Drawing the line

Against the background of the global debate over carbon emissions, direct regulation, the increasing drive for “green” supply chains and gathering consumer demand for “low-carbon” products, the ports sector is quickly waking up to the need to examine its own carbon footprint – and it’s an exercise that is vital, says Jonathan Shopley, managing director of the CarbonNeutral Company.

“Fifteen or so years from now, the cost of emitting carbon will be quite substantial – and ports need to recognise that now and invest accordingly,” he warns. “First of all, there is the strategic imperative to future-proof the business; there is a growing awareness that the price of carbon is going to move from zero to something significant. When you invest in capital equipment, for example, you should take that into consideration.

“Second, there is direct regulation – such as the UK’s CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment), which will affect a number of ports and require them to measure and reduce their output. Third are the qualitative reasons – staff and partner engagement, people feeling proud to work for an organisation that address environmental issues in a proactive way. And fourth, there is the ‘licence to operate’ issue – i.e. getting planning permission for future developments. A good relationship with local and national planning authorities is essential and if a port is able to deliver against their requirements to reduce, it helps.”

But how exactly does a port (a) measure its output and (b) reduce it? The first thing to do, says Mr Shopley, is to draw a black line around what is included and excluded – and then start to build the footprint. But, as he points out, if the port landlord doesn’t have direct control over the emissions of its tenants, then it is very difficult for any reduction plan to be put in place. The CRC is being vehemently opposed by Forth Ports for that very reason.

The CarbonNeutral Company’s first experience in the sector was working with the Port of Belfast, which was declared to have carbon neutral status in May 2008. This status was in fact achieved through offsetting, but the port went through a detailed programme of carbon reduction and is committed to further reducing emissions per tonne by 20% within four years from 2008.

Electricity to power items such as cranes and quay lighting was identified as the primary source of carbon, but waste going to landfill sites was also a major contributor.

“Every port from our perspective is different and is defined by geographical location, ownership structure, extent of operation, whether it is handling bulks, containers, cruise, etc.,” says Mr Shopley. “It is also a challenge to define the boundaries in terms of direct or indirect control.”

The first step, then, is to decide what is the subject of the carbon management initiative – the port buildings? the port in its entirety? the logistics operations beyond the gates? the ships anchoring outside the harbour waiting for a berth (arguably the emissions of being at anchor belong to the port because the port has caused the vessel to wait)?

And what about the 200 staff who come to work by cars and buses, the trains and trucks delivering and collecting containers, the reefer boxes using electricity while they are in the port?

Once you have decided what emissions the port “owns”, then it is a matter of being fairly methodical and measuring the use of electricity, fuel, gas, transport, heating, cooling, lighting, refrigerant gases, methane from waste processing, etc.

“You can then look at the footprint in detail and review the options to reduce at source,” says Mr Shopley. “Choose the most material emissions first and figure out ways to reduce them – then look at the smaller areas.

“We generally set our clients quite stretching targets – say 4%-5% a year reduction – and most find that difficult. They may find they can achieve that rate, but not until 2015, perhaps, when they are due to replace a fleet of vehicles. So until that time, they can use offset.”

It is possible for ports to combine growth with a reduction in carbon emissions, he insists.

“We [CarbonNeutral] have found the maritime and ports sector very responsive and very open and proactive around this issue; it is different to what we found in the aviation sector, which tended to be quite defensive.”