Sustainable port infrastructure, practical implementation of the green port concept

Abstract

The overall idea and research interest related with the development of sustainable port infrastructure evolved around the core requirements of continuous reduction of negative environmental impacts without jeopardising economic growth. The growth of trade activities and need for competitiveness on the global market are forcing ports around the world to systematically and continuously evaluate all possibilities for the optimisation and related costs reduction. On the implementation level, the greatest challenge is how to empower workers, who operate machines and work on the shop floor, to achieve enduring performance improvements. Presented research work provides a methodological approach for finding realistic solutions to the problem of the future development challenges of seaports. The case study shown in this research represents a practical application of the green port concept with the emphasis on the overall energy efficiency improvement based on testing, deployment and demonstration of energy efficient solutions. Additional emphasis was placed on the state-of-the-art technologies and developing pilot initiatives based on modern energy solutions designed to improve efficiency in fuel consumption and emissions reduction in rubber tired gantry cranes.

Management Innovation for Environmental Sustainability in Seaports: Managerial Accounting Instruments and Training for Competitive Green Ports beyond the Regulations

“…Some specific measures have been suggested and recognized as useful and effective solutions such as "efficiency targets and standards, benchmarking, energy audits, and energy management requirements, complemented by training, capacity-building, information provision and awareness raising campaigns" [150] (p. 936). At the same time, in the PORTOPIA Sustainability Report 2017, among the environmental management indicators used for evaluating the environmental aware and sustainable behavior of ports, there was one specific question regarding the "existence of an environmental 'training' for port employees" [13][14][15], that showed the crucial role played by training in this area to address environmental sustainability within ports.…”

Selective Adoption: How Port Authorities in Europe and West Africa Engage with the Globalizing ‘Green Port’ Idea

“…While ports are regarded as critical national infrastructures and important for economic development, port authorities are experiencing increased pressure to address the negative environmental and social impacts associated with port operations and development [1,2]. Recently the green port concept emerged in the policy discourse of international maritime organizations as a way to address environmental and social sustainability concerns related to ports (see [3,4]).…”

Concepts of green port operations – one kind of self-diagnosis method to the port of Santos - Brazil

“…For Pavlic et al (2014), the energy consumption in ports is huge due to the different kinds of cargo handling equipment, such as rubber tired gantry (RTG) cranes, reach stackers, yard tractors, wheel loaders and forklifts. Stakeholders may be aware of that energy consumption because when you have energy and environmental management systems, this can lead to a better knowledge regarding the activities, and it allows them to better plan strategies.…”

“…The Port of Aalborg (Denmark) announced that it achieved to be the first CO2 neutral port in Denmark, along with being among the few CO2 neutral ports in the world. Pavlic et al (2014) describe what the main features that need to be implemented or changed to achieve the implementation of the green port concept are. Those changes apply to different sectors, such as the need of replacing the fossil fuel engines of the operational equipment to engines that use renewable energy as a source, or even the conversion of the old engines into more sustainable ones, such as converting from diesel to LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas).…”