The California Air Resources Board has approved a new technology by a Carson-based company that uses specialized barges which connect to the exhaust ports of container ships to scrub pollution.
In 2013, the Port of Long Beach provided about $2 million in seed money to help test the Advanced Maritime Emissions Control System, or AMECS. Advanced Cleanup Technologies Inc. (ACTI) can now market AMECS to vessel operators as an alternative to container ships plugging into the electrical grid to reduce emissions while at berth.
Container and cruise ships must significantly reduce at-berth emissions to meet state regulations, but the existing “shore power” option requires retrofits to each vessel. According to ACTI, the AMECS barge system can meet the state standards by removing 90 to 99 percent of harmful emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter without requiring vessel retrofits.
With an emissions inventory released this month showing already record-low pollution levels at the Port of Long Beach, officials hailed the regulatory approval as another option to advance the Port’s environmental goals to near-zero and zero emission levels.
The California Air Resources Board’s approval of AMECS on container ships will allow ACTI to begin the process of testing the system on other vessel types.