Review of Top-Down Method to Determine Atmospheric Emissions in Port. Case of Study: Port of Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Indicators of environmental policies in force in Mexico, fossil fuels will continue to be used in industrial sectors, especially marine fuels, such as marine diesel oil, in port systems for some time. Considering this, we have evaluated several methods corresponding to a top-down system for determining fuel consumption and sulfur dioxide atmospheric emissions for the port of Veracruz in 2020 by type of ship on a daily resolution, considering a sulfur content of 0.5% mass by mass in marine fuel. After analyzing seven methods for determining sulfur dioxide atmospheric emission levels, Goldsworthy’s method was found to be the best option to characterize this port. The port system has two maritime zones, one of which is in expansion, which represented 55.66% of fuel consumption and 23.05% of atmospheric emissions according to the typology of vessels. We found that higher fuel consumption corresponded to container vessels, and tanker vessels represented higher atmospheric emission levels in the berthing position. The main differences that we found in the analysis of the seven methods of the top-down system corresponded to the load factor parameter, main and auxiliary engine power, and estimation of fuel consumption by type of vessel.

Towards Cleaner Ports: Predictive Modeling of Sulfur Dioxide Shipping Emissions in Maritime Facilities Using Machine Learning

“…Despite this, due to the nature of most of the reported ports and the dimensions of the ports, it can be stated that in general, the container-type vessels were the ones that generated a higher level of emissions. Other studies showed that container vessels had higher fuel usage, whereas tanker vessels had higher ambient pollution levels in the berthing position, and that the primary discrepancies are related to the load factor parameter, the ME and AE power, and fuel consumption by vessel type [24].…”

“…Ship emission inventories can be classified into two primary methods: fuel-based (topdown) and activity-based (bottom-up) approaches. The fuel-based methodology relies on the combination of marine fuel sales data, encompassing quantities and types of fuel, along with fuel-related emission factors [24,27]. Several countries utilize the fuel-based approach (top-down) to develop national and international emission inventories.…”

“…In contrast to the increasingly stringent emission control of road vehicles, policies and regulations for the prevention and control of ship emissions remain insufficient and ineffective; thus, many port authorities continue to ignore the importance of sustainable development [28,46]. Studies conducted in Latin America show that current environmental regulations will include the use of fossil fuels, particularly marine fuels, like marine diesel oil, in port systems for some time [24].…”

Sea Port SO2 Atmospheric Emissions Influence on Air Quality and Exposure at Veracruz, Mexico

“…In Mexico, recent studies [48][49][50] represent a starting point for the elaboration and updating of Atmospheric Emissions Inventories for maritime activity. They considered two traditional methods of identifying the atmospheric emission levels of the main pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) produced during the combustion process of different ship types.…”

A Study on Ports’ Emissions in the Adriatic Sea

“…In the literature, plenty of works deals with the assessment of port emissions related to a specific aspect [9,10] or a specific port [11,12]. However, works focusing on both maritime and terrestrial emissions in a wide geographical area based on a common methodology are still missing.…”