Tool launches to identify ‘first mover’ ports

The Sustainable First Movers Initiative Identification Tool, developed by the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF), Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and Arup, scores a port’s potential to produce and bunker electrofuels.

“Ports can play an important role in kickstarting shipping’s decarbonisation process even before global policies are established,” said Marie Cabbia Hubatova, director, global shipping at EDF.

“By considering the impact sustainable first mover initiatives can have on port-side communities, climate, environment and economies, resources can be better directed to locations where these initiatives will make the biggest difference.”

The preliminary phase tool analyses 108 ports in the Indo-Pacific region according to five criteria namely land suitability, air quality, renewable energy surplus, economic resilience and ship traffic.

It is also applied to three different port scenarios, including ports exploring fuel production and bunkering, ports exploring fuel exports, and ports exploring fuel imports and bunkering.

These combined criteria then determine which ports have the greatest potential for ‘sustainable first mover initiatives’ leading to reduced emissions and positive impacts for local communities, such as improved air quality.

The tool can be customised according to stakeholders’ needs and goals and the next phase of this work will include the selection and assessment of ten ports to help better understand local needs.

LR and EDF carried out a joint study on ammonia as shipping fuel, and LR and Arup have collaborated on The Resilience Shift study which focuses on fuel demand for early adopters in green corridors, ports and energy systems, amongst other projects.