Environmental analysis of the use of liquefied natural gas in maritime transport within the port environment

Resumen

Sustainable transport is gaining increasing importance in the political agenda. All modes of transport are obliged to reduce their emissions by both national and international governmental bodies. This requirement being even more necessary in the case of ports due to their traffic density and proximity to the city. The objective of this research is to estimate the atmospheric emissions generated during the operational phases, which are carried out close to Spanish ports. Due to its geographical position, Spain benefits from the routes of the Atlantic corridor and Mediterranean corridor belonging to the principal European transport network. The method uses detailed information about ship movements and ship categories (ship type, engine type, fuel type, etc.). From an environmental point of view, the results show that engines powered by Liquefied Natural Gas, compared to traditional fuels, save between 28% in the case of freight ships and 31% for passenger ships in the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere (52 tons per journey). On the other hand, the saving in NOx emissions is reduced by 87%. In addition, SOx emissions are completely eliminated and PM emissions are reduced to negligible values.