Air emission inventory of container ports’ cargo handling equipment with activity-based “bottom-up” method

Abstract

With the rapid development of China’s container port industry, the emissions of air pollutants in port areas have been increasing. Cargo handling equipment as a non-road mobile source of emissions has become a focus of public attention. This article adopted a full activity-based “bottom-up” method to establish the inventory of emissions by cargo handling equipment at a container port. Drawing on the OFFROAD model, we conducted investigation and analysis of cargo handling equipment holdings, activity levels, and equipment-related parameters and modified the emission factors. The Nanjing Longtan Container Port was taken as a case study. Results show that in 2014, emissions by cargo handling equipment of the Nanjing Longtan Container Port were as follows: PM10 4.25 t, PM2.5 3.91 t, NOx 82.98 t, SOx 1.06 t, CO 23.84 t, and HC 16.39 t, all lower than results from an earlier research based on 2013 fuel consumption data. Cargo handling equipment produced more PM and HC emissions than any other emission source at the port. The method and main conclusions of this article provide support for future work on energy conservation and emission reduction in port areas.