Enland (Commonwealth Union) _ The possible effects of an ammonia leak on marine ecosystems have been examined in a new 283-page paper by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Ricardo PLC, and Lloyd’s Register. Although it is a harmful chemical, ammonia is a leading candidate for future marine fuel as the industry strives to decarbonize.
The study employed modeling to forecast the effects of a spill from a collision or bunkering incident on a variety of marine environments, including rivers, estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters, coral reefs, mangroves, polar areas, and the deep sea. One of the report’s main conclusions was that, when compared to spills of conventional oil marine fuels, ammonia spills are likely to spread less widely and last for a shorter period of time in the environment.
While specific impacts on rivers, reefs, coastal regions, polar regions, and mangroves were predicted in the report, the effect on deep sea ecosystems is still unknown. The effects on habitats are primarily centered on the increased growth of bacteria, plankton, and macrophytes and the potential effects that could result from habitats becoming suffocated and eutrophication taking hold. The study stated that while ammonia causes physiological harm to animals and destabilizes habitat quality and prey availability, it may potentially affect the dynamics of food chains.
Invertebrates, plankton, macrophytes, fish, birds, and marine mammals were all included in the study’s simulation of the effects of an ammonia leak on the food chain. It is anticipated that ammonia leaks would affect fish more than oil spills, while invertebrates and birds will be less affected.
A spill’s ecological effects will vary widely based on its magnitude, as well as on the temperature, time of day, and weather at the time of the spill. Because ammonia stays on the water’s surface for a longer period of time at night and in calm conditions, spills would be particularly damaging. The report comes to the conclusion that more investigation is required into the potential effects of ammonia spills, including those on the crew’s health.
