The future obligations of "project manager" as construction integral director (DIPE) in the law of buildings construction in spain (LOE)

In the year 1999 approves the Law of Construction Building (LOE, in Spanish) to regulate a sector such as construction, which contained some shortcomings from the legal point of view. Currently, the LOE has been in force 12 years, changing the spanish world of the construction, due to influenced by internationalization. Within the LOE, there regulating the different actors involved in the construction building, as the Projects design, the Director of Construction, the developer, The builder, Director of execution of the construction (actor only in Spain, similar as construcion engineer and abroad in), control entities and the users, but lacks figure Project manager will assume the delegation of the promoter helping and you organize, direct and management the process. This figure assumes that the market and contracts are not legally regulated in Spain, then should define and establish its regulation in the LOE. (Spain Construction Law) The translation in spanish of the words "Project Manager is owed to Professor Rafael de Heredia in his book Integrated Project Management, as agent acting on behalf of the organization and promoter assuming control of the project, ie Integraded Project Management . Already exist in Spain, AEDIP (Spanish Association Integrated of Project Construction management) which comprises the major companies in “Project Management” in Spain, and MeDIP (Master in Integrated Construction Project) the largest and most advanced studies at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, in "Construction Project Management" they teach which is also in Argentina. The Integrated Project ("Project Management") applied to the construction process is a methodological technique that helps to organize, control and manage the resources of the promoters in the building process. When resources are limited (which is usually most situations) to manage them efficiently becomes very important. Well, we find that in this situation, the resources are not only limited, but it is limited, so a comprehensive control and monitoring of them becomes not only important if not crucial. The alternative of starting from scratch with a team that specializes in developing these follow directly intervening to ensure that scarce resources are used in the best possible way requires the use of a specific methodology (Manual DIP, Matrix Foreign EDR breakdown structure EDP Project, Risk Management and Control, Design Management, et ..), that is the methodology used by "Projects managers" to ensure that the initial objectives of the promoters or investors are met and all actors in process, from design to construction company have the mind aim of the project will do, trying to get their interests do not prevail over the interests of the project. Among the agents listed in the building process, "Project Management" or DIPE (Director Comprehensive building process, a proposed name for possible incorporation into the LOE, ) currently not listed as such in the LOE (Act on Construction Planning ), one of the agents that exist within the building process is not regulated from the legal point of view, no obligations, ie, as is required by law to have a project, a builder, a construction management, etc. DIPE only one who wants to hire you as have been advanced knowledge of their services by the clients they have been hiring these agents, there being no legal obligation as mentioned above, then the market is dictating its ruling on this new figure, as if it were necessary, he was not hired and eventually disappeared from the building process. As the aim of this article is regular the process and implement the name of DIPE in the Spanish Law of buildings construction (LOE)

Cobertura de la trinchera ferroviaria de Hendaya

Un problema del ferrocarril al paso por las ciudades europeas es el efecto barrera generado, que impide su desarrollo más allá de las vías. Si se salta la barrera lo cierto es que ello se hace sólo en sitios concretos y el efecto psicológico de aislamiento persiste para los habitantes del entorno. Este trabajo presenta de manera sucinta los problemas de concepción, comprobación y vibraciones planteados por la estructura de cubierta de la trinchera ferroviaria de Hendaya, consistente en una losa de hormigón pretensado y luz variable de 20-40 metros, que resuelve el problema de aislamiento entre las dos partes de la ciudad. Su construcción ha sido posible gracias al acuerdo entre la SNCF e inversores privados y está permitiendo la construcción sobre ella de 6 edificios de viviendas y una residencia de turismo, la demolición del antiguo ?Pont-Vieux? y la construcción de un nuevo ?Pont-Vieux?, integrado completamente en la promoción inmobiliaria. An important problem put by the train in its passage by the cities of Europe generally and in France in particular is the effect barrier which builds up, preventing the cities from developing beyond. Even if this barrier is crossed, it is certain that the passage is restricted to concrete places and always acts as psychological barrier for the local residents. This article presents in a brief way the problems of conception, analysis and vibration of the cover structure of the railroad trench of Hendaye. This structure consists of a 20-40 meters span slab of pre-stressed concrete that solves the isolation problem of both parts of the town of Hendaye. Its construction was possible thanks to the agreement of the SNCF (French Railways)and some private investors, and is allowing the investors the construction on top of 6 residential buildings and a holiday residence, with demolition of the ancient “Pont-Vieux” and building of a new “Pont-Vieux”, which is completely integrated into the real-estate development. Special attention is given to the change of transverse cross-section of the slab during construction stages, which originates a redistribution of stresses, and to the long-term equilibrium of horizontal forces.

A study of four listed micro finance institutions

Compared to the size of the microfinance market, the number of Microfinance Institutions that are professionally ran like commercial banks is still scarce, and even more scarce are the MFI listed in public stock exchanges. This document focuses on four listed MFIs and reviews its business model and funding sources. The document also analyses the market price evolution of the listed shares and investigates whether investors are assigning a premium to the MFIs compared with its respective market indices. Keywords: Microfinance institutions, Micro-credits, Financial Institutions, Equity; Stock Exchange.

International for-profit investiments in microfinance institutions equity

In recent years international investors are increasing the focus on the social consequences of their investments along with its financial returns. The microfinance sector, considered as an asset class is a relatively young concept but the microfinance industry is experiencing a tremendous growth and has a high potential for the future. Today most social responsible investments in microfinance are performed through loans or fixed income structured finance vehicles. The possibilities to invest in the equity tranche of the industry are still scarce since the number of listed microfinance institutions is reduced and the private equity investments are limited and difficult to reach for the majority of investors. In this document we present a study on the characteristics of the MFIs and we try to shed some light on this subsector of the equity assets universe that may become important in the coming future. Keywords: Microfinance institutions, Micro-credits, Financial Institutions, Equity; Stock Exchange

Is there scope for a new project bond market in Europe? A promising opportunity for promoting transnational infrastructure

La Unión Europea acaba de lanzar una iniciativa para fomentar Participaciones Público Privadas (PPPs) mediante bonos de proyecto más atractivos a inversores institucionales para promover proyectos transeuropeos. Esto se logra a través de mecanismos de mejora crediticia como garantías de liquidez o tramos de deuda subordinada facilitados por el Banco Europeo de Inversiones. Esta iniciativa pretende evitar los problemas de liquidez experimentados actualmente por bancos comerciales en Europa para financiar megaproyectos. En este artículo exploramos las ventajas e inconvenientes de esta iniciativa para promover redes de infraestructuras transnacionales en Europa, y analizamos su aplicabilidad a otras áreas como Latino-América. The European Union recently launched an initiative to foster Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for delivering Trans-European projects by making long-term project-bonds more appealing to institutional investors. This is achieved through credit-enhancement mechanisms such as partial stand-by liquidity guarantees, or layers of subordinated debt provided by the European Investment Bank. This initiative intends to circumvent the liquidity problems currently endured by commercial banks in Europe to fund megaprojects. In this paper we explore the advantages and drawbacks of this initiative for promoting transnational infrastructure networks in Europe, and analyse its applicability to other economic areas such as Latin America.

Thermal effects and other interesting issues with CPV lenses

The Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop was held in Golden, Colorado, on Feb. 28?March 1, 2012. The objective was to share information to improve PV module reliability because such improvements reduce the cost of solar electricity and give investors confidence in the technology. NREL led the workshop, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Program (Solar Program).

International For-Profit Investments in Microfinance Institutions Equity

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to review the funding options for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), define the size of the holdings of international investors in MFI equity and in particular the MFIs listed in stock exchanges, analyze the characteristics of these subset of the financial world and study the stock exchange evolution of some listed MFIs amid the financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Since academic literature on listed MFI equity is virtually inexistent, most of the information has been obtained from the World Bank, annual accounts of the listed MFIs, stock exchanges and from equity research documents. Findings and Originality/value: Microfinance Institutions share several common characteristics that make them a resilient business and the few MFIs that are listed in stock exchanges seem to have performed better in the financial crisis. Microfinance can be considered as one of the new frontiers of the expansion of the global banking industry. Practical implications: Presently, international for-profit investors have very few ways of investing in microfinance equity. Most of the equity of the MFI equity is funded locally or thanks to the local public sector. The stock exchange listing of the MFIs should drive MFIs towards a more professional management, more transparency and better governance. Social implications: Microfinance Institutions provide credit to microenterprises in poor countries that have no other alternative sources of external capital to expand its activity. If global investors could easily invest in the listed equity of the MFIs these institutions would expand its lending books and would improve its governance, part of the population living in poor areas or with lower income could ameliorate its standard of living. Originality/value: The number of Microfinance Institutions that are professionally run like commercial banks is still scarce and even more scarce are the MFI listed in public stock exchanges. Therefore the published literature on the characteristics and performance of the listed equity of the Microfinance Institutions is extremely reduced. But microfinance assets are rapidly growing and MFIs will need to list their equity in stock exchanges to sustain this expansion.

Desarrollo aplicación web y móvil para reservas en comedores

Este trabajo trata sobre el desarrollo de una “Start Up” de base tecnológica desde la universidad. La empresa creada comercializará un servicio software para comedores y restaurantes. La actualidad está marcada por la economía, y en estos momentos nos encontramos con una tasa de paro general del 26,7%, en ingenierías (la UPM) es del 31,2%. El sector de las TIC se salva por el momento (en informática la tasa de paro es del 4,8%), aunque el trabajo en muchos casos es precario y las oportunidades para desarrollar una carrera plena pasan por ir a trabajar a otros países que tienen una situación laboral más favorable. También tenemos la alternativa de trabajar como autónomos, creando empresas y, con suerte, generando un nuevo empleo. En España existen iniciativas de ayuda pública y privada que ayudan a convertir ideas en empresas, incubadoras, aceleradoras, ayudas públicas, ferias tecnológicas, concursos que ayudan a ganar visibilidad, etc. Este proyecto nació gracias a una de estas iniciativas, más en concreto a ACTUA UPM, iniciativa de la propia UPM a través de la unidad Creación de Empresas. Para crear una empresa no basta un buen servicio o un buen producto, es necesario poder venderlo. Por lo que el primer esfuerzo debe realizarse en comprobar que nuestro producto tiene características que pueden cubrir una necesidad que ya existe y que las condiciones indican que puede ser rentable. Esta es la primera fase, la creación de un plan de negocio y de marketing. A continuación basándonos en la manera en la que decidimos que venderemos nuestro producto, orientaremos el desarrollo para hacer hincapié en los puntos fuertes que pueden hacer nuestro producto diferente y deseado. La fase de desarrollo es mi caso es sobre todo una fase de aprendizaje, en la que aprenderé a fondo tecnologías web y móvil, y aplicaré los conocimientos adquiridos en mis estudios. A continuación, se ofrece mi experiencia desarrollando la empresa desde la idea hasta conseguir un producto preparado para ponerlo a prueba. ---ABSTRACT---This paper is about the development of a technological based “Start Up” from the college. The company will market a software service oriented to canteens and restaurants. Economy is what rules the world, and today we are facing a very strong crisis with a 26.7% of unemployment rate in Spain. However, the IT sector is less affected than others by this crisis (Informatics Engineers has a 4.8% unemployment rate). But in many cases jobs are precarious and young people have to leave our country for pursuing a decent career. Also we have the option of self-employment, launching a company, and with some luck, creating a new job. We have some tools for launching new technological base business. Many people hopes to create the new Facebook, and many investors are interested in being on the boat if that happens. Also at UPM we have ACTUA UPM, which promotes ideas into companies. My idea was born in it and managed to the final round. For launching a new company you need to do a business plan that studies the possible pitfalls of your idea and directs your development efforts to the way your product is going to be sold. So the first phase of this paper will talk about the development of the business plan. After it, the development phase is in essence a phase of learning in which I faced most problems in my own, giving the best solutions I could from my own experience and intuition. Then, we present the experience of developing a Start Up from the idea to the market testing.

Business ethics: a way to identify fraud from the basics

When we look to perform a work for developing a framework to create a business and take it correctly, there are always some persons looking as a challenge those bases and finding a mistake. The way to work in these situations is not a matter of law, is a matter of devoting time to identify these situations. It is always said that the evil goes a step ahead. The business ethics have been altered for quite time by some would-be entrepreneurs. These people have learned to play with business ethics to show your business as prosperous as something that is sought to highlight and adulterate their results quickly. Once the company reaches an international dimension, many companies take on global responsibility and, in these cases where you can see if the objective has been to obtain a rapid capital increase or growth is in line with its proportions. A business ethics is based on establishing a strong base so that interest is encouraged from an early time. Good staff, organizational level should be achieved and not only at the company but, out of the company too. Thus, you can create a secure base to convince potential investors and employees about the business. There are no freeways in business ethics and all fast track can be or a genius or leads to failure. We must find where these jumps are occurring, such errors or corrections to business ethics and their rules. Thus we can differentiate a company or an entrepreneur who is working correctly from the cloaking. Starting from the basics of business ethics and studying the different levels from the personal to the prospect that the company shows in the world. Lets see where these changes are occurring and how we can fight against them and anticipate the market to possible cases of fraud or strange movements seeking to attract the unwary

Med Capital Partners: plan de negocio de una EAFI

Med Capital Partners (MCP en adelante) es un empresa de asesoramiento financiero independiente (EAFI) que ofrecerá servicios de asesoramiento personalizado tanto a clientes particulares como a empresas, complementando su oferta con otros servicios auxiliares, que le permitan brindar a sus clientes una solución integral. MCP ha sido fundada por tres socios con formación y experiencia específica en el ámbito objeto del negocio, pero multidisciplinar para ofrecer un amplio espectro de servicios de calidad tanto en la Región de Murcia, donde va a establecer su sede, como en el resto de territorio nacional. MCP se crea con la firme misión de ofrecer servicios de asesoramiento y consulta financieros para la gestión y planificación patrimonial de calidad, de forma independiente y transparente y con la motivación de ser el médico de cabecera financiero de familias, particulares y empresas de todos los ámbitos, basándonos en arraigados valores entre los que predominan la transparencia, la independencia y la discreción. Una vez analizados los factores externos y haber realizado los planes de marketing, operaciones y financiero, nos encontramos en disposición de determinar que: 1.Existe un gran número de clientes potenciales. 2.Los factores político, social y legal favorecen la creación de este tipo de empresas. 3.Hay pocos competidores establecidos hasta la fecha. 4.No necesita complicadas infraestructuras ni requiere elevados gastos de aprovisionamiento. 5.Desde el año 2, se obtienen resultados positivos. La propuesta de valor de MCP está focalizada en ofrecer un servicio de calidad al menor precio posible, fijando una política de tarifas inferior a la media nacional y a la de nuestros competidores más cercanos, así como un esquema de precios descendentes para aquellos clientes que depositen su confianza en nosotros y renueven su contrato de asesoramiento continuado o contraten un combo de servicios. En términos operativos, el establecimiento de MCP requiere relativamente poco capital inicial, permitiendo ofrecer los primeros dividendos a los socios en un corto espacio temporal y teniendo desde el primer momento, un sueldo que les permita dedicarse plenamente al funcionamiento de MCP. En definitiva, creemos que MCP puede dar respuesta a una gran oportunidad de negocio existente en un sector en alza y en un mercado de arranque en el que hay una gran riqueza y poca cultura de inversión asesorada. ---ABSTRACT---Med Capital Partners (MCP) is an invest services company, which is established according to an EAFI structure. MCP will offer a custom-made service not only to individual clients but also to enterprises, with a wide range of supplementary services, including industrial strategy projects and all kind of financial processes demanded. MCP has been founded by three partners with proved training and specific experience based on the financial field but multitask and different between them, in order to offer various quality services in Región de Murcia, where it is going to be based, and also all around Spain. MCP is built with the firm mission of offering assessment and financial consulting quality services, helping with the patrimonial management and planning, doing it in an independent and transparent way, and always driving by the motivation of being the family doctor of individual and enterprise of sectors. To make it possible, MCP has deep values as excellence, wisdom and discretion. Once we have analyzed external factors and having made marketing, operations and financial plans, we are ready to determinate: 1.There is a big amount of potential customers. 2.Political, social and legal factors favor the formation of this type of business. 3.There are not many established competitors until now. 4.MCP does not need complex infrastructures either raised initial investment. 5.From year 2 and on, MCP is profitable. The value proposition of MCP is to focus on developing quality services with affordable fees, fixing a price policy under any other Spanish EAFI. MCP wants to build processes according to reality, working with reachable expectations and on real times. MCP is committed to the creation of stable, sustainable and consistent structures to adapt themselves to the individual risk profile of the customers, taking care of all of them. MCP wants to build a close relationship with clients and has developed a descending fee policy. MCP establishment does not require high initial resources and it is profitable in a short time, allowing investors to get their first dividends. Summarizing, we can say MCP is the answer of a big business opportunity within a rising and wealth market that only need a little help to emerge.

Greenfield shopping center development. The integration between environmental features, building design and investment analysis at the decision making stage

The Shopping centre is a long term investment in which Greenfield development decisions are often taken based on risks analysis regarding construction costs, location, competition, market and an expected DCF. Furthermore, integration between the building design, project planning, operational costs and investment analysis is not entirely considered by the investor at the decision making stage. The absence of such information tends to produce certain negative impacts on the future running costs and annual maintenance of the building, especially on energy demand and other occupancy expenses paid by the tenants to the landlord. From the investor´s point of view, this blind spot in strategy development will possibly decrease their profit margin as changes in the occupancy expenses[ ] have a direct outcome on the profit margin. In order to try to reduce some higher operating cost components such as energy use and other utility savings as well as their CO2 emissions, quite a few income properties worldwide have some type of environmental label such as BREEAM and LEED. The drawback identified in this labelling is that usually the investments required to get an ecolabel are high and the investor finds no direct evidence that it increases market value. However there is research on certified commercial properties (especially offices) that shows better performance in terms of occupancy rate and rental cost (Warren-Myers, 2012). Additionally, Sayce (2013) says that the certification only provides a quick reference point i.e. the lack of a certificate does not indicate that a building is not sustainable or efficient. Based on the issues described above, this research compares important components of the development stages such as investments costs, concept/ strategy development as well as the current investor income and property value. The subjects for this analysis are a shopping centre designed with passive cooling/bioclimatic strategies evaluated at the decision making stage, a certified regional shopping centre and a non-certified standard regional shopping centre. Moreover, the proposal intends to provide decision makers with some tools for linking green design features to the investment analysis in order to optimize the decision making process when looking into cost savings and design quality.

Los instrumentos convertibles en acciones para la financiación empresarial en un entorno económico de restricción del crédito bancario

(SPA) Los bonos convertibles en acciones son instrumentos de financiación corporativa que en general comparten varias de las características de las emisiones de deuda senior corporativa, como el pago regular y fijado de cupones, vencimiento definido, momento en el que se repaga la totalidad del principal, y prelación en caso de default con respecto a otras obligaciones crediticias. En cambio, el repago del principal se ofrecerá bajo determinadas circunstancias en acciones de la compañía emisora en una proporción acordada previamente. Pero los instrumentos convertibles son instrumentos heterogéneos que suelen incorporar otras características particulares a cada caso, como son repagos anticipados bajo determinadas condiciones, reducción del ratio de conversión a determinados precios de la acción, pagos compensatorios o "make-whole" y otros. Los instrumentos convertibles son ejemplos de activos híbridos que comparten características de deuda y de capital y por tanto tienen impacto específico en la contabilidad de las empresas y en la posible dilución de sus accionistas. En España y otros países de la periferia de Europa, la emisión de bonos convertibles ha aumentado considerablemente desde el inicio de la crisis financiera, fundamentalmente debido a la restricción de otras formas de crédito empresarial, principalmente los créditos bancarios. En el presente artículo se explican algunas de las características comunes a los bonos convertibles emitidos recientemente por empresas españolas, se analizan las ventajas, y las razones para la emisión de estos activos, y se indican sus implicaciones contables. Los instrumentos convertibles pueden ser una alternativa estable a la deuda bancaria y a la renta fija tradicional en los mercados de capitales para la financiación de las compañías medianas, que tienen menos acceso a fuentes de financiación en situaciones de aversión riesgo por parte de los inversores y entidades financieras. (ENG)Convertible bonds share several characteristics with secure corporate debt, such as the regular coupon payments, fixed maturity and similar seniority in case of default. Nevertheless the investor of the convertible bond has the option of receiving the principal amount repayment at maturity in cash or receiving a previously agreed number of shares. But convertible securities can be complex financial instruments that possess exotic or specific features, such as soft calls, put options, cash options, cash top up features, or make whole amounts. Convertible securities are hybrid instruments that share characteristics of both debt and equity, and therefore suffer an specific accounting treatment under International Financial Reporting Standards, where the issuing company must separately identify the debt and equity components in its financial statements In peripheral European countries and in Spain in particular, convertible issuance has significantly increased since the start of the Global Financial Crisis, an increase mainly driven by the restriction of other forms of credit, namely banking loans. This article summarizes some of the common characteristics of convertible securities, analyzes its advantages for both issuers and investors, and introduces the accounting of convertible bonds. Convertible Bonds can become a viable and stable alternative to bank loans and to high yield or investment grade bonds for the funding of mid-sized corporates which normally have a more difficult access to credit in regional banking crisis or credit restrictive environments.

Una aproximación a la predicción del valor de acciones en la bolsa de valores aplicando técnicas de Data Mining

La predicción del valor de las acciones en la bolsa de valores ha sido un tema importante en el campo de inversiones, que por varios años ha atraído tanto a académicos como a inversionistas. Esto supone que la información disponible en el pasado de la compañía que cotiza en bolsa tiene alguna implicación en el futuro del valor de la misma. Este trabajo está enfocado en ayudar a un persona u organismo que decida invertir en la bolsa de valores a través de gestión de compra o venta de acciones de una compañía a tomar decisiones respecto al tiempo de comprar o vender basado en el conocimiento obtenido de los valores históricos de las acciones de una compañía en la bolsa de valores. Esta decisión será inferida a partir de un modelo de regresión múltiple que es una de las técnicas de datamining. Para llevar conseguir esto se emplea una metodología conocida como CRISP-DM aplicada a los datos históricos de la compañía con mayor valor actual del NASDAQ.---ABSTRACT---The prediction of the value of shares in the stock market has been a major issue in the field of investments, which for several years has attracted both academics and investors. This means that the information available in the company last traded have any involvement in the future of the value of it. This work is focused on helping an investor decides to invest in the stock market through management buy or sell shares of a company to make decisions with respect to time to buy or sell based on the knowledge gained from the historic values of the shares of a company in the stock market. This decision will be inferred from a multiple regression model which is one of the techniques of data mining. To get this out a methodology known as CRISP-DM applied to historical data of the company with the highest current value of NASDAQ is used.

Evaluación de las Consecuencias de la Nueva Regulación de la OMI sobre Combustibles Marinos

El 10 de octubre de 2008 la Organización Marítima Internacional (OMI) firmó una modificación al Anexo VI del convenio MARPOL 73/78, por la que estableció una reducción progresiva de las emisiones de óxidos de azufre (SOx) procedentes de los buques, una reducción adicional de las emisiones de óxidos de nitrógeno (NOx), así como límites en las emisiones de dióxido de Carbono (CO2) procedentes de los motores marinos y causantes de problemas medioambientales como la lluvia ácida y efecto invernadero. Centrándonos en los límites sobre las emisiones de azufre, a partir del 1 de enero de 2015 esta normativa obliga a todos los buques que naveguen por zonas controladas, llamadas Emission Control Area (ECA), a consumir combustibles con un contenido de azufre menor al 0,1%. A partir del 1 de enero del año 2020, o bien del año 2025, si la OMI decide retrasar su inicio, los buques deberán consumir combustibles con un contenido de azufre menor al 0,5%. De igual forma que antes, el contenido deberá ser rebajado al 0,1%S, si navegan por el interior de zonas ECA. Por su parte, la Unión Europea ha ido más allá que la OMI, adelantando al año 2020 la aplicación de los límites más estrictos de la ley MARPOL sobre las aguas de su zona económica exclusiva. Para ello, el 21 de noviembre de 2013 firmó la Directiva 2012 / 33 / EU como adenda a la Directiva de 1999. Tengamos presente que la finalidad de estas nuevas leyes es la mejora de la salud pública y el medioambiente, produciendo beneficios sociales, en forma de reducción de enfermedades, sobre todo de tipo respiratorio, a la vez que se reduce la lluvia ácida y sus nefastas consecuencias. La primera pregunta que surge es ¿cuál es el combustible actual de los buques y cuál será el que tengan que consumir para cumplir con esta Regulación? Pues bien, los grandes buques de navegación internacional consumen hoy en día fuel oil con un nivel de azufre de 3,5%. ¿Existen fueles con un nivel de azufre de 0,5%S? Como hemos concluido en el capítulo 4, para las empresas petroleras, la producción de fuel oil como combustible marino es tratada como un subproducto en su cesta de productos refinados por cada barril de Brent, ya que la demanda de fuel respecto a otros productos está bajando y además, el margen de beneficio que obtienen por la venta de otros productos petrolíferos es mayor que con el fuel. Así, podemos decir que las empresas petroleras no están interesadas en invertir en sus refinerías para producir estos fueles con menor contenido de azufre. Es más, en el caso de que alguna compañía decidiese invertir en producir un fuel de 0,5%S, su precio debería ser muy similar al del gasóleo para poder recuperar las inversiones empleadas. Por lo tanto, el único combustible que actualmente cumple con los nuevos niveles impuestos por la OMI es el gasóleo, con un precio que durante el año 2014 estuvo a una media de 307 USD/ton más alto que el actual fuel oil. Este mayor precio de compra de combustible impactará directamente sobre el coste del trasporte marítimo. La entrada en vigor de las anteriores normativas está suponiendo un reto para todo el sector marítimo. Ante esta realidad, se plantean diferentes alternativas con diferentes implicaciones técnicas, operativas y financieras. En la actualidad, son tres las alternativas con mayor aceptación en el sector. La primera alternativa consiste en “no hacer nada” y simplemente cambiar el tipo de combustible de los grandes buques de fuel oil a gasóleo. Las segunda alternativa es la instalación de un equipo scrubber, que permitiría continuar con el consumo de fuel oil, limpiando sus gases de combustión antes de salir a la atmósfera. Y, por último, la tercera alternativa consiste en el uso de Gas Natural Licuado (GNL) como combustible, con un precio inferior al del gasóleo. Sin embargo, aún existen importantes incertidumbres sobre la evolución futura de precios, operación y mantenimiento de las nuevas tecnologías, inversiones necesarias, disponibilidad de infraestructura portuaria e incluso el desarrollo futuro de la propia normativa internacional. Estas dudas hacen que ninguna de estas tres alternativas sea unánime en el sector. En esta tesis, tras exponer en el capítulo 3 la regulación aplicable al sector, hemos investigado sus consecuencias. Para ello, hemos examinado en el capítulo 4 si existen en la actualidad combustibles marinos que cumplan con los nuevos límites de azufre o en su defecto, cuál sería el precio de los nuevos combustibles. Partimos en el capítulo 5 de la hipótesis de que todos los buques cambian su consumo de fuel oil a gasóleo para cumplir con dicha normativa, calculamos el incremento de demanda de gasóleo que se produciría y analizamos las consecuencias que este hecho tendría sobre la producción de gasóleos en el Mediterráneo. Adicionalmente, calculamos el impacto económico que dicho incremento de coste producirá sobre sector exterior de España. Para ello, empleamos como base de datos el sistema de control de tráfico marítimo Authomatic Identification System (AIS) para luego analizar los datos de todos los buques que han hecho escala en algún puerto español, para así calcular el extra coste anual por el consumo de gasóleo que sufrirá el transporte marítimo para mover todas las importaciones y exportaciones de España. Por último, en el capítulo 6, examinamos y comparamos las otras dos alternativas al consumo de gasóleo -scrubbers y propulsión con GNL como combustible- y, finalmente, analizamos en el capítulo 7, la viabilidad de las inversiones en estas dos tecnologías para cumplir con la regulación. En el capítulo 5 explicamos los numerosos métodos que existen para calcular la demanda de combustible de un buque. La metodología seguida para su cálculo será del tipo bottom-up, que está basada en la agregación de la actividad y las características de cada tipo de buque. El resultado está basado en la potencia instalada de cada buque, porcentaje de carga del motor y su consumo específico. Para ello, analizamos el número de buques que navegan por el Mediterráneo a lo largo de un año mediante el sistema AIS, realizando “fotos” del tráfico marítimo en el Mediterráneo y reportando todos los buques en navegación en días aleatorios a lo largo de todo el año 2014. Por último, y con los datos anteriores, calculamos la demanda potencial de gasóleo en el Mediterráneo. Si no se hace nada y los buques comienzan a consumir gasóleo como combustible principal, en vez del actual fuel oil para cumplir con la regulación, la demanda de gasoil en el Mediterráneo aumentará en 12,12 MTA (Millones de Toneladas Anuales) a partir del año 2020. Esto supone alrededor de 3.720 millones de dólares anuales por el incremento del gasto de combustible tomando como referencia el precio medio de los combustibles marinos durante el año 2014. El anterior incremento de demanda en el Mediterráneo supondría el 43% del total de la demanda de gasóleos en España en el año 2013, incluyendo gasóleos de automoción, biodiesel y gasóleos marinos y el 3,2% del consumo europeo de destilados medios durante el año 2014. ¿Podrá la oferta del mercado europeo asumir este incremento de demanda de gasóleos? Europa siempre ha sido excedentaria en gasolina y deficitaria en destilados medios. En el año 2009, Europa tuvo que importar 4,8 MTA de Norte América y 22,1 MTA de Asia. Por lo que, este aumento de demanda sobre la ya limitada capacidad de refino de destilados medios en Europa incrementará las importaciones y producirá también aumentos en los precios, sobre todo del mercado del gasóleo. El sector sobre el que más impactará el incremento de demanda de gasóleo será el de los cruceros que navegan por el Mediterráneo, pues consumirán un 30,4% de la demanda de combustible de toda flota mundial de cruceros, lo que supone un aumento en su gasto de combustible de 386 millones de USD anuales. En el caso de los RoRos, consumirían un 23,6% de la demanda de la flota mundial de este tipo de buque, con un aumento anual de 171 millones de USD sobre su gasto de combustible anterior. El mayor incremento de coste lo sufrirán los portacontenedores, con 1.168 millones de USD anuales sobre su gasto actual. Sin embargo, su consumo en el Mediterráneo representa sólo el 5,3% del consumo mundial de combustible de este tipo de buques. Estos números plantean la incertidumbre de si semejante aumento de gasto en buques RoRo hará que el transporte marítimo de corta distancia en general pierda competitividad sobre otros medios de transporte alternativos en determinadas rutas. De manera que, parte del volumen de mercancías que actualmente transportan los buques se podría trasladar a la carretera, con los inconvenientes medioambientales y operativos, que esto produciría. En el caso particular de España, el extra coste por el consumo de gasóleo de todos los buques con escala en algún puerto español en el año 2013 se cifra en 1.717 millones de EUR anuales, según demostramos en la última parte del capítulo 5. Para realizar este cálculo hemos analizado con el sistema AIS a todos los buques que han tenido escala en algún puerto español y los hemos clasificado por distancia navegada, tipo de buque y potencia. Este encarecimiento del transporte marítimo será trasladado al sector exterior español, lo cual producirá un aumento del coste de las importaciones y exportaciones por mar en un país muy expuesto, pues el 75,61% del total de las importaciones y el 53,64% del total de las exportaciones se han hecho por vía marítima. Las tres industrias que se verán más afectadas son aquellas cuyo valor de mercancía es inferior respecto a su coste de transporte. Para ellas los aumentos del coste sobre el total del valor de cada mercancía serán de un 2,94% para la madera y corcho, un 2,14% para los productos minerales y un 1,93% para las manufacturas de piedra, cemento, cerámica y vidrio. Las mercancías que entren o salgan por los dos archipiélagos españoles de Canarias y Baleares serán las que se verán más impactadas por el extra coste del transporte marítimo, ya que son los puertos más alejados de otros puertos principales y, por tanto, con más distancia de navegación. Sin embargo, esta no es la única alternativa al cumplimiento de la nueva regulación. De la lectura del capítulo 6 concluimos que las tecnologías de equipos scrubbers y de propulsión con GNL permitirán al buque consumir combustibles más baratos al gasoil, a cambio de una inversión en estas tecnologías. ¿Serán los ahorros producidos por estas nuevas tecnologías suficientes para justificar su inversión? Para contestar la anterior pregunta, en el capítulo 7 hemos comparado las tres alternativas y hemos calculado tanto los costes de inversión como los gastos operativos correspondientes a equipos scrubbers o propulsión con GNL para una selección de 53 categorías de buques. La inversión en equipos scrubbers es más conveniente para buques grandes, con navegación no regular. Sin embargo, para buques de tamaño menor y navegación regular por puertos con buena infraestructura de suministro de GNL, la inversión en una propulsión con GNL como combustible será la más adecuada. En el caso de un tiempo de navegación del 100% dentro de zonas ECA y bajo el escenario de precios visto durante el año 2014, los proyectos con mejor plazo de recuperación de la inversión en equipos scrubbers son para los cruceros de gran tamaño (100.000 tons. GT), para los que se recupera la inversión en 0,62 años, los grandes portacontenedores de más de 8.000 TEUs con 0,64 años de recuperación y entre 5.000-8.000 TEUs con 0,71 años de recuperación y, por último, los grandes petroleros de más de 200.000 tons. de peso muerto donde tenemos un plazo de recuperación de 0,82 años. La inversión en scrubbers para buques pequeños, por el contrario, tarda más tiempo en recuperarse llegando a más de 5 años en petroleros y quimiqueros de menos de 5.000 toneladas de peso muerto. En el caso de una posible inversión en propulsión con GNL, las categorías de buques donde la inversión en GNL es más favorable y recuperable en menor tiempo son las más pequeñas, como ferris, cruceros o RoRos. Tomamos ahora el caso particular de un buque de productos limpios de 38.500 toneladas de peso muerto ya construido y nos planteamos la viabilidad de la inversión en la instalación de un equipo scrubber o bien, el cambio a una propulsión por GNL a partir del año 2015. Se comprueba que las dos variables que más impactan sobre la conveniencia de la inversión son el tiempo de navegación del buque dentro de zonas de emisiones controladas (ECA) y el escenario futuro de precios del MGO, HSFO y GNL. Para realizar este análisis hemos estudiado cada inversión, calculando una batería de condiciones de mérito como el payback, TIR, VAN y la evolución de la tesorería del inversor. Posteriormente, hemos calculado las condiciones de contorno mínimas de este buque en concreto para asegurar una inversión no sólo aceptable, sino además conveniente para el naviero inversor. En el entorno de precios del 2014 -con un diferencial entre fuel y gasóleo de 264,35 USD/ton- si el buque pasa más de un 56% de su tiempo de navegación en zonas ECA, conseguirá una rentabilidad de la inversión para inversores (TIR) en el equipo scrubber que será igual o superior al 9,6%, valor tomado como coste de oportunidad. Para el caso de inversión en GNL, en el entorno de precios del año 2014 -con un diferencial entre GNL y gasóleo de 353,8 USD/ton FOE- si el buque pasa más de un 64,8 % de su tiempo de navegación en zonas ECA, conseguirá una rentabilidad de la inversión para inversores (TIR) que será igual o superior al 9,6%, valor del coste de oportunidad. Para un tiempo en zona ECA estimado de un 60%, la rentabilidad de la inversión (TIR) en scrubbers para los inversores será igual o superior al 9,6%, el coste de oportunidad requerido por el inversor, para valores del diferencial de precio entre los dos combustibles alternativos, gasóleo (MGO) y fuel oil (HSFO) a partir de 244,73 USD/ton. En el caso de una inversión en propulsión GNL se requeriría un diferencial de precio entre MGO y GNL de 382,3 USD/ton FOE o superior. Así, para un buque de productos limpios de 38.500 DWT, la inversión en una reconversión para instalar un equipo scrubber es más conveniente que la de GNL, pues alcanza rentabilidades de la inversión (TIR) para inversores del 12,77%, frente a un 6,81% en el caso de invertir en GNL. Para ambos cálculos se ha tomado un buque que navegue un 60% de su tiempo por zona ECA y un escenario de precios medios del año 2014 para el combustible. Po otro lado, las inversiones en estas tecnologías a partir del año 2025 para nuevas construcciones son en ambos casos convenientes. El naviero deberá prestar especial atención aquí a las características propias de su buque y tipo de navegación, así como a la infraestructura de suministros y vertidos en los puertos donde vaya a operar usualmente. Si bien, no se ha estudiado en profundidad en esta tesis, no olvidemos que el sector marítimo debe cumplir además con las otras dos limitaciones que la regulación de la OMI establece sobre las emisiones de óxidos de Nitrógeno (NOx) y Carbono (CO2) y que sin duda, requerirán adicionales inversiones en diversos equipos. De manera que, si bien las consecuencias del consumo de gasóleo como alternativa al cumplimiento de la Regulación MARPOL son ciertamente preocupantes, existen alternativas al uso del gasóleo, con un aumento sobre el coste del transporte marítimo menor y manteniendo los beneficios sociales que pretende dicha ley. En efecto, como hemos demostrado, las opciones que se plantean como más rentables desde el punto de vista financiero son el consumo de GNL en los buques pequeños y de línea regular (cruceros, ferries, RoRos), y la instalación de scrubbers para el resto de buques de grandes dimensiones. Pero, por desgracia, estas inversiones no llegan a hacerse realidad por el elevado grado de incertidumbre asociado a estos dos mercados, que aumenta el riesgo empresarial, tanto de navieros como de suministradores de estas nuevas tecnologías. Observamos así una gran reticencia del sector privado a decidirse por estas dos alternativas. Este elevado nivel de riesgo sólo puede reducirse fomentando el esfuerzo conjunto del sector público y privado para superar estas barreras de entrada del mercado de scrubbers y GNL, que lograrían reducir las externalidades medioambientales de las emisiones sin restar competitividad al transporte marítimo. Creemos así, que los mismos organismos que aprobaron dicha ley deben ayudar al sector naviero a afrontar las inversiones en dichas tecnologías, así como a impulsar su investigación y promover la creación de una infraestructura portuaria adaptada a suministros de GNL y a descargas de vertidos procedentes de los equipos scrubber. Deberían además, prestar especial atención sobre las ayudas al sector de corta distancia para evitar que pierda competitividad frente a otros medios de transporte por el cumplimiento de esta normativa. Actualmente existen varios programas europeos de incentivos, como TEN-T o Marco Polo, pero no los consideramos suficientes. Por otro lado, la Organización Marítima Internacional debe confirmar cuanto antes si retrasa o no al 2025 la nueva bajada del nivel de azufre en combustibles. De esta manera, se eliminaría la gran incertidumbre temporal que actualmente tienen tanto navieros, como empresas petroleras y puertos para iniciar sus futuras inversiones y poder estudiar la viabilidad de cada alternativa de forma individual. ABSTRACT On 10 October 2008 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) signed an amendment to Annex VI of the MARPOL 73/78 convention establishing a gradual reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships, and an additional reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from marine engines which cause environmental problems such as acid rain and the greenhouse effect. According to this regulation, from 1 January 2015, ships travelling in an Emission Control Area (ECA) must use fuels with a sulphur content of less than 0.1%. From 1 January 2020, or alternatively from 2025 if the IMO should decide to delay its introduction, all ships must use fuels with a sulphur content of less than 0.5%. As before, this content will be 0.1%S for voyages within ECAs. Meanwhile, the European Union has gone further than the IMO, and will apply the strictest limits of the MARPOL directives in the waters of its exclusive economic zone from 2020. To this end, Directive 2012/33/EU was issued on 21 November 2013 as an addendum to the 1999 Directive. These laws are intended to improve public health and the environment, benefiting society by reducing disease, particularly respiratory problems. The first question which arises is: what fuel do ships currently use, and what fuel will they have to use to comply with the Convention? Today, large international shipping vessels consume fuel oil with a sulphur level of 3.5%. Do fuel oils exist with a sulphur level of 0.5%S? As we conclude in Chapter 4, oil companies regard marine fuel oil as a by-product of refining Brent to produce their basket of products, as the demand for fuel oil is declining in comparison to other products, and the profit margin on the sale of other petroleum products is higher. Thus, oil companies are not interested in investing in their refineries to produce low-sulphur fuel oils, and if a company should decide to invest in producing a 0.5%S fuel oil, its price would have to be very similar to that of marine gas oil in order to recoup the investment. Therefore, the only fuel which presently complies with the new levels required by the IMO is marine gas oil, which was priced on average 307 USD/tonne higher than current fuel oils during 2014. This higher purchasing price for fuel will have a direct impact on the cost of maritime transport. The entry into force of the above directive presents a challenge for the entire maritime sector. There are various alternative approaches to this situation, with different technical, operational and financial implications. At present three options are the most widespread in the sector. The first option consists of “doing nothing” and simply switching from fuel oil to marine gas oil in large ships. The second option is installing a scrubber system, which would enable ships to continue consuming fuel oil, cleaning the combustion gases before they are released to the atmosphere. And finally, the third option is using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is priced lower than marine gas oil, as a fuel. However, there is still significant uncertainty on future variations in prices, the operation and maintenance of the new technologies, the investments required, the availability of port infrastructure and even future developments in the international regulations themselves. These uncertainties mean that none of these three alternatives has been unanimously accepted by the sector. In this Thesis, after discussing all the regulations applicable to the sector in Chapter 3, we investigate their consequences. In Chapter 4 we examine whether there are currently any marine fuels on the market which meet the new sulphur limits, and if not, how much new fuels would cost. In Chapter 5, based on the hypothesis that all ships will switch from fuel oil to marine gas oil to comply with the regulations, we calculate the increase in demand for marine gas oil this would lead to, and analyse the consequences this would have on marine gas oil production in the Mediterranean. We also calculate the economic impact such a cost increase would have on Spain's external sector. To do this, we also use the Automatic Identification System (AIS) system to analyse the data of every ship stopping in any Spanish port, in order to calculate the extra cost of using marine gas oil in maritime transport for all Spain's imports and exports. Finally, in Chapter 6, we examine and compare the other two alternatives to marine gas oil, scrubbers and LNG, and in Chapter 7 we analyse the viability of investing in these two technologies in order to comply with the regulations. In Chapter 5 we explain the many existing methods for calculating a ship's fuel consumption. We use a bottom-up calculation method, based on aggregating the activity and characteristics of each type of vessel. The result is based on the installed engine power of each ship, the engine load percentage and its specific consumption. To do this, we analyse the number of ships travelling in the Mediterranean in the course of one year, using the AIS, a marine traffic monitoring system, to take “snapshots” of marine traffic in the Mediterranean and report all ships at sea on random days throughout 2014. Finally, with the above data, we calculate the potential demand for marine gas oil in the Mediterranean. If nothing else is done and ships begin to use marine gas oil instead of fuel oil in order to comply with the regulation, the demand for marine gas oil in the Mediterranean will increase by 12.12 MTA (Millions Tonnes per Annum) from 2020. This means an increase of around 3.72 billion dollars a year in fuel costs, taking as reference the average price of marine fuels in 2014. Such an increase in demand in the Mediterranean would be equivalent to 43% of the total demand for diesel in Spain in 2013, including automotive diesel fuels, biodiesel and marine gas oils, and 3.2% of European consumption of middle distillates in 2014. Would the European market be able to supply enough to meet this greater demand for diesel? Europe has always had a surplus of gasoline and a deficit of middle distillates. In 2009, Europe had to import 4.8 MTA from North America and 22.1 MTA from Asia. Therefore, this increased demand on Europe's already limited capacity for refining middle distillates would lead to increased imports and higher prices, especially in the diesel market. The sector which would suffer the greatest impact of increased demand for marine gas oil would be Mediterranean cruise ships, which represent 30.4% of the fuel demand of the entire world cruise fleet, meaning their fuel costs would rise by 386 million USD per year. ROROs in the Mediterranean, which represent 23.6% of the demand of the world fleet of this type of ship, would see their fuel costs increase by 171 million USD a year. The greatest cost increase would be among container ships, with an increase on current costs of 1.168 billion USD per year. However, their consumption in the Mediterranean represents only 5.3% of worldwide fuel consumption by container ships. These figures raise the question of whether a cost increase of this size for RORO ships would lead to short-distance marine transport in general becoming less competitive compared to other transport options on certain routes. For example, some of the goods that ships now carry could switch to road transport, with the undesirable effects on the environment and on operations that this would produce. In the particular case of Spain, the extra cost of switching to marine gas oil in all ships stopping at any Spanish port in 2013 would be 1.717 billion EUR per year, as we demonstrate in the last part of Chapter 5. For this calculation, we used the AIS system to analyse all ships which stopped at any Spanish port, classifying them by distance travelled, type of ship and engine power. This rising cost of marine transport would be passed on to the Spanish external sector, increasing the cost of imports and exports by sea in a country which relies heavily on maritime transport, which accounts for 75.61% of Spain's total imports and 53.64% of its total exports. The three industries which would be worst affected are those with goods of lower value relative to transport costs. The increased costs over the total value of each good would be 2.94% for wood and cork, 2.14% for mineral products and 1.93% for manufactured stone, cement, ceramic and glass products. Goods entering via the two Spanish archipelagos, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, would suffer the greatest impact from the extra cost of marine transport, as these ports are further away from other major ports and thus the distance travelled is greater. However, this is not the only option for compliance with the new regulations. From our readings in Chapter 6 we conclude that scrubbers and LNG propulsion would enable ships to use cheaper fuels than marine gas oil, in exchange for investing in these technologies. Would the savings gained by these new technologies be enough to justify the investment? To answer this question, in Chapter 7 we compare the three alternatives and calculate both the cost of investment and the operating costs associated with scrubbers or LNG propulsion for a selection of 53 categories of ships. Investing in scrubbers is more advisable for large ships with no fixed runs. However, for smaller ships with regular runs to ports with good LNG supply infrastructure, investing in LNG propulsion would be the best choice. In the case of total transit time within an ECA and the pricing scenario seen in 2014, the best payback periods on investments in scrubbers are for large cruise ships (100,000 gross tonnage), which would recoup their investment in 0.62 years; large container ships, with a 0.64 year payback period for those over 8,000 TEUs and 0.71 years for the 5,000-8,000 TEU category; and finally, large oil tankers over 200,000 deadweight tonnage, which would recoup their investment in 0.82 years. However, investing in scrubbers would have a longer payback period for smaller ships, up to 5 years or more for oil tankers and chemical tankers under 5,000 deadweight tonnage. In the case of LNG propulsion, a possible investment is more favourable and the payback period is shorter for smaller ship classes, such as ferries, cruise ships and ROROs. We now take the case of a ship transporting clean products, already built, with a deadweight tonnage of 38,500, and consider the viability of investing in installing a scrubber or changing to LNG propulsion, starting in 2015. The two variables with the greatest impact on the advisability of the investment are how long the ship is at sea within emission control areas (ECA) and the future price scenario of MGO, HSFO and LNG. For this analysis, we studied each investment, calculating a battery of merit conditions such as the payback period, IRR, NPV and variations in the investors' liquid assets. We then calculated the minimum boundary conditions to ensure the investment was not only acceptable but advisable for the investor shipowner. Thus, for the average price differential of 264.35 USD/tonne between HSFO and MGO during 2014, investors' return on investment (IRR) in scrubbers would be the same as the required opportunity cost of 9.6%, for values of over 56% ship transit time in ECAs. For the case of investing in LNG and the average price differential between MGO and LNG of 353.8 USD/tonne FOE in 2014, the ship must spend 64.8% of its time in ECAs for the investment to be advisable. For an estimated 60% of time in an ECA, the internal rate of return (IRR) for investors equals the required opportunity cost of 9.6%, based on a price difference of 244.73 USD/tonne between the two alternative fuels, marine gas oil (MGO) and fuel oil (HSFO). An investment in LNG propulsion would require a price differential between MGO and LNG of 382.3 USD/tonne FOE. Thus, for a 38,500 DWT ship carrying clean products, investing in retrofitting to install a scrubber is more advisable than converting to LNG, with an internal rate of return (IRR) for investors of 12.77%, compared to 6.81% for investing in LNG. Both calculations were based on a ship which spends 60% of its time at sea in an ECA and a scenario of average 2014 prices. However, for newly-built ships, investments in either of these technologies from 2025 would be advisable. Here, the shipowner must pay particular attention to the specific characteristics of their ship, the type of operation, and the infrastructure for supplying fuel and handling discharges in the ports where it will usually operate. Thus, while the consequences of switching to marine gas oil in order to comply with the MARPOL regulations are certainly alarming, there are alternatives to marine gas oil, with smaller increases in the costs of maritime transport, while maintaining the benefits to society this law is intended to provide. Indeed, as we have demonstrated, the options which appear most favourable from a financial viewpoint are conversion to LNG for small ships and regular runs (cruise ships, ferries, ROROs), and installing scrubbers for large ships. Unfortunately, however, these investments are not being made, due to the high uncertainty associated with these two markets, which increases business risk, both for shipowners and for the providers of these new technologies. This means we are seeing considerable reluctance regarding these two options among the private sector. This high level of risk can be lowered only by encouraging joint efforts by the public and private sectors to overcome these barriers to entry into the market for scrubbers and LNG, which could reduce the environmental externalities of emissions without affecting the competitiveness of marine transport. Our opinion is that the same bodies which approved this law must help the shipping industry invest in these technologies, drive research on them, and promote the creation of a port infrastructure which is adapted to supply LNG and handle the discharges from scrubber systems. At present there are several European incentive programmes, such as TEN-T and Marco Polo, but we do not consider these to be sufficient. For its part, the International Maritime Organization should confirm as soon as possible whether the new lower sulphur levels in fuels will be postponed until 2025. This would eliminate the great uncertainty among shipowners, oil companies and ports regarding the timeline for beginning their future investments and for studying their viability.

Plan de negocio para una aplicación móvil orientada a la gestión de mascotas

En este documento se especifican aspectos importantes sobre un Modelo de Negocio que se llevará a cabo para justificar las expectativas de éxito de la empresa, pudiendo lograr con ello, financiación externa o socios capitalistas que quieran contribuir a alcanzar dicho éxito. En colaboración con la empresa Where Are Pets, formada por tres jóvenes emprendedores, entre los que me incluyo, se ha desarrollado este Modelo de Negocio para determinar la viabilidad económica y financiera del desarrollo de una aplicación móvil para la gestión de mascotas. Se han tratado puntos como las estrategias de marketing a seguir, el estudio de los clientes a los que la aplicación irá destinada y la estructura del capital necesario para llevar a cabo el proyecto, entre otros. Este Plan de Negocio está destinado a ser una herramienta de gran utilidad tanto para el emprendedor, como para socios, y para los posibles inversores. ABSTRACT This document lists important aspects of a Business Model to be carried out with the object of justify company’s success expectations, to achieve with this, external financing or financial partners who want to contribute to achieving this success. In collaboration with the company Where Are Pets, composed of three young entrepreneurs, myself included, we have developed this Business Model for determining the economic and financial viability of development of a mobile application for managing pets. Several points as marketing strategies, the study of potential customers and structure of the capital necessary to carry out the project, among others, have been treated. This Final Project is intended to be a useful for the entrepreneur, the partners or the potential investors.