Decreases in the number of ships and containers arriving last year, plus cleaner cargo unloading equipment from rail to towing, helped significantly reduce emissions in Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, but the environmental challenges will only get worse. The combined ports' 2023 emissions list announced last week showed that diesel particulate matter (DPM) was reduced by 91%, nitrogen oxides (NOx) was reduced by 72%, sulphur oxides (SOx) was reduced by 98%, and greenhouse gases (GHG) were reduced by 20%. In 2006, ports adopted the Joint Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) to reduce harmful emissions from all port operations.
Jacqueline Moore, vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), which represents West Coast carriers and dock operators, said in a statement on Friday that 2023 was the largest in our port's history. For nearly two decades, maritime carriers, shipping terminals, truck drivers, rail and port vessel operators have been shifting to cleaner burning fuels, including zero-emission vehicles and cargo unloading equipment, in an effort to meet the goals outlined in the CAAP to operate zero-emission shipping terminals by 2030. TOW TRUCKS IN OPERATION IN 2035.
PMSA Vice President Michelle Grubbs (Michele Grubbs) Friday Par“Business Magazine”Says: “Everyone is committed to achieving these goals, but this requires technology and [fuel] infrastructure to keep up.”
Port stakeholders must also comply with additional rules imposed by federal, state, and regional regulators, which in some cases exceed CAAP goals. These regulatory provisions, including Independent Sourcing Rules (ISRs) covering all Southern California port, rail and warehouse operators, will significantly increase operating costs for the largest U.S. port complex.
In a September 17 letter to the Mayor of Los Angeles and Long Beach, shippers, transportation stakeholders, and the International Union of Docks and Warehouses expressed concern about the limitations of the ISR to force stakeholders to limit the amount of cargo passing through Los Angeles and Long Beach. “Stakeholders generally believe that abandoning port ISR to focus on infrastructure and simplified licensing schemes to support current and future zero-emission infrastructure and equipment needs will be more effective and productive,” the letter said. 。
More importantly, the work required to reduce emissions will be more challenging, said the Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Cerroka, and stated in a statement at the time of the release of the port's emissions list that we will reduce the levels of diesel particulate matter produced by engines transporting goods through our portal to by up to 9% after the content of diesel particulate matter produced by engines transporting goods through our portal is reduced to as much as 9%. The chemical content dropped to the last 2%.” “While these and other contaminants are the hardest to eliminate, we will continue to work with all stakeholders to reduce emissions to zero.”
Long Beach noted in the report that carriers are operating fewer but larger vessels, which increases efficiency by producing more containers with each ship docked. The report claims the average emissions per ship in 2023 were 11,168 standard boxes, higher than the 10,137 standard boxes in 2022. In addition, more and more ships are slowing down to within 40 miles of shore, and more ships are accessing shore power when docked, both of which reduce emissions.
Long Beach also noted that over the past year, each port has raised $3000 million from the Clean Truck Fund, which will be distributed as grants to tow operators to purchase zero-emission trucks and develop charging infrastructure at the port. These funds come from a charge of $10 per TEU for fully loaded containers to and from ports.
