Page 16: of Marine News Magazine (February 2024)

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Column

Going Green

For Ferries to Go Green, Governments

Will Need to Provide the Green

By Kaiya Levine, Energy & Sustainability Consultant, Arup

Whether it is from international organizations ? ve nautical miles or less, meaning they have relatively low or state government agencies, there is growing pressure on power requirements to operate. They also operate predict- ferry operators to meet stringent goals to reduce the envi- able schedules between two designated locations, stream- ronmental toll from their operations. lining the process for electri? cation planning.

The California Air Resource Board’s Commercial Har- The environmental bene? ts are indisputable. Ferry elec- bor Craft Regulation issued the most stringent of these tri? cation has proven air quality bene? ts including reduced policies, which requires all short-run ferries to achieve zero greenhouse gas, particulate matter 2.5, nitrous oxide, and emission by January 1, 2026. But it’s not just California sulfur oxide emissions. Leveraging existing technology, that wants this industry to clean up its act. The United Na- such as shore power, hybridization, and electric propul- tions’ International Maritime Organization has set goals to sion, enables reduction of up to 800,000 tons of CO2, ac- reduce carbon intensity of all ships by 40% by 2030. cording to Siemens energy.

Ferry transport is an ideal sector for electri? cation. Al- In November 2023, the Federal Transit Administration most half of the routes operated in the United States are awarded $220 million in grants to fund 13 projects to mod- © jjfarq / Adobe Stock 16 | MN February 2024