World Trade - September 2008 - (Page 43) Port of Long Beach The best way to lower air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and diversify fuel supply at U.S. container ports is to use alternative fuels or advanced technologies. Fortunately, important steps are being taken that are leading global efforts to replace diesel with alternative fuels and advanced technologies. Natural gas is currently the leading alternative fuel being deployed in port vehicles. There is also interest in biodiesel, particularly at the two ports in the Northwest. Hybrid electric vehicle technology is beginning to enter the port market, too. Six programs are currently underway at the California ports to deploy fleets of natural gas powered cargo handling vehicles. Programs to replace diesel fuel with liquefied natural gas (LNG) are underway at the three largest container ports in California—Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland. The two ports of Seattle and Tacoma on Puget Sound in the state of Washington are spearheading the use of renewable biodiesel blends in their vehicle fleets. Converting to cargo handling equipment with hybrid electric drive trains offers another option to reduce air pollution at ports. Although hybrid electric drive trains raise vehicle costs substantially, they reduce fuel use, emissions and operating costs. Use of hybrid electric technology at ports is only beginning. A project to develop hybrid-powered cargo handling equipment has been underway at Long Beach since September 2006. In September 2007, the EPA announced a project to develop and test a new EPA-patented hybrid technology on a yard tractor at a PATH container facility in New Jersey. The electricity used to power a ship’s onboard lights and other non-propulsion equipment while at berth is normally generated by the auxiliary engines onboard the ships burning whatever quality diesel is allowed in ships entering the port. This ranges from 1,000 to 27,000 ppm sulfur. Even the cleanest ship fuel is still much dirtier than the 15 ppm sulfur fuel now required for U.S. on road vehicle engines. Shore power, often called cold ironing or alternative marine power, is an alternative to generating power onboard ship. Projects to extend grid power to the ports are underway in Los Angeles and Long Beach. Oakland is the first port in the U.S. to introduce cold ironing technology at a container terminal that produces electricity on the dock using a portable natural gas-fired generator. The unit was publicly demonstrated in port operations in July 2007. In Seattle, no container ships are currently using cold ironing energy supplies. However, two cruise lines, Princess Cruises and Holland America, now use electrical shore power rather engine power when their ships dock in the city. This project eliminates 35 metric tons of turbine engine fuel per ship call, resulting in a total reduction of 1,400 metric tons of fuel during the 2005 cruise season. Transoceanic ships are the largest source of air pollution at container ports. This pollution is due to the use of bunker fuel, the dirtiest grade of diesel, which is allowed under international law. The most polluting fuel contains 45,000 ppm of sulfur, although most bunker fuel in common use contains about 27,000 ppm of sulfur. The two most practical options for U.S. ports to pursue to lower air pollution emissions from ships traversing port waters are to require fuel switching to better quality fuel while operating in port waters and to implement speed reductions. Both are being done at several U.S. ports. Switching to cleaner diesel fuels requires ships to load limited quantities of cleaner fuels in separate auxiliary tanks. Beginning in 2007, CARB regulations require ships entering California waters to burn distillate fuel containing less than 2,000 ppm sulfur in their auxiliary engines while proceeding to port and in their main engines while at berth. Since the beginning of 2007, this higher quality fuel must be burned within 24 nautical miles of the port. The problem of air pollution from oceangoing ships while in ports is severe, but it is only one part of the global shipping industry that is in dire need of reducing its use of bunker fuel. Large transoceanic ships emit 14 percent of the nitrogen oxides, 5 percent of the sulfur oxides, and 2 percent of the carbon dioxide of all transport related emissions. According to a March 2007 report by the WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM 43 http://WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.