Impacts of electric rubber-tired gantries on green port performance

Abstract

Motivated by the need to reduce operating costs and alleviate noise and exhaust pollution generated by cargo handling equipment in container terminals and container yards, this study compares the performance of rubber tired gantries (RTGs) and electric rubber tired gantries (E-RTGs) from the perspective of energy savings and CO2 reduction, and analyzes the impact of E-RTG use on the green port policies of international hub ports.This study discovered that (1) E-RTG cranes offer a significant performance improvement compared with RTGs, and can achieve 86.60% energy savings and a 67.79% reduction in CO2 emissions. (2) ERTG cranes are expected to have an individual payback period of 2.2years, and are not only friendly to the environment, but also ease the impact of diesel oil price hikes. (3) Government may formulate appropriate regulations or provide incentive measures to encourage terminal operators to upgrade their handling equipment or implement E-RTG conversion projects.