One of these, which began last year, is looking into the addition of a super-capacitor on the RTGs. When the RTG crane engine is running, it charges the super capacitor at the same time.When the super capacitor is fully charged,it will supply electricity to the crane when it is hoisting a container.

A second trial, which commenced earlier this year, involved the adaptation of various RTGs to run at 1,500 revs per minute (rpm) rather than 1,800 rpm as a means of reducing diesel fuel consumption. Concomitantly, several RTGs have been converted from diesel to electric power.

This could totally eliminate black emissions and bring down noise levels generated by the engines. The pilot, which is on-going, will gather more data to finalise the production design and also resolve terminal operation logistics.

A further trial involving variable speed engines (VSE) on board the RTGs was started in June. A VSE is designed to adjust the speed of the RTG crane engine to match the load demand by regulating the air/fuel ratio for fuel combustion.Engine speed can be reduced from 1,500 rpm to 800 rpm under low load conditions, thereby reducing fuel consumption. In addition to these trials, HIT has also implemented a five-phase Environmental Protection Programme.

One of the key objectives will be a 90% reduction in sulphur oxide released into the atmosphere by vehicle exhausts. This will be achieved, over a period of two years, by switching from industrial diesel oil (IDO, 0.5% sulphur) to ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD, 0.005% sulphur) for all internal vehicles and RTGs.

Hutchison Port Holdings says that it is also investigating the feasibility of using alternative fuels such as ethanol or bio-diesel.However,the applicability of bio-diesel is still in its infancy and there are concerns regarding the long-term supply of it for industrial applications. Another worry revolves around possible side effects in respect of engine performance, not to mention possible damage due to the inconsistency in chemical composition and physical properties of this new fuel source.