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Evaluation of cold ironing and speed reduction policies to reduce ship emissions near and at ports

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Maritime Economics & Logistics Aims and scope

Abstract

Different port operating policies have the potential to reduce emissions from shipping; however, their efficacy varies for different ports. This article extends existing literature to present a consistent and transferable methodology that examines emissions reduction port policies based on ship-call data. Carbon dioxide (CO2); sulphur dioxide (SO2); nitrogen oxides (NOx); and black carbon (BC) emissions from near-port containership activities are estimated. Two emissions reduction policies are considered for typical container terminals. Participation of all calling vessels with a speed reduction scheme can lead to reductions of 8–20 per cent, 9–40 per cent and 9–17 per cent for CO2, SO2 and NOx, respectively. However, speed reduction policies may increase BC emissions by up to 10 per cent. Provision of Alternative Marine Power (AMP) for all berthing vessels can reduce in-port emissions by 48–70 per cent, 3–60 per cent, 40–60 per cent and 57–70 per cent for CO2, SO2, NOx and BC, respectively. The analysis shows that emissions depend on visiting fleet, berthing durations, baseline operating pattern of calling ships, sulphur reduction policies in force and the emissions intensity of electricity supply. The potential of emissions reduction policies varies considerably across ports making imperative the evaluation and prioritization of such policies based on the unique characteristics of each port and each vessel.

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Acknowledgements

This work was co-funded by the Greek State Scholarship Foundation; the resources of OP Education and Lifelong learning of the European Social Fund (ESF); and NSRF 2007–2013. The authors express their gratitude to Dr Dimitrios Pachakis and Dr Sheila Farrell for their comments on earlier versions of this article and their assistance with industry practices, and to Dr Iraklis Lazakis for his comments on the operation of marine engines. We thank the MEL reviewers for their suggestions that helped us improve our article considerably.

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Zis, T., North, R., Angeloudis, P. et al. Evaluation of cold ironing and speed reduction policies to reduce ship emissions near and at ports. Marit Econ Logist 16, 371–398 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/mel.2014.6

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