Introduction
Ports are major logistic hubs and essential pillars for international trade. In recent decades many ports, especially in western Europe and eastern Asia have grown at an unprecedented rate (Moon et al. 2018). Nowadays, around 80% of all goods sold in the world are shipped by sea (UNCTAD, 2021). As such, without ports the world economy would come to a standstill as seen by the Suez Canal blockage in early 2021 (BBC, 2021). Globally, around 4 billion people live in cities within 100km of a coast (United Nations, 2019). Thus, ports have a large impact on communities by providing employment, giving access to goods from around the world and providing a space for enjoyment and leisure.
While the growth in the shipping sector does bring huge economic benefits, it has also had a adverse impact on the environment. The day-to-day operation of ports release emissions that have negative impacts on the surrounding ecosystems (Perez et al., 2016). Further examples of negative impacts are the loss of natural habitats and biodiversity, contaminated sediments, decline in water quality and biological invasion (Tanner et al., 2020). However, problems are not just localized at the port itself; the shipping industry is responsible for more than 10% of total greenhouse emissions from worldwide transport (Climate Watch, 2020). Since the amount of goods shipped by sea is ever increasing and harbours are getting busier every year, making ports more sustainable is an important object for the coming decades (Deloitte, 2020).
Rationale
Unsurprisingly, ports play an important role in the journey to a more sustainable future. Globally, a growing number of initiatives deals with the sustainability of ports. Since most ports and harbours around the world face similar problems, collaboration can benefit all stakeholders (Becker et al., 2011). Collaboration is also the aim of the World Harbour Project, funded in Sydney in 2014, which facilitates and links research programs across major harbours throughout the world. A major focus is thereby the restoration of working ecosystems (World Harbour Project, 2021). Another initiative, the World Port Sustainability Program aims to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by empowering port community actors worldwide. Successful sustainability projects are shared across the platform to one day establish a “global library of best practices” (World Ports Sustainability Program, 2021). However, these so-called best practices have not been found yet and many ports are trialling different strategies to become more sustainable. This research paper will be comprised of a rapid review evaluating what scientific literature suggests should be best practices in the port sector, followed by an assessment of selected ports and their sustainability efforts. Finally, it will discuss these results and provide recommendations on what sustainability efforts are most effective and can successfully be adopted by ports around the world.
While sustainability encompasses multiple aspects related to social, environmental and economic development this study will focus on a subset of these issues. Global warming is the single biggest threat to life on earth and ports are at the frontier of greenhouse gas pollution (Chen et al., 2019; Gu et al., 2019). Misra et al., (2017) argues that ports are responsible for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. For these reasons, this report will exclusively focus on efforts towards decarbonisation and reduced energy usage amongst ports.
Literature Review
Over the last years, a great amount of literature has discussed possible practices to make ports more sustainable. This section will illuminate some of this literature and thereby create a collection of methods that are scientifically proven to increase port sustainability. Existing research deals with a variety of aspects of sustainability related to social, environmental, and economic development. Due to the limited timeframe of this report, it will not be possible to assess and dissect all areas that have been studied. The report will therefore exclusively discuss practices related to decreased energy usage and decarbonisation of ports.
When embarking on the task to reduce a ports energy usage as well as carbon output, it is essential to start by assessing the operations current energy and carbon usage. This is referred to as an emission baseline against which future performance can be compared (Acciaro et al., 2014). While doing this, it is important to segment the port emission and energy consumption sources as this helps to develop targets and highlights areas where improvements are most necessary (Alamoush et al., 2020). Multiple sources suggest that the most carbon and energy intensive tasks are undertaken by Cargo Handling Equipment (CHE) such as cranes, due to their high reliance on diesel (Li et al., 2019; Spengler & Wilmsmeier, 2019). Other high emission machinery includes vehicles, generators, buildings, and warehouses next to the emissions of ships manoeuvring and arriving as well as departing the port (Alamoush et al., 2020). Having established that heavy equipment is responsible for the majority of energy use and carbon emissions of ports, there is a variety of measures that can be taken to reduce this. Physical change of machinery is one possibility to reduce GHG and energy usage. Older equipment such as cranes can be replaced by cleaner, more energy efficient alternatives. Alternatively, machinery can be retrofitted with emission control technology (IMO, 2018). Especially the replacement of diesel-powered equipment has been proven to minimise CO2 emissions as well as energy consumption (Geerlings & van Duin, 2011).
Next to the replacement of old, polluting appliances harbours also have the opportunity to change the energy that these appliances are using. Usage of alternative fuels such as hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) or the generation of renewable energy on site are viable solutions that result in less pollution. Liquified natural gas, also known as LNG, is 10% more energy efficient than conventional fuel while producing 25% less CO2 (Yun et al., 2018). Major ports such as the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands have successfully replaced their diesel with this alternative to gain optimal CO2 reduction (PIANC, 2019). Further substitutes such as hydrogen or ammonia have successfully been trialled can be used to power boats or vehicles on the harbour estate (Bicer & Dincer, 2018).
A second option to the usage of alternative fuels is the full electrification of machinery such as CHE. While these systems require significant investments for spare batteries many ports are utilizing rechargeable batteries in cranes, trucks and forklifts to eliminate fuel usage (Alasali et al., 2018). The benefits of electrification can for instance be seen in rubber-tired gantries (RTGs), such as employed in cranes used to lift and move containers, as they can achieve 60 – 80% CO2 savings and an energy reduction of more than 85% (Yang & Chang, 2013). These RTG cranes also benefit from machine learning and IoT which can lead to a considerable increase in efficiencies. In 2020, Peng et al., researched the benefit of machine learning in the handling of ships in harbours. Their analysis found that the application of machine learning models can lead to greatly increased efficiencies in the handling of ships. Ultimately leading to reduced energy consumption of ships by 34% at the berth and 8% in the port.
While the electrification of machinery does reduce GHG emissions, it is important to assess how this electricity is being generated. The emissions of energy generation are considered to be scope 2 emissions, thereby adding to the overall carbon footprint of an organisation (SOURCE). Due to their location and size, ports are uniquely capable to harness wind, ocean and geothermal energy. This advantage/benefit should be utilized to obtain a high proportion of energy from renewable sources. PVs could be installed on roof of buildings, warehouses and terminals (Boile et al., 2016). Wind energy, as generated by multiple ports in the Netherlands, is restricted by the availability of space either onshore or offshore. While the kinetic energy of waves can be harnessed to produce energy, geothermal energy can be used to heat buildings (Green Efforts, 2014).
Next to the recognized efforts to decarbonize port operations and to obtain energy from renewable sources it is crucial to analyse possibilities to reduce the total energy needed in day-to-day activities (Boile et al., 2016). Sensors and LED lights in buildings and yards have shown to save large amounts of energy (Hippinen & Federley, 2014). Building designs as well as insulation can improve energy efficiency and reduce heat loss, as employed by numerous ports around the world (Schmidt, 2019).
Bibliography
– Tanner 2020 article (+ version 1) has multiple examples of successful sustainability work of harbours worldwide
– Google world harbour project
– Google sustainable world ports
– Business in the community, zero carbon pledge
2021-5-3-1620046352