The port of San Francisco, located on the west coast of America in California, will be launching a cold ironing facility for cruise vessels on Wednesday.
"On Wednesday, October 6th the Port of San Francisco will take an impressive stride forward in green technology innovation and become the first port in California to provide shoreside electrical power for cruise ships at berth," said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a notice on Tuesday.
"This new system is not only the first in the California, but will be just the fourth in the world."
According to the EPA, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest will be among key officials on location to "flip the switch" at the ceremony.
The cruise ship Island Princess, operated by Princess Cruise Lines Ltd, will be at the port "to receive power from the City's electrical grid," said the EPA.
Other ports known to use cold ironing technology for cruise ships include the US port of Seattle and the Canadian port of Vancouver.
Cold ironing technology allows a marine vessel to receive electricity from a land based source while at berth.
The technology is seen as a cost efficient alternative to using expensive distillate fuel in ports, with the advantage of eliminating noise and air pollution.
"On Wednesday, October 6th the Port of San Francisco will take an impressive stride forward in green technology innovation and become the first port in California to provide shoreside electrical power for cruise ships at berth," said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a notice on Tuesday.
"This new system is not only the first in the California, but will be just the fourth in the world."
According to the EPA, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest will be among key officials on location to "flip the switch" at the ceremony.
The cruise ship Island Princess, operated by Princess Cruise Lines Ltd, will be at the port "to receive power from the City's electrical grid," said the EPA.
Other ports known to use cold ironing technology for cruise ships include the US port of Seattle and the Canadian port of Vancouver.
Cold ironing technology allows a marine vessel to receive electricity from a land based source while at berth.
The technology is seen as a cost efficient alternative to using expensive distillate fuel in ports, with the advantage of eliminating noise and air pollution.