Being an avid cruiser, I do wonder what impact a cruise ship has on the environment and on climate change. A lot it seems in terms of air born particulates from the burning of dirty fuels, the releasing of off-gas scrubber, food and sanitary wastes into the sea, running into whales and other fish while all the time generating tons and tons of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) contributing to global warming. The conclusions I get from watching the video below are that cruise ships are exempt from many environmental damage and GHG regulations, enforcement is particularly difficult on the open seas and that the overall problem is largely being ignored at present.
I did a search on Cruisecitic.com and could find only one users’ discussion thread asking if people felt guilty about cruising knowing that the ship damages the environment. The overall response was no. Hence there would appear to be very little consumer pressure on cruise lines for increasing their transparency and rate of progress toward improved environmental practices and obtaining net-zero operational carbon footprints.
Despite this scenario, cruise lines are making some improvements:
Converting to cleaner fuels such as low sulfur diesel and LNG
Connecting to shore power and turning of engines when in port
Buying wind farms as a carbon off-set to GHGs emission
Installing improved technology gas scrubbers and waste water treatment facilities
Researching carbon free propulsion systems in the longer term
So what to make of all this? People on cruises for the most part don’t care about the environmental damage their ship is doing. Nor do they want to know about it it seems. If they did, they would likely opt out of cruising as a protest. Hence, at present IMHO it is an oxymoron to go on cruises and say that you are concerned about the environment. I guess I am guilty!!
One way of starting to turn this around is to inform cruisers on board, what they can do to minimize their personal impact while on board: e.g., don’t run air conditioning with the balcony door open, turn off lights when leaving cabin, recycle towels longer, don’t waste food, recycle things, how to carbon off-set a cruise etc..
A more controversial measure might be to implement an “environmental tax” on individual cruises that would vary with the cruise line environmental practice rating (currently Disney is doing best at D-, Carnival and Royal Caribbean got an F, according to Friends of the Earth). Also increasing fines and publicizing cruise ship environmental violations would help cruisers make more informed decisions about who to cruise with. Not good for overall cruise business for sure. However just to start discussing the subject is a first step forward. Anyone want to go on a discussion themed cruise to get the ball rolling? Any other good ideas out there folks?
Having just returned from 3 months in Mexico, I am convinced we have to totally rethink our lifestyle in Canada. In Mexico our default mode of transport was our feet. We walked everywhere and when we couldn’t, (too far, with friends, grocery runs, etc.) we took a bus, Uber or cab. Yes, I can hear the yeah, buts….it’s different here.
When we got back to Winnipeg, we saw the 8 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic on Portage Ave going zoom, zoom, zoom and it suddenly dawned on me. We have to rethink and change our lifestyle, no matter how uncomfortable this will be. In Canada our default mode of transport is of course the private car powered by hydrocarbon based fuels. For those of you who already ‘get it’, ie what follows from this, congratulations! For you others, please read on.
As I learned from Mark Carney in his recent book Values, in order to limit global temperature rise to 2 Deg C from pre-industrial levels the world has a global carbon emissions budget. That is in terms of the amount of GHGs (greenhouse gases like CO2) released. These gases absorb or reflect heat back to earth causing increasing global temperatures which are leading to rising sea levels and more frequent raging wild fires, extreme heat events, droughts, floods, tornados, etc..
In fact each country has its own “carbon emissions budget“ and Canada is using its up already whether we are cognizant of this or not. We have to start designing communities so that the default mode of transportation can be walking and public transit again. A private car would only be used when other options are not viable. e,g, a road trip, commute to work. Apart from the GHG saving effects, we have found we are happier and healthier whenever we walk somewhere or take public transit- it simplifies things.
What about airline travel and discretionary cruises etc.? Economics can handle this in my view by increasing the cost of carbon emissions significantly thus deterring more and more of us from these types of activities. Heating your house you say. Zero emission electricity is the long term answer. Intercity travel? Busses, trains and zero emission cars.
My neighbour’s zero emission Hyundai Ionic
Progress is being made. The cost of batteries, solar cells and wind turbines has fallen dramatically. Carbon capture technologies are proving more feasible. Companies and governments are starting to publicly explain how and when they will attain net zero operations. Incentives to purchase zero emission vehicles are here. So before you hop in the car without thinking, how about considering other options … such as walking more often.
Clearing Imperial Oil refinery site at Ioco, 1914. (City of Vancouver Archives)
Ioco (Imperial Oil Co) Refinery was built in 1914 in Port Moody (Vancouver), BC and closed in 1995 when it was converted to a petroleum products terminal. I worked there as a chemical process engineer from 1974-78. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Ioco Refinery circa 1923
The refinery converted 40,000 bbl/day of light Alberta crude oil to a wide range of products including gasoline and diesel fuels, aviation and marine fuels, home heating oil, propane, butane, bunker fuels, asphalt and specialty chemicals like xylene. Crude oil arrived by pipeline; products were shipped out via pipeline, truck, rail, ship and barge. As such it was a small medium complex refinery. The diagram below is indicative of this facility. We did not produce petroleum coke or hydrogen.
I was contact engineer for the crude distillation unit and then subsequently for the amine treating and Claus sulfur plant. As contact engineer I was responsible for monitoring and reporting on the operation, dialoguing with the operators and equipment techs on issues as well as for special projects such as optimizing the thickness of insulation to install on heated oil tanks, designing pumping and product blender installations, etc. Below is the actual flow plan for Ioco Refinery prepared by Art Quan, P.Eng in 1974.
A good part of the job was problem solving. We were taught that “A problem is a deviation with a cause unknown.” We were given lot’s of training on how to solve problems. Example problems: “We are flairing off too much propane this week because the capacity of the merox treater is down;” or, “The output of the sulphur plant is low because we can’t control the air to H2S ratio accurately.” Fix it! You get the idea.
I remember my first day, entering the control room glittering with controls and screens, slide rule and text book in hand, thinking I was going to change the world. The operator looks up at me and scowls to himself, “not another green engineer that I’ll have to break in.” Well I quickly learned to be humble, ask questions, build trust and gradually the operators would open up and tell you what the problem was from their perspective e.g, “I can’t increase the flow to the crude unit without the safety valve blowing on the distillate recycle tank. Maybe the safety valve pressure setting should be checked.”
Ioco Terminal Today
Once the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union went on strike. I think it was over the imposition of wage and price controls by Pierre Trudeau. Well we engineers and management staff took over operating the refinery. I remember working 7 x 12 hour midnight shifts in a row. We would walk around the units checking the colour of a gauze indicator pinned to our jacket. If it started to turn brown you were in danger of being gassed to death by H2S. I got so tired and stressed out I had an anxiety attack and quit smoking for awhile. Probably a good thing, lol.
The best thing about working at Ioco was the people. I made so many friends there. We skied together, golfed, fished and partied. We had fun and felt a real calling to working there. I worked with some great engineers like Ron Brenneman who went on to become CEO of Petrocanada. Ditto Brant Sangster who became VP Marketing at Petrocanada. I met good friend Greg Walther who went on the manage the Coastal Refinery operations in Corpus Christi, TX. I remember working with John Hunter, a good engineer; Blake Forrest who was bright and good natured; senior engineer Les Gould who mentored me; supervisor Peter Ambrose who moved on to Syncrude; Bob Runge in the instrument shop; Ron Stalker chief of inspection who went to the same high school I did, became chief inspector at CITGO in LA and has passed away now; Ken Blowey (where are you Ken, people have been trying to reach you); supervisor Art Quan, Barry who I went fishing with (here fishey fishey) and Marilyn and Shelley in the office. Also refinery fire chief Al Sholund who authored local history including about Ioco oil tankers.
I also remember working with Chuck Chang who moved on to BC Hydro Gas, Eric Brown and Michel Poliquin in the computer group, Al Matsumoto with Reid Crowther Engineers, good friend Neil Nicholson from Newcastle on Tyne who moved back to the UK, Roy Warnock who went to Bechtel, Edmonton, Tom Mitchell who transferred to Dartmouth Refinery (and then worked with my university class buddy Gerry Sullivan as the CEO of Open Corporation) and, a slew of others. (If any of you and any other Ioco colleague I failed to mention are reading this please drop me a comment – thanks!)
Imperial Oil was and is an extremely well managed company. However it is a tough company not unwilling to make changes which affect people. After 4 years at the refinery, I moved to their Product Distribution Division for another 4 years.
Alex Pivarnyik was Refinery Manager and a compassionate leader
About the demise of Ioco Refinery. Remember that pipeline, the Trans Mountain that brought crude oil from Alberta? Well turns out it can also bring refined product. In 1976, Imperial built a brand new state of the art refinery in Edmonton. The Strathcona refinery was huge, first 120,000 bbl/day, then 165,000 bbl/day and now 187,000 bbl/day capacity. In 1995, Imperial Oil decided to shut down the relatively inefficient Ioco Refinery and ship refined petroleum products by pipeline from Strathcona and some by rail to Vancouver from Alberta. The cost of the landed product is less this way. So Ioco Refinery was permanently shutdown and dismantled at the end of 1995. A sad day for the hundreds of skilled employees that worked there for sure.
Two other Vancouver refineries were shut down leaving only one in operation (Parkland Fuels Corp.) Fast forward to 2019. The population of British Columbia has grown immensely, particularly the Lower Mainland. There is now a shortage of refined product which is filled by imports from Washington State. There is an industry perceived need for a new refinery to be built in Vancouver but the political, social and environmental forces arrayed against this are huge. Meanwhile, massive traffic jams, slow commutes, unaffordable housing and high priced fuels are common here.
Ioco Crude Unit c. 1977Ioco tank farm looking toward Belcarra c. 1977Ioco pipeway c. 1977Ioco butane sphere c. 1977
I am all for a greener future but we have to stop driving our fossil fueled cars, make better use of solar and electricity to heat our homes, take public transit more often, stop flying, cruising etc. Thanks for all those memories Ioco friends, you are not forgotten. In the moment, what do you think about the oil industry, pipelines and how we can ensure a greener future?
Original Ioco fire hydrant courtesy Bob Lindley
Bob Lindley recently sent me the above photo of an Ioco fire hydrant destined for the metal dealers dump that he rescued. I wonder if it was ever used other than for training and maintenance? Thanks Bob. Do you live near Ioco and/or, did you work there?
I am adding this recent photo of the Trans Mountain Pipeline marine terminal in Burnaby courtesy of the Globe and Mail. Apparently they are dredging Vancouver harbour so that the crude carrying ships can be loaded to 100% capacity vs. the current 70%.
I spent two-thirds of my 25 year government career working for Measurement Canada (MC). These are the people who certify the accuracy of gas pumps, weigh scales, electricity and gas meters, either directly or through partners. It was a great experience working as an engineer, a laboratory manager and program officer. I got to work with dozens of wonderful people all across Canada as well as travel to the U.S and Europe.
What do they do in the Standards Building you might wonder? They test and approve new meters and weigh scales before they can be used in trade. They also calibrate measurement standards used for certifying in-situ measuring devices e.g., test weights. Hum drum work you may think – but getting what you pay for in trade measurement is a fundamental marketplace right of buyers and sellers that has existed since iniquity. Weights and Measures was the no. 17 responsibility of the federal government in the Constitution Act of 1867.
Well the other day, I went back for a visit. The occasion was the retirement of boss and colleague Alan who was MC’s President since it’s inception in the mid 90’s. Alan is a very affable leader who gained the respect of every one he came in contact with. He is a very gifted speaker, able to toss out one liners and get a laugh on any occasion. For e.g., Industry Canada the home department of MC, has now been renamed from ‘IC’ (I see) to ‘ISED’ (I said) (Industry, Science and Economic Development), Alan explained with glee.
I had not been in the Standards Building since 2002 so it was a wonderful experience to go back and see colleagues and friends. Sadly, several people have passed away and some others are not so well. Some look exactly the same as they did 16+ years ago and there were a lot of new young faces. There were speeches, lots if memories and we were almost in tears as we reminisced about the good old days. Alan had us in stitches as he recalled some humerous experiences he had over the years. He started his government career in 1972 (when he was 3 years old ha!) He was President of the International Organization of Legal Metrology in Paris for 6 years and well known for his volunteer corporate work in classification and the United Way.
ColleaguesVP SoniaRetired VP RenéRetired VP GillesAlan has the last word, IC is now ISED
This was a two stage retirement party. Two weeks later there was a second get together at ISED at 235 Queen St. This too was special as I worked there for 8 years in corporate HR after my MC days. It was great to meet up with my old team members Sawsan, Bernard and Abu and catch up. The memories are great. I really miss you guys but not necessarily the commute, endless meetings, etc.
Thank you MC and ISED for the great career experiences, the friendships and all those wonderful memories. Hope to see you all again soon. Stay well and have a happy retirement Alan.
From 1974-78, I was a process engineer working at the now defunct Imperial Oil Ioco refinery on Burrard Inlet near Vancouver, B.C.. In the photo below, you can see how beautiful the setting was.
It was an opportunity to put my university training into practice. In those days, Ioco received light Alberta crude oil via the Trans Mountain pipeline and turned it into refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, propane, bunker oil and asphalts.
As a “contact” engineer my job was to interact with the refinery operators, monitor, report on and optimize the operations. I was initially assigned the pollution control units of the plant that do the cleanup and then to the crude unit that did the major distillation splitting of the crude oil as it entered the plant – about 40,000 barrels a day then.
I remember peering into red-hot furnaces where the pipes containing crude oil would be glowing red, climbing towers to inspect gauges and equipment, and urging the operators to open the valve a little more to increase production. We wore a little fabric H2S indicator that if it turned brown, meant you were being poisoned and to get out right away! It was the best of times and the worst of times.
Well, Ioco refinery closed in 1995 and was converted to a products terminal. It now receives refined petroleum products from Alberta via the Kinder Morgan (former Trans Mountain) pipeline and ships them out by barge, tanker, truck and rail, all over B.C.
The Kinder Morgan company also sends unrefined heavy (oil sands) crude oil to Vancouver now for trans-shipment to foreign refiners via tanker. They propose to expand the capacity from 300,000 barrels to about 900,000 barrels/day by twinning the line. This is causing much consternation among indigenous and local communities along the route. They are concerned about:
increased risk and environmental impact of pipeline break and spill
increased risk of shoreline leak at the Burnaby tanker terminal
increased risk of tanker leak in the Burrard Inlet, Vancouver harbour and up and down the lower Mainland coast
I tend to sympathize. Oil sands crude is very thick and although mixed with a dilluent, would tend to make a spill extremely hard to cleanup as it would be very sticky, heavy and coating. Going from 2 outgoing tanker loads/week to 6 or more certainly does increase the risk of an accidental spill that could damage nature and wildlife for many years to come. Finally, the motive of Kinder Morgan is to make profits for its shareholders. Is this a valid reason to increase the risk of such devastation to people’s livelihoods, communities and to nature?
I say no, despite my nostaligic fondness for the industry, that pipeline and the engineers who build and maintain it. Stop the pipeline expansion now! And consider making your next car purchase a hybrid or electric one to reduce fossil fuel demand and reduce carbon emissions!
Express your opinion on this important decision to Prime Minister Trudeau by signing the petition to stop this pipeline expansion now.
Just finished reading this biography by Walter Isaacson. It was a difficult read at times because Steve Jobs was very nasty at times – ignoring his family especially his first child Lisa and calling people xxxholes and firing them in front of other staff.
But I stuck with it, all 570 pages. In the end I came to admire the man. He had the uncanny ability to vision what people wanted before they knew it themselves. He had multiple successes – the Macintosh, Ipod, Iphone, IPad and Icloud which made Apple the most successful technology company in the world. His Zen Buddhism interest and background no doubt influenced his approach to people and products.
He believed in brutal honesty in the workplace – he said “That’s xxxt” hundreds of times to people when shown their ideas or prototypes. One of his key roles at Apple apart from product design, was to ensure Apple had only “A” players on it’s staff. “It’s not easy, but someone has to do it.” quips Jobs. His focus he says, was always on making the best product possible, not making money. He played at the confluence of product design and manufacture with liberal arts and humanities. He got people to do the impossible. He had weird eating habits.
He was such a perfectionist that he lived in his first house for years with no furniture because he could not make up his mind what to buy. Another thing he is famous for is locking up Apple products so tightly that the user cannot get into them. Otherwise, “they would screw it up” he believed.
It is perhaps for this latter reason that I have never felt compelled to purchase an Apple product. Call me nerdy but I like to know I can open the back and fiddle if need be.
In closing, I highly recommend this book for an honest look into one of the most enigmatic personalities in recent history. Jobs died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 56.
I learned a lot in reading this book, not just about Jobs. Book 4.5 of 5 stars. Steve Jobs documentary movie on Netflix 2 of 5 stars
