SSA Marine, which is the operator of three container terminals at the Port of Long Beach, has announced it will switch its fossil-fueled cargo-handling equipment fleet to renewable diesel fuel.
The change is expected to achieve a 68% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across SSA’s Long Beach terminals and involves more than 230 pieces of equipment across the company’s terminals in the second-busiest port of the United States.
SSA has voluntarily converted its fueling to support the goals of the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), which calls for greenhouse gas emissions to be 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
Port of Long Beach Executive Director, Mario Cordero, said “SSA’s vision and hard work in making their operations cleaner shows the goods movement industry the way to a greener future.”
“We know people look to the Port of Long Beach and our partners to set an example when it comes to sustainability,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President, Steven Neal, who went on to point out that this is what can be done immediately to reduce greenhouse gases while new technologies are developed to reach the port’s ultimate goal of zero emissions.
Renewable diesel has the same chemical energy as traditional diesel fuel but is synthesised from sources such as animal fat from food wastes, used cooking oil and soybean oil. In addition to its port wide renewable fuel transition, SSA is working on other initiatives to transition its cargo-handling fleet to zero emissions by 2030.
At Pier J, the terminal operator recently completed a demonstration of two battery-electric top handlers and is converting nine rubber-tired gantry cranes into fully electric ones, with six of them being already in operation while the remaining three will be converted by early 2022.
Additionally, by the middle of 2022, SSA will deploy 33 zero-emission yard tractors with supporting infrastructure at its terminal Pier C.
