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Seaports as hubs: more important than ever
Low-emission shipbuilding, innovative materials or climate-neutral drive technologies – the discussions about sustainability in maritime logistics normally revolve around modes of transport. However, Seaports are one more core element in global trade. About 270 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) were handled overall at the ten largest container ports in the world in 2023 – including seven Chinese ports, led by Shanghai as the world’s largest container port, and Rotterdam as the only European site.1
However, this intensive use is often associated with significant environmental effects. Exhaust gases from ships and port vehicles, light and noise emissions, as well as the high energy requirements for the port infrastructure make a considerable contribution to environmental pollution. The issue is therefore not only how transportation itself can be made more sustainable, but also how ports can become more environmentally-friendly. The sustainable port of the future will integrate environmentally-friendly technologies, reduce emissions and promote the use of renewable energy sources. This kind of change involves challenges for the operators; however, the infrastructure offers significant potential for more sustainable business operations too.
Port infrastructure: the key to sustainability
The infrastructure used at ports plays a crucial role in introducing sustainable projects. Modern infrastructure needs to be efficient, digitalized and eco-friendly. But what does this mean for the port of the future in specific terms?
- Energy efficiency: A sustainable port must make use of energy-efficient technologies at its terminals, like LED lighting, electric cranes and vehicles with alternative drive system. Here is one simple example: Even excavators can be reequipped with an electric drive system instead of using diesel fuel. These investments not only reduce energy consumption, but ideally operating costs too.
- Renewable energy sources: Making use of renewable energy sources like wind or solar energy is another important element for the port of the future. These kinds of facilities can be directly installed in the port in order to cover the energy requirements. Ports normally have at their disposal, for example, numerous warehouses – and their roofs can be fitted with solar panels.
- Intelligent logistics systems: The digitalization of port logistics operations enables flows of goods to be managed more efficiently. An increase in intermodal transport chains can optimize the fleet operations by providing intelligent connections to destinations further inland, which then significantly reduce energy consumption. Short sea shipping can play a major role here too: goods are shipped “door to door” within Europe using short-sea transport services.
- Eco-friendly mobility: Ports are increasingly encouraging the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles or items of equipment and offer infrastructure for electric vehicles and emission-free alternatives. Among other things, they include electric trucks, electrically powered container transport systems and even autonomous vehicles, which can make port operations even more efficient and eco-friendly.
- Flora and fauna: The expansion and operation of port facilities can have significant effects on ecosystems. Sustainable ports therefore rely on concepts that safeguard the air, water and soil quality and therefore help protect the local flora and fauna. Sustainable ports, for instance, rely on modern waste water treatment systems and continually monitor the water quality and therefore prevent any pollution. Creating green spaces and protected areas around the port also helps conserve local species of plants and animals. These buffer zones not only serve as protected areas, but also as natural barriers to reduce noise and air pollution.
How Rhenus is trimming its sails in terms of sustainability
As a leading logistics specialist with global operations, Rhenus also has a strong position in the field of port logistics. Rhenus Ports is present at all the important industrial hubs in Germany as well as in seven other European countries. The company illustrates with two current projects how innovations are promoting the port of the future in the field of sustainability:
The Green Steel Logistics Hub: sustainable port handling for steel
The Green Steel Logistics Hub2 acts as the warehouse at the port where steel is to be handled and transported in as eco-friendly a manner as possible. Rhenus will launch the warehouse at the inland waterway port in Dortmund in the fall of this year. The electricity that is generated by a solar power facility, which covers an area measuring about 4,000 square meters, will both supply the energy for the cranes, the building itself and also the charging infrastructure for electric trucks. The favourable location for traffic services makes it possible to transport the steel from the major seaports to Dortmund on waterways and therefore cause fewer emissions. From here, the steel will be distributed to other destinations using electric trucks. It is naturally possible to reverse this chain too, that is to say, from Dortmund to the seaports. In addition to modernizing the logistics buildings in an ecological way, Rhenus is working in parallel to have a fleet of inland waterway vessels that cause fewer emissions. Rhenus also offers a more sustainable alternative from a logistical point of view through its Green Steel Logistics Hub and meets the conditions for establishing more climate-friendly supply chains.
GrheenNav: Finding the transport route with the lowest emissions
Rhenus is not neglecting the digitalization of port and transport activities either. Thanks to the GrheenNav app3, Rhenus customers can intelligently combine the benefits of a route planner with those of a CO2 calculator. The app calculates the emissions caused by various means of transport or transport routes and compares them in visual form. It is then already possible to determine the means of transport that is cheapest and causes the least CO2 emissions for the different sections of the route along the supply chain during the advance route planning work. In contrast to emission calculation platforms used in the past, the tool is customized for the central European network of Rhenus Ports business sites. As a result, the app supports Rhenus customers as they look for the most sustainable transport route for shipping their goods both on land and on water.
Port 2.0: The future is sustainable
The discussions about sustainable logistics must increasingly focus on the role played by the ports. The presenters, Andrea Goretzki and Gwendolyn Duenner, talk to their guest, Uwe Oppitz, the Managing Director of Rhenus Ports, about the developments in terms of sustainability and the future of the ports in episode 26 of the Rhenus podcast, “Logistics People Talk” too. All-embracing analyses of the entire logistics chain are necessary for this – ranging from the means of transport to the ports, This is the only way to achieve really sustainable logistics operations. Thanks to its innovative projects, Rhenus shows how the port of the future can become a tangible reality and how logistics specialists can actively promote sustainability along the value-added chain.
3 Source: https://www.rhenus.group/news-media/detail/using-grheennav-to-find-the-transport-route-that-generates-the-lowest-emissions-rhenus-launches-a-new-app/