Environmental concerns continue to top the list of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report for 2021 in terms of likelihood and impact for the next decade.
The 2021 report states that the highest likelihood risks over the next ten years will be extreme weather, a failure to fight climate change and human-led environmental damage.
Within the report’s executive summary, the World Economic Forum says that a shift towards greener economies cannot be delayed until the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic subside.
But what does this mean for ports and terminals around the globe? We know that many are embarking on various efforts to decolonise and meet various global and national targets.
Vendors and suppliers also have a part to play with many of them emphasising how green and sustainable their offerings are. But there are still challenges ahead with the technology that is on offer and what can realistically be adopted.
Challenges ahead
Most ports in developed nations are considering some kinds of efforts to cut emissions and make their operations more sustainable whether this be in the form of electrification of equipment, onshore power or supporting the development of offshore windfarms.
In a recent interview with PTI, Ged Bamford, Head of Maintenance, Port of Tyne, talked about how there are a number of challenges to overcome when in order to be successful when it comes to implementing green technology.
The Port of Tyne is currently embarking on an effort to become an all-electric port by 2040.
One of the key challenges that Bamford highlighted was cost.
“Unfortunately, low/no CO2 equipment is typically more expensive than conventional alternatives from both CAPEX and OPEX perspectives and careful calculations are needed, for instance, rechargeable batteries are expensive to purchase and have a limited lifespan – all this needs to be factored into investment decisions.”
He also noted that there is an issue with the pace of technology development not keeping up with the pace of demand. For example, he highlighted “battery capacity, battery life and reliability for electric vehicles is nowhere near good enough”.
“Other technology such as Hydrogen generation and storage are still in their infancy. Technology needs to catch up to help adoption to continue accelerating.”
Technology as an obstacle has also been highlighted by Thomas Jelenic´, Vice President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, who recently said that cutting emissions will require a shakeup of technologies and that a major hurdle continues to be technological maturity of low-emissions equipment for ports and terminals.
In a recent article, Jelenic´ wrote that the most recent analyses by the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have determined that there are currently no feasible zero emission heavy duty trucks or cargo-handling equipment available for deployment.
Despite this, the California Air Resources Board is already proposing to ban trucks from serving Californian ports unless they are zero emission trucks beginning in 2023.
Jelenic also notes that while battery technology has made significant progress it is still limited by range and the cost of extended range for battery technology is liner.
Hydrogen fuel cells could act as an alternative but Jelenic points out that but new challenges emerge.
“While potentially more viable than battery electric, hydrogen is further behind in terms of technological development, with additional concerns regarding fuel supply and price,” he noted.
Solutions
Vendors are responding to the demand for this type of truck and recently AIDrivers partnered with Hyzon Motors to jointly develop autonomous hydrogen powered vehicles with the first demo truck in 2021 and fleet deployment in 2022.
Speaking about how artificial intelligence fits into the demand for low-emissions Founder of Aidrivers, Dr Rafiq Swash, explained, “AI-enabled autonomous automation also cuts fuel emissions due to hyper-efficient, purposed equipment handling and usage.”
In this project, AIDrivers will supply the AI-enabled autonomous technology while Hyzon Motors focuses on the hydrogen fuel cell-powered.
“The fusion of 3D LiDAR, cameras and sensors overlaid with the AI enabled software algorithms means that vehicles optimise routes and manoeuvres due to the self-aware systems, which reduce unnecessary usage of equipment dynamics such as acceleration and braking. The energy efficient speed therefore results in improved fuel consumption. An adjunct to this is the more effective use of vehicle parts,” he explained.
Smart choices when it comes to any port equipment are key and Marko Rasinen, Product Manager, RTG at Kalmar, said recently, “With smart choices on both the crane base design and energy systems, the crane’s ecoefficiency can be improved considerably”.
He noted that structural design, essentially the weight of the crane, makes a big difference when it comes to fuel consumption.
He also highlighted the choice of all-electric versus hydraulic design.
Hydraulic setups have traditionally been used for spreaders and for gantry-wheel turning and micromovements but switching to all-electric can cut fuel consumption by as much as two litres per hour, with the added bonus of reduced maintenance costs because of fewer moving parts.
“The combined weight of the spreader/head block unit makes a big difference too, since this equipment is lifted and lowered twice every move. Minimising the weight here can deliver up to a litre of fuel savings per hour,” Rasinen pointed out. “Even lighting can make a contribution, with energy-efficient LED lights offering a potential saving of 0.5 litres of fuel per hour.”
Importantly, there is no one-size fits all to the equipment that a terminal should consider.
“Having a range of alternatives is important,” Rasinen pointed out.
He recognises that going fully electric is the preferrable option from the sustainability perspective but in some locations this is still not viable.
Hybrid technologies are a particularly attractive alternative to fully electric drivelines in markets where the quality and reliability of the electricity supply may be poor, or at terminals where the existing infrastructure may not support a cable-reel or bus bar setup, Rasinen pointed out.
