Port workers at SSA Marine, one of the Long Beach container terminals, have started to use electric cranes to stack boxes. The goal of the Port of Long Beach (POLB) and its partners is a zero-emission cargo handling fleet by 2030.
The Zero-Emissions Terminal Equipment Transition Project, taking place at SSA Marine’s Pier J, is largely funded by a US$9.7 million California Energy Commission grant and is expected to annually reduce greenhouse gases by more than 1,323 tons and smog-causing nitrogen oxides by 27 tons.
As part of the initiative, SSA retrofitted nine of its existing diesel-powered rubber-tired gantry cranes to run on electricity, recently completing the last one.
Port of Long Beach executive director, Mario Cordero commented, “These demonstrations are designed to commercialize heavy-duty zero emissions equipment and vehicles to combat pollution but also to fight climate change, the effects of which we are seeing in the news almost every day.”
