The report—“Energy-Efficient Port Operations”—analyzes the global market for energy-efficient port operations, with a focus natural gas drayage trucks and shore power, environmental regulations, and port authority incentive programs such as the Environmental Ship Index (ESI). Additional energy-efficient port technologies studied in the report include electric rubber tire gantry cranes (eRTGs), electric forklifts and trucks, battery-powered ships, hydrogen fuel cell technology, renewable energy, and data analytics.

For added context and background on the general port operations market, Navigant Research provides a forecast for all drayage trucks (which are primarily diesel-powered) in use in port operations. Additionally, the report includes estimates for the regional market share of global ports (measured by container throughput) and the number of gantry cranes and forklifts in use in port operations.

Navigant Research projects that the use of shore power will ultimately become the most impactful tool in making ports more energy efficient, largely due to the significant associated environmental improvements when using this technology and the existing shore power regulatory requirements in California and the European Union (EU). According to the World Ports Climate Initiative (WPCI), plugging into shore-side electricity power is estimated to reduce engine emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) by up to 97% per vessel call. Harmful emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), diesel particulate matter (PM), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also drastically reduced with shore power. The environmental impact of ships idling diesel engines to power onboard electronics while in port is considerable. A 12 MVA cruise ship that is berthed at a port for 8 hours generates as much NOX emissions as 10,000 cars and as much PM as 6,000 cars within the same time period.

—“Energy-Efficient Port Operations”