Overview
Existing and upcoming stricter air quality standards and regulations together with the need to reduce energy consumption raise the awareness of ports and terminals to focus on the carbon footprint which is dependent not only on equipment and operations, but also the energy mix and the management of energy consumption.
There is also an increasing need to provide carbon footprint calculations to transport service clients, requiring these to calculate and expose their product-related carbon footprint in order to improve their competitive advantage for the company's sustainability reports or because their clients ask for it.
Sea and inland navigation terminals are crucial nodal points within intermodal transport chains. Sustainable freight transport requires integrating the energy consumption and the emissions caused by the terminal operations into overall chain. While some terminals, mainly the bigger ones, have already started to invest into eco-efficient technologies and handling equipment, this is still an outstanding issue for others.
The reduction of the CO2 footprint in ports and terminals will only be possible through a cleaner energy mix and through reduced energy consumption. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to develop understandable, practicable and transparent methods and standards. Such standardization should also provide the basis for policy-making aiming at the reduction of port and terminal carbon footprint and strengthened competitiveness of this industrial sector.
The Green EFFORTS project primarily aims at the reduction of energy consumption and a cleaner energy mix at terminals (container, RoRo and inland waterway) to be controlled in a standardized transparent and easy-to-follow way but will also consider the role of a port authority may play to achieve these goals.
In short, it defines the following objectives:
- Transfer the knowledge and project achievements to the stakeholders in the maritime sector through dissemination activities
- Investigate the current energy mix in ports and terminals while identifying the activities which account for real energy saving
- Investigate the range of regenerative energy sources which could be adapted to the port and terminal environment
The project will develop:
- A Port and Terminal Knowledge Landscape (PTKL). The PTKL is a terminal process map which will identify the relevant domains and processes with regard to reduction and optimisation of energy consumption and carbon footprint applicable to container, Ro-Ro and inland waterway terminals. The PTKL will serve as an important tool for further dissemination, training, exploitation and decision making for ports and terminal actors and other potential contributors
- Carbon footprint calculation methods for port and terminal domains. The carbon footprint calculation model will be applicable to the container, RoRo and inland waterway terminals and allow them to practice benchmarking on a comparable basis.
- A Simulation model for terminal energy consumption and supply. This model will be developed based on the captured processes in container, RoRo and inland waterway terminals shown in the PTKL map.
- A Virtual Green EFFORTS Terminal. The model terminal will be developed as a reference point in order to allow comparison with other terminal energy performances
- A Qualification and incentive concept. The qualification and incentive concept will include an incentive system to reward the best practices and outstanding results, a training and learning concept and e-learning materials.
Funding
Results
The project was able to deliver a rather comprehensive overview of opportunities to achieve improved energy-efficiency and hence to provide a useful platform to focus further research according to industrial needs, available solutions and political objectives. In addition, it rose the awareness for both, emission problems and energy-saving opportunities.