Cold ironing

Shorepower is a general term to describe supply of electric power to ships, small craft, aircraft and road vehicles while stationary.

Cold ironing mitigates harmful emissions from diesel engines by connecting a ship's load to a more environmentally friendly, shore-based source of electrical power.

An alternative is to run auxiliary diesels either on gas (LNG or LPG) or extra low sulphur distillate fuels, however if noise pollution is a problem, then cold ironing becomes the only option.

Studies show that a single ship can produce particulate emissions equal to the same amount as 50 million cars annually.

[2] Further research[3] indicates cardio-pulmonary conditions caused by particulate matter from ship emissions are responsible for 60,000 deaths annually.

This externally sourced power serves the ship's internal cargo handling machinery and hotelling requirements.

[4] Various studies[5][6] are being conducted to fully implement a viable, controllable and monitored method of powering the most important arm of modern-day logistics, the merchant ships.

[7] The Massachusetts Port Authority carried out a study of cold ironing and alternatives in 2016 that pointed out a number of problems, including the high peak power demand (13 MW for a cruise ship, 3 MW for a container ship) and the high cost of providing the necessary equipment and upgraded electrical power infrastructure for Boston Harbor.

The ports of Halifax and Brooklyn have installed cold ironing at one cruise-ship berth each at a cost of $10 and $20 million, respectively, mostly paid by government grants.