Sustainable ports

Ports have great potential to be future key players in sustainable transport systems. They are important hubs for freight and passengers, but their activities also generate emissions that harm the environment.

Ships, lorries and the port's own machinery emit carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particles. In addition, the port needs to deal with ships' waste, such as oily liquid waste (sludge), sewage and solid waste.

Modern ports have typically grown out of the need for trade and industry to move goods, with the requirement of well-connected road and rail links. As a result, many are located close to cities, which means they must deal with local emissions, congestion on road and rail networks, and noise as ships are often loaded and unloaded at all times of the day.

Port operations can also have a significant impact on the environment through the construction and maintenance of facilities, infrastructure as well as dredging of fairways and harbour basins.

The port from a sustainable perspective

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has extensive experience of emission calculations from both international and Swedish ports, including analyses of measures to reduce emissions. These include emissions from ships, lorries, railways and machinery, but also heating and construction of terminals and buildings. We also have extensive experience with air quality measurements of actual emissions from ships and vehicles.

IVL works with port design from a logistical perspective and calculations of environmental data for entire logistics chains for export and import products.

We offer systems for environmentally differentiated port charges through the Clean Shipping Index. The results of measurements and calculations are used by ports in their annual reports, sustainability reports and authorisation processes, but also to make investments that reduce emissions.

The port is an important actor that can influence other stakeholders in a sustainable direction. This can e.g. be done by promoting the availability of alternative fuels or investing in onshore electricity for port operations and ship loading. One of IVL's areas of expertise is assessing the environmental and climate impact of fuels, for example through life cycle analyses (LCA), multi-criteria analyses of various factors linked to fuels.

IVL works strategically with ports and other stakeholders to find strategies for meeting the changing needs of shipping fuels in the future. We work extensively with both our own experts and other stakeholders to provide the best recommendations on the technical design of, for example, biogas and biotank facilities and preparations for hydrogen installations.

We can help you with:

• Emission calculations for ships, lorries, trains and work machines in the port
• Air quality measurements e.g. particulate matter, NOX, ground-level ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOC)
• Action analyses to reduce emissions in port
• Strategic sustainability work and sustainability management
• Life cycle analyses for ports
• Sustainable procurement, assistance with eco-labelling or environmental requirements
• Port logistics
• Risk analysis for handling and storage of fuel and chemicals
• Studies on future fuels in ports