Powering Washington's Ports ∨
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Design Philosophy
GOAL
Reduce energy use and pollution at ports
CHALLENGE
Ports are hugely complex operations with limited cross-operation communication
METHOD
Innovation Lab
OUTCOME
Several radical innovations, and a detailed report discussing various strategies to optimize areas of operations.
OVERVIEW
Major shipping ports play a vital role in the world economy. Nearly all international cargo travels through multiple ports and is handled by a variety of equipment. Since the entire process uses energy and produces emissions, ports offer a major opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of shipping.
In 2007, RMI conducted an Innovation Lab with the Port of Seattle, the Port of Tacoma, and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in the U.S. state of Washington.
The goal was to find ways to reduce energy use and emissions in all port operations.
Almost 70 participants attended the workshop, representing the ports, unions, major shipping companies, electric utilities, the trucking industry and various other stakeholders.
The group began by examining port operations in sections, such as “goods arriving,” “goods in port,” and “goods leaving,” as well as overall business opportunities.
Participants formed groups to focus on specific areas of implementation such as vessels, logistics and trucking. Another group considered “blue-sky” ideas for a potential port of the future, dubbed “NuPort.”
One of the best-received innovation ideas was port electrification.
Ports maintain and run a whole fleet of diesel-powered yard trucks to haul containers around the terminal. Because these vehicles operate within a confined area near a central base and don’t need to travel long distances between charging, they are good candidates for electrification.
Switching from diesel-powered to all-electric yard trucks, the group reasoned, would completely eliminate on-site emissions from one class of equipment.
The change would also reduce the well-to-wheels emissions associated with these vehicles, since electric drive trains are more efficient than fossil-fuel-powered drive trains.
Over time, all-electric yard trucks could even be powered by renewable energy sources from the grid.