A study by the US-based International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has shown that wider adoption of shore power by US ports could result in a significant reduction in harmful air pollution in the areas around those ports.
Shore power technology can help the maritime industry transition away from diesel fuels and reduce GHGs and air pollutant emissions that harm the health of people in communities near ports and local ecosystems. The ICCT working paper, Nationwide port emissions screening for berthed vessels: Prioritizing US port electrification to improve air quality for near-port communities is believed to be the first nationwide port emissions screening for at-berth vessels.
Using the ICCT’s Systematic Assessment of Vessel Emissions (SAVE) model and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, the study estimates how much pollution is emitted by at-berth vessels and then identifies US ports where investments in shore power could meaningfully improve air quality in nearby communities. The study’s estimates show that in the absence of shore power, at-berth vessels emitted approximately 27,000t of combined air pollutants (NOx, SOx, and PM10) and more than 1.4m tonnes of CO2 in 2019. Of the 129 ports considered in this analysis, 43 high-priority ports and port groups overlapped with lower-income census tracts and areas that do not meet US EPA air quality standards.
The study assigns the 43 ports and port groups a priority level of 1 through 4 based on at-berth vessel air pollutant emissions estimates and the population near each port. Based on the results, there is potential at priority 1 (New York City port group and Los Angeles port group) and priority 2 (New Orleans, Seattle, Galveston port group, Houston, and Oakland port group) ports to reduce emissions from at-berth vessel activity by installing shore power compatible with the highest emitting ship types at the port. Many of the priority 1 and 2 ports have shore power currently installed or planned for these high-emitting ship types, which include tanker, container, cargo, cruise, and tug vessels.
US ports can use available federal funding to install zero-emission port equipment, develop air quality monitoring plans, or conduct emission inventories for more tailored emission estimates than this nationwide screening provides. The study notes that as more ports complete emission inventories and further data is available on emission sources, it may be easier to identify additional areas to decarbonise that could yield meaningful air quality improvements.
Image: Wider use of shore power in US ports could benefit local communities (image credit: Cavotec)
