International efforts needed to achieve zero emissions in ports

OAKLAND, California — An international effort among global ports is needed to shift their infrastructure to support green energy efforts in a bid to achieve zero carbon emissions, according to an official of the Port of Oakland.

In a briefing with journalists under the Foreign Press Centers’ international reporting tour, Port of Oakland executive director Danny Wan shared the port’s goal of having zero carbon emissions as it pursues various projects supporting green energy.

These projects include solar array upgrades, hydrogen fuel cell trucks, electric charging stations, on-terminal elector chargers, mobile shore power and all electric container cranes, among others.

However, Wan said the effort to make ports zero emissions could not be done by the Port of Oakland alone, noting that “the effort should be international.”

“If you imagine a ship, just like I said the plugins to solar power, the ships have to be equipped to actually receive that plug to be able to plug in,” Wan said.

“So it would be ideal if all the ports around the world have that same equipment for that ship. Also hydrogen, you’re going to have to have hydrogen fueling station depots and around the ports around the world. And that’s going to have to be existing in every port in and around the globe,” he added.

Wan also stressed the need for countries to coordinate with each other for the transfer of technology.

“And in fact, that’s why I’ve been going to Japan. I’ve been going to Vietnam in some of these other countries to look at the technology,” Wan said.

“We all someday have to be matching each other, we’re gonna have to do the same infrastructure development to make sure we have standards establishing all the ports,” Wan added.

According to Wan, ports have to be the center of innovation when it comes to shifting to green energy sources.

“Ports are where your ships, your buses, your trucks, your trains, everything goes to the port and that’s where the energy conversion has to happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland official sees the need for better information systems to increase efficiency in the port’s operations.

“The efficiency counts on not the machines, to move the boxes. But you have that information to communicate that to the owners that ship the boxes, making sure they know when it’s coming and coordinating with the shore logistics with the ships,” Wan said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he said there was a backup of larger ships in ports in California.

“One of the issues is the lack of coordination information coordination between the ships, the ports, and the owners of the goods. And so efficiency is going to have to come from more intelligence, information transfer technology, and again, this is an area where we’re learning from a lot of Europe ‘s ports,” Wan said.

The Port of Oakland is one of the busiest container ports in the US as it is the only major seaport in Northern California, handling 99 percent of regional containerized goods.

In 2020, the port achieved an 86 percent reduction of diesel emissions from seaport operations compared to 2005.