Tuesday, April 16, 2024

2:30 PM - 3:45 PM

Hall 8A-4 (Simmonscourt)

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Details

Europe’s ports are vital gateways, linking its transport corridors to the rest of the world. 74% of goods entering or leaving Europe go by sea. Ports play an equally important role to support the exchange of goods within the internal market and in linking peripheral and island areas with the mainland of Europe. Ports are not only great for moving goods around, they also constitute energy hubs for conventional and renewable energies. 400 million passengers embark and disembark in European ports every year. Ports generate employment; 1.5 million workers are employed in European ports, with the same amount again employed indirectly across the 22 EU maritime Member States. The transition to zero-emission transport, has an impact on ports as well. On the one hand, ports need to ensure zero-emission operations, and cater the infrastructure for supplying sustainable alternative fuels to a variety of modes of transport. Thereby, ports are becoming energy hubs, linked with the fact that in ports sustainable alternative fuels are being produced. However, this entails major challenges for ports, notably, which type(s) of fuels to invest in, how to deploy infrastructure, how to ensure safe storage and use of sustainable alternative fuels etc. This session will dive into these questions, including the RD&I activities needed to foster the role of ports as energy hubs. Speakers: Annaleena Mäkilä (Finnish Ports Association) Eero Lehtovaara (ABB Marine & Ports) Josep Sanz (Fundación Valencia Port) Sotirios Theofanis (MARLOGMIND PC, Greece) Moderators: Jaap Gebraad (Waterborne)

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Speaker