Two container terminal facilities in New York will be retrofitted with auto stop-start hybrid technology at a cost of up to US$144,000, as part of emission-reduction plans by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
PANYNJ will partner with GCT New York and APM terminals to upgrade two yard tractors at each of the Elizabeth and Red Hook container terminal facilities in Brooklyn, with the aim of minimising greenhouse gas emissions by around 25%.
PANYNJ port department director, Molly Campbell, said: “Our goal is to balance the need to efficiently and effectively deliver the goods within our port facilities, as well as to its final destination, while continuing to be good environmental stewards to the communities that surround our port facilities.
“These new programmes will supplement other major initiatives we have in place that address emissions reductions and air quality for those who live and work in the port community.”
The yard tractors are responsible for handling the largest number of on-terminal vehicles in the port, and currently contribute 33% of all the site's cargo-handling equipment emissions.
PANYNJ will collect monitoring data from the retrofitted yard tractors to evaluate the performance of the stop-start systems, in addition to the operational savings, air emissions reductions and commercial viability of the hybrid technology.
PANYNJ has also outlined plans to sponsor a four-week demonstration project of zero-emission cargo handling equipment at the Red Hook container terminal. The project aims to explore air emissions reductions and the logistics of operating zero emission vehicles in a container terminal environment.
