Green port approach and sustainability in port authorities

Both Turkey and the rest of the world depend on shipping for approximately 90 % of their trade transactions and this situation is well reflected in an increasing volume of business run by port facilities and the importance attached to them. Ports and their hinterland are exposed to pressure due to the increasing maritime traffic and cargo capacity. Pollution from port activities is observed to have a direct impact both on port employees and urban life, considering that most of the port authorities in our country provide service in city centers and confined areas. Nowadays, ship operators pay attention to the extent which port authorities they make business with care the environment and occupational health and safety. Accordingly, environmental awareness becomes an important competition and prestige factor in port management just as it does in other sectors. International conventions, environmental regulations and policies are prepared and developed for the world's maritime industry with the aim of minimizing the pollution risks in seas and ports. In addition to all of these legal obligations, the "Green Port" term is composed with the intent of increasing social responsibility awareness and effective implementation of it. When green port implementations by leading countries in maritime industry are considered, it is seen that these are carried out voluntarily with ports' self initiatives rather than legal impositions. The main purpose of the all programs carried out by regarding the green strategy is to ensure environmental, financial and social sustainability in ports. With regard to green port strategy, the approach of increasing environmental awareness and integrating sustainable applications together with innovative technologies into the port operations is adopted. Thus, it is guaranteed that effective environment awareness play the role during the port activities, ensuring the protection of the of natural sources and reducing pollution of as well as pressure on the environment. Port management with high performance in terms of environmental issues forms the basis of green port approach. A number of issues such as wastes, water quality, energy consumption, noise pollution, pollution from ships, occupational health and safety are addressed in this regard to ensure sustainable activities in ports. Increasing share of maritime trade in our country and a remarkable raise in environmental awareness among the parties active in shipping and port management have made the establishment of green port facilities a current issue in Turkey. The most important factor for initiating the green port project in Turkey is to enforce competition with international ports. Implementetion and development of green port term is an issue followed by European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) in Europe. European Union ports applications have been considered in transition to green port implementation in Turkish ports. Environmental priorities list which is released by ESPO registers that air quality and energy consumption are issues that have attracted increasingly close attention. Green port project which was initiated by Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication includes transition to E-RTG (Electrified Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes) and E-MHC (Electrified Mobile Harbour Cranes) usage, disposal of port's waste according to legislation, led-lighting and implementing an integrated management system. Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication, Directorate General of Merchant Marine and Turkish Standards Institute co-ordinate to certify the port authorities as "Green Port.". Within the scope of this study, the notion of green port with an increasing importance and understanding of sustainable management in recent years as well as climate change and carbon footprint that have become remarkable environmental issues are dealt with. A model implementation is performed as to depict how carbon footprint can be calculated in a port management. ISO 14064-1 standard forms the basis for the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions to determine the amount of carbon footprint. The aim is that this study is going to be used as a reference to reveal the link between green port term and climate change and to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from port operations. Within this framework, firstly, green port approach has been referred in the literature research of the second chapter. Then, information about climate change, global warming, greenhouse gases and carbon footprint have been provided. For the third chapter, a study has been conducted to determine the greenhouse gases sources of a port authority for evaluating carbon footprint, and the amount of the greenhouse gas emission has been calculated according to the ISO 14064-1 standard. In conclusion chapter, the study so far has been assessed and a proposal has been put forward to neutralize the port's carbon footprint. Constituting the subject of this study, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are categorized as direct and indirect emissions. Direct GHG emissions are emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company. Indirect GHG emissions are defined as emissions resulting from the activities of the company but occur at sources owned or controlled by another company. To help delineate direct and indirect emission sources, three "scopes" are specified for the purpose of GHG accounting and reporting. Scope 1 accounts for GHG emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the company, for example, emissions from vehicles, boilers, furnaces, etc. Scope 2 accounts for GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the company. Scope 3 is an optional reporting category that allows for the treatment of all other indirect emissions. Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company. Some examples of scope 3 activities include production of purchased materials and transportation of the purchased fuels. Within the framework of ISO 14064-1 standard, carbon footprint of the port has been determined by basing the calculation on IPCC and GHG Protocol methodologies. Direct GHG emission sources of the port facility in question are off-road vehicles, on-road vehicles, boiler, cookers, generator, equipment and welding operations; indirect GHG emission sources are electric use for general port activities and mobile harbour cranes of the port authority that has been evaluated within the scope of this study. It's concluded that emission sources that have been included in calculation have the following shares in carbon footprint of the port: 41,78 % from electric consumption for general port activities, 39,22 % from off-road vehicles, 15,17 % from electric use for mobile harbour cranes, 1,76 % from the boiler, 1,44 % from on-road vehicles, 0,34 % from cookers, 0,19 % from the generator, 0,06 % from the equipment, and 0,04 % from welding operations. There run some implementations for improving the environment quality within the boundaries of port. In addition to the port's carbon footprint calculation for 2015, the impact of two implementations for the environmental improvement, which are transition to led-lighting (2014) and E-MHC usage (2015), on the amount of the greenhouse gas emission has been observed within the scope of this study. It has been determined that the works carried in the port for environmental improvement have provided a total of 14 % decrease in the amount of greenhouse gas emission. It is known that low emission technologies should be in use for eliminating climate change effects, reducing environmental pollution and ensuring sustainability in ports. In this context, the transition to led-lighting and E-MHC usage implementations in the studied port are regarded as compatible with green port approach, thus leading to an increase in the quality of environment. The usage of renewable sources as solar energy and of electric or LPG as alternative sources to diesel fuel for other vehicles other than mobile harbor cranes could be considered to make sure that a more environmentalist attitude is adopted in the port area. Also, it could be considered as an alternative solution that carbon sinks be created to eliminate the environmental impacts of the calculated carbon footprint. Although the capacity of trees to absorb CO2 varies depending on the age and type, young trees can absorb CO2 as much as 6 kg per tree each year. Accordingly, considering the port's calculated carbon footprint in 2015 as 861.120,455 kg CO2e, about 143.520 young trees are supposed to be planted so that carbon footprint observed in the port during the same period could be neutralized. Carbon footprint evaluation in ports is important to determining the impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas emission calculation which is known to be made mandatory in future within the scope of the Green Port Project in Turkey, is a significant part of sustainable port understanding.