Moffatt & Nichol has been advising Exeter Port Authority, part of Exeter City Council, on ways to reduce emissions associated with operation of the Port. Extending from the River Exe, which runs through the city and out into the English Channel, the port also includes the Exeter Ship Canal and Quay.
As organisations across the United Kingdom work to fulfil their climate pledges, decarbonisation of transportation in all its forms is a priority. Transportation became the largest emitting sector of CO2 in 2016, and it’s not just on our roads, railways and in our skies, but on our water too.
Exeter City Council, including the Port Authority, has declared a climate emergency and has an ambition to reach net zero by 2030. Moffatt & Nichol was appointed to advise on the Port’s current emissions, identify where the hotspots are, and to develop a strategy to align its operations with the 2030 target.
Moffatt & Nichol’s engineers developed a cost and carbon model for current operations, including shoreside transport, passenger ferries and workboats, to provide a baseline of operational costs and emissions. Options for each asset were then appraised, and a range of future scenarios developed. These scenarios demonstrated the potential emissions reductions, the impact on costs and the supporting infrastructure required to enable those changes.
Under the plan, the Port Authority is able to halve its greenhouse gas emissions, whilst reducing the associated operating costs by a third, utilising existing green fuel and electrification technologies. Moffatt & Nichol has enabled it to measure and track progress in reducing emissions, in line with the net zero target.
