California air regulators seek input on cold-ironing
The California Air Resources Board, the air quality agency responsible for mobile sources of pollution in the state, is seeking comment on a report it recently released the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of cold-ironing ships in port.
The concept of cold-ironing, or powering docked ships electrically rather than with auxiliary diesel engines, is gaining traction in California as a way to alleviate the pollution caused by ocean-going vessels in the state's major ports (namely Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland).
Cold-ironing requires ocean carriers to outfit new vessels, or retrofit older vessels with the capacity to run on electric power provided shoreside. It also requires port authorities or terminal operators to provide a substantial supply of electricity to power vessels refrigeration and power systems while in port.
A Port of Long Beach study on cold-ironing in 2005 found that the practice could be considered cost-effective only if applied to vessels that used significant amounts of electricity while docked, and vessels that made frequent calls to the port. But the port is including the provision of shoreside electric power in its long-range environmental plans.
Meanwhile, its neighbor, the Port of Los Angeles, was the first port in the nation to power a container vessel with auxiliary electric power, and has plans to expand its own Alternative Maritime Power program.
The CARB report is available online at http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/marinevess/documents.htm .
Comments should be submitted to Mike Waugh by April 3, via e-mail to mwaugh@arb.ca.gov, or by phone at (916) 445-6018, or mail: Air Resources Board, P.O. Box 2815, Sacramento, CA 95812.