (Cetin et al., 2003; Na et al.,
2001; Kalabokas et al., 2001; Rao et al., 2005; Ras-Mallorqui
et al., 2007; Lin et al., 2004).
In literature, the environmental impact of waterway transport
has hitherto dealt mainly with emissions of exhaust gases from the
diesel engines of barges and ships (Eyring et al., 2010; IIASA, 2007;
Corbett and Fischbeck, 2000; Tzannatos, 2010). On the other hand,
much less attention has been paid to the pollution that may occur
as a result of diffuse emissions during the transportation of liquid
commodities, such as loading, unloading and transit emissions. It is
considered that gasoline and crude oil loading emissions represent
0.07% and 0.8%, respectively, of all annual emissions of VOC in the
EU (Rudd and Hill, 2001). River transport is much more environ-
mentally significant than marine transport because its pollution
can have a direct effect on the neighbouring environment by
affecting the coastal air quality. Very few inquiries have been
realised on this topic (Bhatia and Dinwoodie, 2004; Harrison, 2011;
US Office of Environmental Assessment, 2010). In 2009 the US EPA
conducted an investigation of fugitive emissions from petrochem-
ical transport barges. The study concluded that the total leak rate
from a barge ranged from 1.13 g/s to 6.24 g/s (Thoma et al., 2009).
A goal of this paper is to analyse the need for VOC policy
innovation in river transport of oil derivates, keeping in mind that
NMVOCs are a dominant component of related diffuse emissions.
With this aim, a review of the VOC policy in Europe and the USA has
been made. A case study of oil derivates transport emissions on the
Danube River in Serbia is performed in order to describe the current
situation and trend in this area. If the current environmental policy
does not cover river transport of oil derivates, this paper will
recommend relevant policy improvements. Because rivers often
pass through densely populated areas e including established
agricultural and food production regions e the VOC policy im-
provements could be of a great environmental and economic
importance.
2. Review of the VOC policy
In the EU, emissions from industrial sources are regulated by a
number of directives. One of the most important is The Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive. It aims at mini-
mising pollution from various industrial activities and is based on
an integrated approach and application of the best available tech-
niques (BAT). Large industrial installations covered by the IPPC
Directive require an environmental permit. The environmental
permit must include emission limit values and requirements for the
monitoring of emissions and reporting to authorities
(Schoenberger, 2009; Samarakoon and Gudmestad, 2011). Several
authors analysed the success of IPPC requirements in different in-
dustry areas (Bello Bugallo et al., 2013; Silvo et al., 2009; Styles
et al., 2009).
Reducing VOC emissions originating from petroleum products is
regulated in two phases. In the first phase, according to the
Directive on VOC emissions resulting from storage and distribution
of petrol (EC, 1994), all terminals should apply emission reduction
measures and Vapour Recovery Units (VRU) or Vapour Recovery
Systems (VRS). However, this does not apply to top-loading tankers,
as long as such loading systems are permitted. The European Union
Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environ-
mental Law e IMPEL (2000) has announced the publication of the
EU Directive on barge loading regulations; however, it has not
materialized yet. In the second phase, all service stations should
have built VRU systems. The Directive related to the quality of
petrol and diesel fuel set the benzene content of motor fuels at up
to 1.0% (v/v) (EC, 2003).
It could be concluded that the IPPC Directive and VOC related
Directives do not cover transportation emissions, only loading
emissions. The aim of this paper is to show that there is a need to
realise policy improvements in this area.
The UN-ECE Convention on long-range transboundary air
pollution (LRTAP) should also be mentioned. In order to shift policy
focus from a pollutant-oriented approach to an effects-oriented
approach, the Convention Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutro-
phication and Ground-level ozone was adopted in 1999. It aims at
reducing the emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic
compounds and ammonia from industry, motor vehicles, agricul-
ture and products. In the EU there is no conformity on the amount
of VOC emissions that are considered relevant. The emission
threshold limit for reporting the emissions is 1 tonne/a per product
unit in the UK and 100 tonne/a per product unit in the Netherlands.
In an IMPEL Network paper concerning diffuse VOC emissions, it
was concluded that emission levels of 10e100 tonne/a could be
considered as relevant (IMPEL, 2000).
In the USA, abatement and regulation of diffuse emissions has
been common practice for about 20e30 years (IMPEL, 2000).
However, the USA legislation does not apply directly to ships,
placing the requirements on technical regulations. The pressure on
ship operators to fit the required vapour collection and transfer
facilities is commercial. Without the required vapour collection
systems (hereinafter VCS), ship operators would not be able to do
business with US terminals. In the report “Measures to Reduce
Emissions of VOC during Loading and Unloading of Ships in the EU”
that was written for the European Commission, it concluded that:
“While VOCs emitted during transport may form a significant pro-
portion of total VOC emissions from ships this is an operational matter
on which it would not be appropriate for the European Community to
regulate” (Rudd and Hill, 2001). Similarly to the USA, it was
concluded that ships not equipped with appropriate equipment
would not be able to load cargo.
In order to achieve certain environmental goals, economic
measures are frequently envisaged and introduced. Among the
most widespread economic measures are eco-taxes and charges.
Environmental charges are viewed as the most expected tool for
environmental and natural resource policy and are used as a
reference point for the design of other measures (Sterner, 2003).
Incentive taxes are, in general, environmentally effective when the
tax is sufficiently high to stimulate abatement measures or if it is
set equal to marginal social damage (Pigouvian tax) (Baumol and
Oates, 1971; Crawford and Smith, 1995). According to the Euro-
pean Oil Company Organisation for Environment, Health, and
Safety (CONCAWE), the main problem is that emission controls for
non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOC) at European ma-
rine gasoline-loading terminals would not be cost-effective even
for terminals with the very largest throughput (CONCAWE, 2002).
The introduction of new and improved technology could
significantly reduce VOC emissions (Jovanovic et al., 2010). Ac-
cording to the IPPC Directive, all large industrial facilities must
meet the requirements for environmental permit. This includes
application of VRU at loading facilities. Loading facilities represent
the boundaries of the system, although, according to cleaner pro-
duction principles, manufacturers are responsible for the entire life
cycle of a product. Thus, barges neither fall under an IPPC permit
 M. Mihajlovi
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nor any other regulation or incentive related policy. Existing
legislation covers barge loading facilities, but the question is
whether this area should expand to barges. Another important
question relates to reporting emissions to authorities. At this
moment, refineries and petrochemical plants have to submit re-
ports about storage and loading emissions, but they do not have an
obligation to submit reports related to transit emissions.
3. Estimation of VOC emissions
In order to prepare ground for a policy change in this area, a case
study concerning river transportation of petrochemical products in
Serbia has been analysed. The main waterway and the largest in-
ternational river in Serbia is the Danube. The greatest production
facility of the Serbian Oil Company is located in Pancevo, on the
River Danube, and almost all waterway transportations of oil and
derivates have been realised through the port of Pancevo.
3.1. Case study description
Barge diffuse emissions during transportation of crude oil and
its derivates are estimated based on the data provided by the
Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia. The obtained
information concerning import and export data of crude oil and
derivates include the barge name, port code, type of goods ac-
cording to European nomenclature, cargo mass and date and time
of entrance or exit. Data provided is for the period 2006e2010. The
mass of transported cargo is presented in Figs. 1 and 2. The number
of barge-travelling days during import was calculated using data
about entry into Serbia and the unloading of cargo in ports. The
numbers of days varied between one and 14. For export, the only
available data is the date of barge loading. Based on an expert
judgment, it was estimated that on average each barge travelled a
week before exiting Serbia.
It is important to note the increasing amount of imported
naphtha, or feedstock for the petrochemical industry. A similar
situation exists in the EU, with considerable quantities of naphtha
being shipped (Rudd and Hill, 2001). In addition, it is important to
note the import of 5285.7 tonnes of raw pyrolysis gasoline (RPG) in
2009. RPG is a by-product of ethylene production and contains up
to 70% of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene). These
highly volatile substances may have a serious impact on the
environment.
In 2009, 2010, significant quantities of gasoline blending com-
ponents were exported.
Fig. 1. Amount of imported crude oil and its derivates by inland barge transport.
1561
Fig. 2. Amount of exported crude oil and its derivates by inland barge transport.
Reid vapour pressure for naphtha, raw pyrolysis gasoline e RPG,
gasoline blending components and unleaded gasoline are, respec-
tively: 79.3, 48.3, 79.3 and 55.2 kPa. The true vapour pressures are
calculated using Equation (1) (CONCAWE, 2009):
TVP ¼ RVP$10½ð0:000007047$RVPþ0:01392Þ$Tþð0:0002311$RVP0:5236Þ
(1)
Diffuse emissions are very dependent on temperature. Since
travel time is relatively long, it is assumed that fluid temperature is
equal to the temperature of the river water. Mean average monthly
temperatures of the Danube are presented in RHMZ (2013) and
Samsalovic (2008).
3.2. Calculation methodology
The most significant diffuse emissions occurring during barge
transport are from transit and loading. Transit losses occur during
travel time and are dependent on the barge construction and the
fluid characteristics. Transit losses can be reduced by using modern
or current-specification barges, but cannot be completely pre-
vented. Loading losses occur during barge loading at ports. Diffuse
emissions are difficult to measure, but they can be estimated (Placet
et al., 2000; Thoma et al., 2009). The most widely used method-
ology for an estimation of diffuse emissions is the application of
emission factors AP-42, recommended by US EPA. In this paper,
besides US EPA AP-42 emission factors, CONCAWE emission factors
proposed by the EU were used. Transit losses are estimated using
the US EPA AP e 42 emission factors, according to Equation (2) (US
EPA, 2008):
LT ¼ 0:1$TVP$rg (2)
where:
LT e transit loss, lb/week per 103 gal transported
TVP e True Vapour Pressure, psi
rg e density of the condensed vapours, lb/gal
Barge loading emissions were calculated using US EPA AP e 42
and CONCAWE emission factors (US EPA, 2008; CONCAWE, 2009).
The calculated loading emissions based on US EPA emissions
factors for derivates other than gasoline were obtained using
Equation (3):
1562 M. Mihajlovi
c et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567

S$TVP$Mg
LL1 ¼ 12:46 (3)
T

where:

LL1 e loading loss, lb/103 gal

S e a saturation factor
TVP e True Vapour Pressure, psi
Mg e molecular weight of vapours, pounds per pound-mole (lb/
lb-mole)

For gasoline, loading emissions were calculated using an emis-

sion factor of 465 mg/l transferred (US EPA, 2008).
Based on the CONCAWE emissions factors, loading losses are
calculated according to the Equation (4):

LL2 ðkgÞ ¼ EFLOAD $VLOAD $TVP (4) Fig. 3. Barge transit losses.

where:
EFLOAD ¼ Emission Factor 7.45∙103.
VLOAD ¼ Volume of product loaded (in m3).
TVP ¼ True Vapour Pressure of product at the loading temper-
ature (in kPa).
Equations (3) and (4) should be expanded with expression 5, if
the barge has installed VCS and VRU is used.
 
Eeff
1
100
where:
Eff is the overall reduction efficiency, calculated as 99% of the
control efficiencies  70% of the collection efficiencies.
Loading emissions were calculated for two extreme cases, i.e.,
case a) all the barges have VCS installed and VRU is used and case b)
none of the barges have it.
Emissions from pipelines are very small because pipes are
closed systems and are considered essentially emissions free
(EMEP/CORINAIR, 2006). In addition, there are no emissions from
barges during unloading, as the liquid load is replaced by air (US
EPA, 2008).
3.3. Results and discussion
Barge transit losses are shown in Table 1.
After 2008, the amount of transported volatile derivates
increased significantly. Therefore, the amounts of VOC emitted into
the environment increased. The amounts of evaporative losses that
occurred during barge petrochemical transport (including both,
export and import) are shown in Fig. 3.
Barge loading losses involve only loading of derivates for export.
During import, barge unloading diffuse emissions were minor since
air or an inert gas is drawn into the tank. Literature data indicates
that the pressure inside a tank is always slightly below the atmo-
spheric pressure, resulting in a net inflow of air into the tank.
Emissions could occur if an inert gas was pumped into a tank at an
excessive rate during unloading, which would be an example of bad
practice (Rudd and Hill, 2001). Annual losses of crude oil derivates
(5)
during loading into barges are given in Table 2.
Volatile derivate losses in relation to the total transported
amount of a given derivate are given in Table 3.
The obtained data shows that transport losses of volatile crude
oil derivates are 0.03e0.09 % of the cargo volume. The results are in
accordance with the results of Bhatia and Dinwoodie (2004) who
calculated that evaporative loss represents 0.13% of the cargo vol-
ume, which consists of loading (0.033%), loaded voyage (0.015%)
and discharge (0.079%) with a further 83 metric tonnes emitted
during the ballast voyage. It should be noted that discharge losses
do not occur in the present case because river barges do not have
ballast water in the storage compartments and therefore there are
no ballast losses.
Although, the total losses during barge loading and transport
are only 0.03e0.09 % of transported amount of fluid, they should
not be neglected. The data should be analysed in terms of the
absolute number. For example, barge inland transportation of
coke and refined petroleum products was 32,978,000 tonnes in
2009 in the EU. If only a quarter of this was made up of volatile
derivates, the emissions would be 4122 tonnes. Some derivates,
e.g., naphtha and RPG may contain very high amounts of harmful

Table 1
Crude oil derivates transit losses, kg.

Derivate 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Export Gasoline blending components / / / 2478.82 13,624.07

Distillate fuel oil No. 2 / / / 18.21 10.54
Naphtha / / / 5245.17 363.98
Residual oil No. 6 0.618 0.310 / 1.20 2.38
Unleaded gasoline / 2044.03 15,196.63 18,655.28 /
Import Distillate fuel oil No. 2 100.36 163.31 88.56 56.47 49.42
Naphtha / / / 10,980.3 38,737.7
Residual oil No. 6 / 0.715 0.184 / /
Middle distillates 988.92 / / / /
RPG / / / 1308.64 /
Crude oil 1301.19 1660.90 / / /
 M. Mihajlovi
c et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567 1563

Table 2
Crude oil derivates loading losses, kg.

AP-42 CONCAWE

Uncontrolled With VRU Uncontrolled With VRU

2006
Residual oil No. 6 2.54 0.764 0.478 0.143
2007
Unleaded gasoline 13,733.61 4120.08 4389.95 1316.98
Residual oil No. 6 1.04 0.31 0.20 0.06
2008
Unleaded gasoline 44,601.84 13,380.55 16,588.09 4676.43
2009
Gasoline blending components 15,887.15 4766.14 4957.38 1487.21
Unleaded gasoline 34,994.95 10,498.48 16,551.73 5027.54
Naphtha 12,949.65 3884.90 9576.03 2856.81
Distillate fuel oil No. 2 102.80 30.84 28.47 8.54
Residual oil No. 6 4.71 1.41 0.90 0.270
2010
Gasoline blending components 57,114.76 17,134.43 25,553.84 7666.15
Naphthaa 979.38 293.82 479.53 143.76
Distillate fuel oil No. 2 36.65 10.99 9.90 2.97
Residual oil No. 6 7.37 2.21 1.38 0.415
a
2010 Naphtha was transported only once.

aromatic compounds. If transportation of oil derivates increases
in volume, then the amounts of emitted VOC could be very large.
It is important to point out that when old barges are used (as on
the river Danube in Serbia) the tank seals are often damaged,
causing VOC emissions to be much higher than previously
calculated.
Case study results show that without appropriate controls,
evaporative emissions are likely to become a large environmental
problem in the near future. Barge loading and transport losses have
increased c ca 22 times during the period between 2006 and 2010.
4. Should the VOC policy be improved?
VOC emissions from barge transport do not fall under any
regulation as shown in Section 2 of this paper. Therefore, there is an
opportunity for policy improvements in this area.
A reduction of VOC emissions could be achieved by installing
VCSs and VRU as BAT technique; however the question of the
motivation for investment in the area remains (US EPA, 1995).
Installing VCS and VRU is considered as a medium to high cost
option. VCSs are generally required for transporters and cost for
ships that do not have inert gas systems installed are prohibitively
high. In AEA Technology Environment report, it was estimated that
the costs of ships' upgrading are approximately V2000 per tonne of
VOC abated. The report concluded that policy measures in other
sectors of the European economy would be more effective in
reducing VOC emissions than measures applied to the ship loading
of gasoline, crude oil and other petrol and chemical products (Rudd
and Hill, 2001). However, public pressure may be a significant
factor in the decision making process. This example is given in the
EMEP/EEA emission inventory guidebook (2009): “A study under-
taken for the European Commission (AEAT, 2001) in 2001 on emission
controls for sea-going vessels concluded that, at that time, the costs to
retrofit marine tankers with VCS and install shore-side vapour re-
covery units was not cost-effective. However, issues with local air
quality resulted in a ship-loading vapour-emission control system
being installed, e.g., at Gothenburg oil harbour”.
The current EU emission regulation policy can not be considered
as absolutely adequate and effective. At the moment, oil companies
do not have to pay for all the emissions of benzene and toluene,
which are proven to be harmful and carcinogenic substances. On
the contrary, pollution fees are introduced for methane and
ammonia emissions resulting from livestock production because
they contribute to the global warming. However, the harmful ef-
fects of aromatic hydrocarbons and their influence on photo-
chemical smog formation and human health must not be
overlooked. The damaging effects of VOC pollution have been well
known for decades. In a number of studies, the amount of monetary

Table 3
Losses of crude oil derivates, %.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Average

Unleaded gasoline Transit losses / 0.010 0.021 0.034 / 0.022

Loading losses AP-42, without VRU / 0.062 0.062 0.064 / 0.063
AP-42, with VRU / 0.019 0.019 0.019 / 0.019
CONCAWE, without VRU / 0.020 0.023 0.030 / 0.024
CONCAWE, with VRU / 0.006 0.007 0.009 / 0.007
Gasoline blending components Transit losses / / / 0.010 0.015 0.013
Loading losses AP-42, without VRU / / / 0.083 0.064 0.074
AP-42, with VRU / / / 0.025 0.019 0.022
CONCAWE, without VRU / / / 0.026 0.029 0.028
CONCAWE, with VRU / / / 0.008 0.009 0.0085
Naphtha Transit losses / / / 0.026 0.024 0.025
Loading losses AP-42, without VRU / / / 0.064 0.064 0.064
AP-42, with VRU / / / 0.019 0.019 0.019
CONCAWE, without VRU / / / 0.047 0.031 0.039
CONCAWE, with VRU / / / 0.014 0.009 0.011
1564 M. Mihajlovi
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damage caused by VOC emissions ranges from V 863 per tonne
(TME, 2002) to V 1572 (EFTEC, 2000). In a paper by Spadaro and
Rabl (1999), typical damage costs per kg of VOC pollutant, based
on ExternE (1998) was calculated in an amount of 0.9 V, which is a
range of the previous figures.
Due to the fact that VOC emissions are considered as ozone
precursors, most of the damage caused by them is related to human
health and agriculture (Rypdal et al., 2005). Serbia proves to be an
evident case because the inland waterways used for petrochemicals
transport are surrounded by the most densely populated urban
areas and the most productive agricultural regions. Therefore, a
proposal for an improvement of the national environmental policy
has been put forward. An introduction of a pollution charge on all of
the barges that do not have/use VCS and VRU is a cornerstone of the
policy improvement.
A realistic situation assessment could be established based on
the remark from the EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory
Guidebook (2006): “Vapour return/recovery systems are not very
common. Sometimes, the controls are installed but not used, according
to M. Wyser (pers. communication) inland tankers on the Rhine River
are equipped with vapour balancing systems but the systems are not
used”. In the new version of the Emission Inventory Guidebook
(2009), this sentence is omitted. It could be assumed that the sit-
uation on the Rhine has changed for the better. However, the sit-
uation in Serbia with barges on the Sava and the Danube Rivers is
not comparable. The Serbian barge fleet is very old, and it is
reasonable to assume that the barges do not have vapour balancing
systems. As results presented in Tables 2 and 3 show VCS can
reduce VOC emissions by up to 3 times. On the other hand, large
diffuse emissions can be related to the age and maintenance con-
dition of the barges. Emissions from old barges, with poor seals,
could be much larger, probably similar to the level of open tank
emissions. Based on expert opinion, VOC emissions from old barges
may be up to several times higher than emissions from new barges.
Despite the fact that some of the neighbouring countries are EU
members, it seems justified to assume that a similar situation
prevails in all South East and East European countries (Kaldellis,
2007).
It may be concluded that the current VOC regulation policy is
inadequate. It seems reasonable to assume that the barge's real
emissions, from both transit and loading, are higher than the
calculated emissions. Higher emissions may occur from old barges,
as is common in South and East Europe; most of them are obsolete
with poor sealing. Barge modernization and investment in pro-
tective equipment is a very slow process even in West Europe
(EMEP/CORINAIR, 2006). Therefore, environmental incentive
measures are expected to improve the situation.
Fig. 4. Expansion of the “Polluter Pays” principle e a way for improvement of the VOC policy.
5. VOC policy improvement
Three policy innovations may be considered as potential
improvements:
1. The appropriate BAT reference document (BREF) should include
the transport sector;
2. Mandatory reporting of VOC emitted during barge transport of
crude oil and crude oil derivates;
3. A pollution charge should be introduced on all barges without
VCS installed “onboard”.
Nowadays, terminals under the IPPC regulation are obligated to
use BAT techniques along with mandatory reporting of the emis-
sions. However, the transport between two terminals is not covered
by appropriate regulations, such as the “Polluter Pays” principle
(Fig. 4). Introducing of a transport sector into the BREF aims at
modernizing the fleet and imposing an obligation for the VRU use.
Mandatory reporting of the VOC emitted during barge navigation
would enable VOC emissions from a barge to be monitored.
Simultaneously, mandatory reporting would be introduced for all
the local refineries, in order to collect the exact data about potential
VOC emissions.
The VOC policy improvement may be realised by forcing
barge owners to upgrade their barges with VCSs and by the intro-
duction of mandatory reporting of emissions to the authorities
(Fig. 5).
A VOC charge has also been envisaged. The aim of the measure
would be not only to promote the “Polluter Pays” principle, but also
to exert pressure on ship-owners to introduce new vessels or to
upgrade the existing ones.
The weak points of the proposed measures are:
A) Including a transport sector policy in the BREF could be a
long, time consuming process, but without a real outcome at
the end,
B) Strengths of mandatory reporting are fast implementation
and the use of easy, inexpensive calculation methods, how-
ever the weaknesses can be found in an inconsistency of the
calculation methods.
C) A VOC charge could be a burden to ship-owners.
Based on listed characteristics, it could be concluded that no
single measure alone would give good results. The best way may be
a combination of all three measures with each measure imple-
mented on a separate timeline. The introduction of mandatory
reporting to the authorities could be introduced in the first year. On
 M. Mihajlovi
c et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567 1565

Fig. 5. Policy improvement scheme.

the other hand, an inclusion of transport sector policy into the BREF would ensure implementation of all BREF changes and mandatory
documents would be a slow process. Between the first and the final VOC reporting.
year of policy implementation a progressive VOC charge is to be It should be noted that the proposed improvements may have
introduced. potentially wide spatial scale across Europe. The BREF documents
All ships and barges without a vapour collection system should are adopted at the EU level and are implemented within national
be obliged to pay an annual VOC charge on a capacity basis via jurisdictions. Mandatory reporting is introduced through the Eu-
registration procedures. The same economic measure would also be ropean Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (e-PRTR) and
applied to the foreign vessels; however the amount would be executed by the national environmental protection agencies
calculated by the number of days spent in Serbian waters. For (collected data are sent to e-PRTR). Pollution charges would be
example, if the annual VOC emissions charge for domestic barges introduced on national levels, ideally in coordination with other
would be 120 V per capacity tonne, for a foreign barge that had countries, at a uniform level.
spent 60 days in Serbian inland waters, it would be 20 V per ca- Possible scenarios for the new policy implementation may differ
pacity tonne. If the VOC charge was introduced on the European only in the dynamics and in the level of pollution charges. The
level, which would be the optimal policy scenario, there would be national policy-makers can control only the envisaged VOC
no need for the national VOC charge on foreign vessels. charges, while BREF and mandatory reporting are determined and
A penalty for non-use of an existing vapour collection installa- controlled by the EU. Considering the worst case of the new policy
tion on vessels would also have to be introduced as a component of implementation only a few European countries would be willing to
the new policy, on the national, preferably on the international introduce the VOC charge. Under the scenario foreign vessels
level. coming from the countries without VOC charges would be obliged
Although the proposed VOC charge is unrelated to the exact to pay higher charges when navigating through the countries with
amount of emissions, it is easy to be implemented and monitored. It the charges. In that case the petrochemicals transport might be
is also considered stimulating for an introduction of a new fleet. relocated from barges to rail or trucks, and consequently coastal
However, the amount of charge, or the VOC pollution price, must be pollution would rise.
carefully determined in order to keep barge transport favoured In the best case scenario all the European countries would
over road and rail transport, but less favoured over pipeline introduce the VOC charge simultaneously and uniformly. As a
transport. consequence barge-owners would have to renew fleets or upgrade
A possibility of making the new instrument progressive remains existing barges, so the pollution would be reduced.
in a way similar to the German policy for vehicles using leaded In the most probable scenario fleet modernization would be a
petrol (Schnutenhaus, 1995). During the first year, leaded petrol slow, uneven and expensive process. Therefore it is reasonable to
price was increased by several percent, but later it continued to assume that it would happen first in the developed countries along
grow. After a while, leaded petrol became too expensive and ceased with the VOC charge introduction. Over the time, the same level of
to be sold. Similarly, in the first year, shipping companies should VOC charges would be introduced in the remaining countries,
pay a moderate VOC emission charge on the barges without VCS, which would encourage barge-owners to invest in environmental
but the charge should increase over time. This would give barge- protection, leaving enough time to implement all the remaining
owners time to adjust. After several years, old vessels are ex- measures.
pected to be completely decommissioned. Three potential sce-
narios for the VOC charge introduction are presented in Table 4. The
calculations were made upon the average prices of crude oil deri-
vates. The differences between scenarios are in initial levels of Table 4
VOC emission charge scenarios (V per capacity ton).
charge, but the final charge is same for all three. The “low” scenario
allows barge owner longer adaptation time, while the “high” sce- Years Low Medium High
nario forces them to act more quickly. 1 40 80 120
Based on the proposed policy innovation, a scenario analysis is 2 60 80 120
performed. Each of the proposed measures has different charac- 3 80 100 120
teristics and purposes. Introduction of the BREF changes could be 4 100 100 160
5 120 120 160
considered as a long term policy measure due to a formal adoption
6 140 140 180
procedure and the need for a grace period prior to implementation. 7 160 160 180
Alternatively mandatory VOC reporting could be introduced in the 8 180 180 180
short term. Both of the measures could be considered passive. The 9 200 200 200
10 220 220 220
third measure e introduction of charges for VOCs emissions e
1566 M. Mihajlovi
c et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 112 (2016) 1559e1567
6. Conclusion
Due to its location on one of the most important European
inland waterways, the Republic of Serbia is expecting a rapid
growth in transportation of crude oil and its derivates by ships and
barges. However, most of the vessels in service in South Eastern
Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, are obsolete and
without built in VCSs. Due to the impact of river transport on
coastal environments, and the fact that VOC emissions have been
proved to be harmful, the necessity for better regulation seems a
policy priority.
A case study of petrochemicals transport on Danube in Republic
of Serbia was done. Data showed increasing amounts of imported
highly volatile substances such as naphtha and raw pyrolysis gas-
oline. As a result of increased gasoline derivates transportation
barge loading and transport losses have increased c ca 22 times
during the period between 2006 and 2010. Comparison of esti-
mated emission calculation showed that VCS can reduce VOC
emissions by up to 3 times.
Based on the Serbian case study, a proposal for innovations in
environmental policy has been put forward, alongside with
mandatory reporting requirements. All ships and barges without
VCS should be obliged to pay an annual VOC charge on a capacity
basis as part of registration procedure. The aim of the policy is to
promote the “Polluter Pays” principle, and also to impose pressure
on ship-owners to introduce new vessels or to upgrade the existing
ones. The same economic measure would also be applied to the
foreign vessels; however the charge would be calculated by num-
ber of days spent in the country's inland waters. The level of charge
is envisaged to be progressive: initially low but subsequently
higher, in order to finally push vessels without VCS out of service.
Three potential scenarios for the VOC charge are presented, which
vary according to the charge introducing dynamics. The differences
between scenarios are in initial levels of charge, but the final charge
is same for all three and it is proposed to be 220 V per capacity ton.
A penalty for non-use of the previously installed vapour collecting
installations should also be introduced. The new policy is charac-
terised by a broader approach towards VOC polluters and by a strict
requirement for mandatory reporting.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Education, Science
and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia for the
support (grant number TR 34009 and OI 43007).
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