Report: Major northern European ports offer emissions advantages

Importing cargo from Asia to Central Europe is more sustainable when done through big ports in the north than through southern Europe, which requires longer hinterland routes, according to a new study by Netherlands-based research firm Panteia.    Shipping containers from Asia via northern European ports to areas such as southern Germany, the Czech Republic or Poland is better from an environmental standpoint, as well as cheaper, according to a new study commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam and Deltalinqs (Rotterdam Port and Industry Association).
   The study conducted by Netherlands-based research and consulting firm Panteia shows that total transport emissions are lower using northern routes than southern ones to reach areas of central Europe even though the vessel voyage is longer. Further improvements are possible by using alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas and information technology to make logistics networks more efficient, it said.
   The study is an apparent effort by the Rotterdam port community to capture some cargo that now goes to southern ports because of existing maritime business arrangements or lower costs. Shipping lines often make port choices based on relationships with container terminals, but those gateways are often not best for minimizing inland transportation. Large retailers and manufacturers are increasingly responding to consumer demands for eco-friendly products and putting pressure on their supply chain partners to operate in more sustainable ways, including by reducing air pollution.   
   Big ports such as Rotterdam are more equipped than smaller southern European ones to handle 20,000-TEU vessels now being introduced into liner service, and they also receive more large vessel calls because they are closer to major population centers.
   New mega-size vessels with modern engines produce lower emissions per unit of cargo – as much as 50 percent – than 10,000-TEU and smaller ships. Ocean carriers are increasingly using 18,000-TEU, and larger vessels, on the Asia-Europe trade lane to achieve economies of scale because cost-cutting is seen as the only way to make a profit in today’s low-rate environment.
   According to Panteia’s analysis, a typical TEU imported from the Far East to Central Europe on a behemoth containership will generate 800 to 1,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions on the maritime leg, about 25 kilograms in port, and up to 700 kilograms for the inland move, depending on the distance and choice of inland mode. 
   Even if governments in southern Europe impose an Emission Control Area on the Mediterranean to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, southern ports won’t gain a competitive advantage in terms of their ecological footprint, the study concludes. Currently, the rules for emissions from shipping are stricter in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea than the Mediterranean. Most vessels control their air pollution in these areas by burning low-sulfur marine diesel oil, which is much more expensive than typical bunker oil. The allowable sulfur content level in ECA areas is 0.1 percent.
   Large container vessels produce around 10 times fewer greenhouse gas emissions per ton-kilometer than road transport for long-distance trips, but the rate of increase in carbon dioxide efficiency is slowing down and gains are being eroded by overcapacity in the maritime sector, Panteia said. The consultancy said more can be done to bring down the absolute levels of emissions from intercontinental transport.
   Further emissions reductions are possible, for example, at northern ports that move a large percentage of containerized cargo to consumer markets by short-sea services and inland barges if those vessels are equipped with LNG propulsion systems. Trains can also use LNG or other alternative fuels.
   Panteia also estimates that information technology can improve logistics efficiency, including in the areas of load and route optimization, and generate further CO2 reductions of 5 percent to 10 percent.
   According to shippers and third-party logistics providers surveyed by Panteia, transport services are still chosen largely based on cost and service quality. Sustainability can tip the balance in contract decisions, but is not a deal breaker yet. The most successful initiatives, according to Panteia and other industry experts, are those that achieve lower costs and lower emissions at the same time.
   The private sector and governments can create incentives that drive more sustainable energy use in the transport sector, the study said. And port authorities, it added, can play a key role as facilitators in the deployment of innovative information technology and alternative fuels, creating more value for the infrastructure connections they support.
   The Rotterdam port authority effort bears similarities to one last decade in which the Port of Seattle commissioned a study showing that shipping from Asia via the Pacific Northwest was better from a greenhouse emissions standpoint than using all-water routes through the Panama Canal.