Energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of port container terminal equipment: Evidence from the Port of Valencia

Julián Martínez-Moya, Barbara Vazquez-Paja and Jose Andrés Gimenez Maldonado

Energy Policy, 2019, vol. 131, issue C, 312-319

Abstract: Energy efficiency has emerged as a key point in port industry because of different factors such as the adoption of stronger environmental regulations and the increasing pressure of the local community on the surrounding ports. As gathering operational data from port terminals can be difficult due to privacy, studies on emissions and energy efficiency of these terminals are scarce. The following research provides key information about the real energy consumption and CO2 emissions of one of the most relevant container terminals in the Mediterranean area, located in Valencia, Spain. The results show that yard terminal tractors and rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) are the main emission sources, accounting for 68.1% of the terminal's total CO2 emissions. After identifying the equipment responsible for the environmental problem, two solutions aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the terminal have been studied: the retrofitting of RTGs cranes and the replacement of terminal tractors powered by fuel for a new liquefied natural gas tractor, which contributed to a large reduction of CO2 emissions. Additionally, the present research explores the different policies at the disposal of port authorities in order to foster the implementation of solutions aimed at mitigating the environmental externalities by terminal operators.

Keywords: CO2 emissions; Port container terminal; Port container terminal equipment; Port energy management; Energy efficiency; Port sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519302940
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:131:y:2019:i:c:p:312-319

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.04.044

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().