Summary
International shipping is the most energy efficient mode of cargo transport in world trade but unfortunately is also a major producer of NOx, SOx and CO2 emissions. The existing measures being EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) for new ships and SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan) for all ships. With the current debates on further measures and fuel consumption measurement and reporting, new regulations in this area are forthcoming. When it comes to ports, there have been limited studies on port operation / management and its contribution to ship energy efficiency. The main reason for this may be the lack of IMO’s regulatory authorities on ports because the IMO’s main focus is on ships and international shipping rather than ports that are mainly regarded as national entities. Despite this lack of regulatory focus, marine ports are important for shipping energy efficiency and in particular they play a major role in delivering an energy efficient ship operation. Port operations involves not only ship operation but a lot of other activities such as cargo loading and unloading, ground-level port related transportations and activities of harbour crafts for provision of various services to ports or ships. In this section, technological solutions for port area emissions reduction and GHG emissions reductions are discussed (MariEMS 2017).
In port areas, air emissions and energy consumptions are primarily due to ships. However, there are other equipment and facilities that use energy or contribute to air emissions to port areas. For example cargo loading devices, trucks and other transportation units, buildings and energy needed for these buildings and harbor crafts that provide additional services to port and shipping companies. The amount and level of such emissions will depend on not only technologies used but also operational aspects of ships, the time they stay in port and other energy using machinery and facilities in port itself. Emission reductions in the port area are typically focused on PM, SOx and NOx due to air quality health impacts. Controlling NOx, PM and SOx is the central focus for most national and regional regulatory agencies and therefore the same applies for ports as does to the shipping industry. GHGs emissions have recently been seriously addressed by regulatory agencies such as IMO, although in the port area, health effects and thus pollutants typically take the priority over GHG emissions. The operation of auxiliary engines is a major source of SOx, NOx and Particulate Matters (PM) emissions to ports. The amount of emissions is generally proportional to the amount of fuel used. The longer the ship stays at berth or at anchor, the higher the ship fuel consumption will be and thereby the more the exhaust pollutants emitted to the port (MariEMS 2017).