The Port of Vancouver in the Canadian Province of British Columbia is the country’s largest port, handling about half of trade outside of North America. In support of the Government of Canada’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which is the federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the port, has laid out plans to eliminate all port-related emissions, announced a statement.
Through the Low-Emission Technology Initiative, the port authority and the province have each committed 1.5 million US dollars in funding to support transition efforts, including a six-month trial of 100-per-cent renewable diesel on one of the port authority’s patrol boats, the Takaya. This will make the port authority the first in Canada to run a vessel on completely renewable diesel – a non-fossil fuel energy source that can generate up to 80 per cent less net greenhouse gas emissions than regular diesel, according to the statement.
Also ongoing is a six-month trial by the grain terminal operator Viterra of renewable diesel on one of its locomotives. The trial is funded by the port authority and the province, and Shell Canada supplied the renewable diesel. Additionally, DP World, which operates four container terminals across British Columbia, recently installed five zero-emission electric rail-mounted gantry cranes. It is in the final planning stages of retrofitting a hydrogen fuel cell-powered rubber-tired gantry crane.
Meanwhile, Seaspan Ferries now runs all six of its commercial ferries between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland on 100 per cent biodiesel. The company also uses 100-per-cent soy-based biofuel on its tugboat fleet and has introduced two battery-electric powered terminal tractors, which were procured with funding support from the port authority and the province.
“Charting our course towards a zero-emission port starts with collaborative efforts like these - between the port authority, the port community, and government - to test innovative new low-emission fuels and technologies that reduce emissions while keeping trade moving through the Port of Vancouver,” said Robin Silvester, president and chief executive officer of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, in the statement. em
