iPACT webinar: Decarbonising maritime transport and the Impact of Tourism on Antarctica
Dr Keiron P Roberts
Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and the Built Environment, University of Portsmouth
Ships not only produce emissions when at sea, but also when they are in port. This is especially true for cruise ships as they continue to run their power-hungry systems during port calls. Such emissions not only contribute to climate change, but also to local air pollution, which harms human health. According to Transport & Environment, ships docking at Southampton released four times more nitrogen oxide than cars in the city.
To address these challenges to the environment and human health, ships in port could plug into electricity infrastructure on land instead of burning polluting fuel. Work is underway to bring shore power to three berths at Portsmouth international port as part of the £19.8 million Sea Change project involving partners including the University of Portsmouth and Brittany Ferries. (Dr Guy Collender, The Conversation Jan 2025 Five ways to cut emissions from shipping) Dr Keiron Roberts has been collecting environmental data to track local changes.
In late 2024 Keiron had the privilege of working alongside the amazing Royal Navy crew of HMS Protector in Antarctica, investigating the impacts of tourism on this pristine environment. He collected water samples around the Antarctic Peninsula to analyse for metals, nutrients, antimicrobial resistance, and microplastics.
Dr Keiron Roberts
Senior Lecturer in sustainability and the built environment at the University of Portsmouth teaching on several modules within Civil Engineering & Surveying. Within this role Dr Roberts also supports research and business engagement with the GreenTech South Innovation hub to help move businesses towards Net Zero.
He works within the Innovate UK funded SHAPE UK and SEA CHANGE projects. These projects aim to decarbonise shipping by engaging directly with technology specialists and end users.
Within the University Revolution Plastics institute, he has coordinated a marine plastic litter think piece for the G20 and UNEP IRP , and the UN's first Compass Report on policies to eliminate plastic polution. Outputs from this work have been reported in multiple Conversation pieces and articles.
Research and innovation areas of interest:
Penguin sighting in Antarctica - Bob Brewer Unsplash