9th GreenPort Congress
Nearly 200 delegates from across the world came together for the 9th GreenPort Congress opening session on 15 October 2014 which focused on putting forward a positive environmental image for ports.
Held in Barcelona this week, this year’s Congress host, the Port of Barcelona opened proceedings, by talking about the many challenges that a port has to face in light of new emission regulations. Sixte Cambra, President, Port Authority of Barcelona, said that the port has seen both a dramatic improvement in terms of emissions and the elevation of the need to provide alternative fuels for shipping, in its case, LNG. The port wants to install a re-gasification plant at the port with a capacity of one million cubic metres.
A positive image for ports
The Congress opening session was all about putting forward a positive environmental image forward for ports and spreading the message about working together with stakeholders and the local community to achieve emissions targets.
Isabelle Ryckbost, secretary general, ESPO, outlined the need for education about European TEN-T funding for “greening hinterland links.” “Many ports do not realise they can apply for funding. Combining funding with the moderation of port charges and giving good incentives for environmental stewardship help to achieve a greener port,” she said.
Environmental challenges
Ms Ryckbost told GreenPort that the main challenges for ports and terminals in the coming year will include the sulphur directive coming into force in 2015, the review of the port waste reception directive, the near certain implementation of the ballast water convention and the air quality review – which will tackle the main pollutants produced by ports.
“Ports will need to adapt their facilities in one way or the other because they will be playing different roles in the future, the adoption of alternative fuels for shipping and the de-carbonisation of other modes of transport will mean that oil ports especially, will take on other uses.” Since, she said, 35 to 40% of port commodities are energy related, some of the changes will be positive with renewable energy coming even more to the forefront.
As such, it will be a great opportunity for ports focusing on offshore wind maintenance, tank storage and bio-mass. But it will be a huge challenge for ports that are not well placed to take advantage by way of their capabilities or location.
Working group focus
“Tools for green ports to respond to stakeholders’ expectations” was the topic for three working groups during the afternoon session.
A much anticipated part of the Congress, the working groups act as a voice piece for ports to provide feedback to regulators and share best practice to overcome environmental challenges. Moderator, Dr Chris Wooldridge, from the UK’s Cardiff University, said that the aim of the working groups was to send delegates away with an “armoury of options and tools” to apply to environmental challenges at their own ports.
Group A focused on green logistics and hinterland connections. Top of the agenda was a talk on the Port of Barcelona’s eco-calculator tool for the logistics chain by Jordi Torrent, head of strategy at the port. The model calculates the carbon footprint of products through the supply chain, allowing a customer to choose other modes of transport, like rail, if they are more efficient. This working group also focused on logistics optimisation examining projects at smaller ports. It examined a case study of the use of short sea shipping to transport fish from Norway. There was also a look at the E-highway project, spearheaded by Siemens, which will involve the electrification of trucks at the Port of Los Angeles in 2015.
Group B focused on environmental schemes and the approach taken in Danish ports. Plenty of recommendations came out of the session including; The need for better engagement of senior management in projects and better communication with them, a plea to the Commission not to introduce a EU wide scheme for differential charges, a need for one system on which these charges should be based in future and the need for more subsidies to develop green initiatives.
Better communication
Communications and reporting was the topic of choice for the third working group, which warned ports that the need for greater transparency and stronger dialogue is even greater than before. The group concluded that sustainability reporting can be used as a strategic tool to improve the relationship with stakeholders. It was also mentioned that being part of a register such as ESPO’s eco-ports scheme means more business for ports because they become more serious environmental players.
The Greenport Congress, organised by Mercator Media, runs from 15 to 17 October at the World Trade Centre, Barcelona.
About Greenport Cruise Conference |
Greenport Cruise Conference and Greenport Congress are organised by Mercator Media Ltd. With the increasing popularity of cruise holidays, ports are seeing a large increase in the number and size of passenger ships using their facilities and the local infrastructure is also required to cope with the influx of huge numbers of passengers at a time. The second GreenPort Cruise conference will highlight the environmental and sustainability issues facing Cruise terminals across the world. |
For further information about the Greenport Cruise Conference or the Greenport Congress, please visit the website: www.greenport.com/congress