ENVIRONMENT: EMISSION REDUCTION
LOW EMISSIONS STRATEGY As ports look for ways to cut their emissions, management teams are faced with a bewildering choice of low emissions technologies, and the risk of implementing a technology that might become obsolete. Steve Roberts, Associate Director, Ports & Marine, AECOM, looks at how to navigate the options and find not only the best option technologically, but strategically
Environmental credentials have never been more important in the transport sector, and society as a whole, than now. Globalisation was driven by cost reduction and maximised the comparative advantage of different economies creating a boom in seaborne trade in the process. This model only accounts for the direct financial costs of production and shipping, and not the wider externalities such as environmental impacts. Today, shippers, striving to meet customer expectations of environmental responsibility, increasingly look for ‘green’ supply chain options with lower emissions. Some leading port groups have successfully differentiated their offering on this basis, with the reward that customers attracted by this attribute tend to be more captive. There is also the opportunity to reduce operating costs by adopting low emission technologies, both from fuel and maintenance cost savings, and there may also be possibilities for ports to generate revenue. VARIOUS SOURCES Ports are built on complex systems of operation and consequently reducing or eliminating port emissions is a complex affair. By default, most ports use at least two power sources (electricity and diesel) and sometimes more: LPG for forklift trucks, petrol for road vehicles, and if bunkering for vessels is provided other fuels enter the equation. An immediate question for anyone devising a low emissions strategy is: which technology offers the best emission reduction and financial return (including consideration of whole-life costs)? To arrive at the answer, ports must consider which technologies currently on offer will be available over the next 10 or 15 years - the typical lifespan of port equipment that today cannot be fully or easily electrified. This, in turn, begs the question, is technical superiority the key to predicting which power source will gain the critical mass needed to become mainstream, and how much does that matter for your port? To help address this issue we consider some of the strategic, rather than technical, considerations. For port systems such as buildings, supplying shore power to ships or bunkering of vessels lower emissions can be achieved through the purchase (or on-site generation) of renewable electricity, providing shore supply to ships if grid capacity permits, or provision of LNG as a bunker fuel. For these asset types, the best options are fairly clear-cut.
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For cargo handling equipment electrification appears to offer an ideal solution to many problems: eliminating on-site emissions and if supplied from renewable sources eliminating emissions altogether. While this is a good option for assets such as ship-to-shore and yard cranes, items such as terminal tractors, payloaders, reach stackers, empty container handlers and so on (‘mobile equipment’) remain difficult to electrify with current technology. Mobile equipment has the common characteristics of being mobile, subject to weight limitations, and having usage patterns that mean they have little downtime. It is this area of port operations where identifying the best low emission option is most complex. For these situations alternative energy sources and technologies may be the answer. Alternatives to fossil fuels such as diesel include: 5 Electrification with cable connection 5 Battery electric power 5 Fuel cell electric power e.g. hydrogen fuel cell 5 Liquified natural gas (LNG) 5 Hydro treated vegetable oil fuel 5 Petrol or diesel hybrid drives 5 Biodiesel fuel 5 Hydrogen duel fuel 5 100% Hydrogen internal combustion engines
8 Mobile cargo handling equipment presents the biggest challenge when seeking to identify the best low emission power source
They offer varying: 5 Reductions in emissions 5 Capital, fuel and maintenance costs 5 Retrofit capability for existing vehicles and plant 5 Suitability for different applications in ports 5 Availability These alternatives can also be categorised as either: 5 Fully aligned to traditional internal combustion engine technology, e.g. biodiesel or 100% hydrogen internal combustion engines, 5 Partially aligned with internal combustion engine technology, e.g. hybrid drive technologies, or 5 Aligned with electrical power, e.g. fuel cell options, battery vehicles and pure electric options DECISION MAKING When creating a low emission strategy the following strategic factors should be weighed up in addition to the technical reduction in emissions and direct costs:
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