• Energy Research

We are currently seeing how new marine fuels are being introduced, such as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, batteries, etc., for the propulsion of the world fleet with the aim of complying with the increasing IMO emissions regulations. The frenetic effort made by shipping companies to decarbonize maritime transport must be followed by an unstoppable adaptation of ports from the historical supply of only fuel and diesel to covering the demands of new fuels, ensuring their renewable origin; onshore power supply (OPS); or even the storage of captured CO2. This article compiles the current environmental regulations applied to maritime transport to provide an analysis of the current situation and a link between vessels’ requirements to comply with such regulations and port environmental infrastructure. This work demonstrates that technological development is growing faster onboard vessels than at ports. It is demonstrated that except for the case of LNG, the theoretical shipping fuel world demand of each type of alternative fuel cannot be absorbed by current world production, where we found big gaps between supply and demand of up to 96.9%. This work concludes that to speed up this process, ports will need European aid as well as private investment. It is proposed that for the next steps, the port system needs to provide the required infrastructure to vessels on time, which inevitably means improvements in competitiveness and governance to promote the blue economy and the concept of smart ports, attracting main international shipping lines with a complete decarbonization hub on their routes by taking advantage of the geostrategic role of the Iberian ports. At the same time, the port governance model must be more flexible in the decision-making process, anticipating changes in maritime regulations with the challenge of coordinating public and private interests, serving as a link, once again, between ship and society.

Modern ports tend to focus on freight transport and cruise traffic. The fishing sector is often the forgotten sector in terms of sustainability and port planning, despite the fact that fishing is a sector of great importance and interest; though it is currently obsolete in many respects. Literature on sustainability and green ports in the context of fishing ports is practically non-existent; however, it is necessary in order to implement a sustainable fishing infrastructure. For this reason, the aim of this study is, within the green ports framework as outlined by the European Commission and using an innovative end-to-end tool methodology, to determine the reality of the conditions of the port environment in fishing ports. Furthermore, this study establishes a possible green ports scenario for Spanish fishing ports and carries out an analysis of a specific case study within the Spanish port system: the Port of Vigo. It is concluded that the key fishing features of the Port of Vigo should, in order to expand its sustainability strategies, are: growth expectations, closely related to the evolution of the goods unloaded in the Port of Vigo and the possible growth that this may have in the future; legislation and current trends in terms of sustainability; and diversification, the Port of Vigo has realistic options to diversify the business beyond the traditional fishing activities.