Estimating of CO2 Emissions in a container port based on modality movement in the terminal area

The port sector has played an important role in global trade, with ports acting as a transportation chain-ring in environmental-social performance improvement. The usage of sea transportation means has spread across the world. Starting with the Kyoto Protocol for ships, the environmentally friendly trend has encompassed the port sector. However, it is difficult to find a model with the same characteristics as those of the ports as the models. The models can be used to compare operational performance regarding carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission production. This research aimed to estimate CO₂ emissions at container ports to portray how a port deals with its operational matters, using models suitable for ideal circumstances based on available equipment. This calculative system applies a bottom-up calculation of the work activities at a port, treating the amount of fuel consumption not as an input variable, but as the result of the calculation itself. The input variables include throughput, transshipment process, transportation modality, and terminal layout. The results show that several equipment operational activities can be optimized by comparing the calculation results for actual CO₂ emissions. It was found that each twenty-foot equivalent unit produced as much as 11.27 kg of CO₂ emissions at the Belawan International Container Terminal in Medan, Indonesia. This research has considerable potential use for ports, showing how to calculate CO₂ emissions at a port under ideal circumstances, that models in use can be adapted to any port characteristics, and that the data serving as the input variables are not difficult to obtain.