Reduce Port Ultrafine Dust by 60% by 2025

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Announces '1st Comprehensive Plan for Air Quality Improvement in Port Areas (2021~2025)'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government has decided to reduce ultrafine dust emissions at ports by 60% by 2025.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 17th that it has established the "1st Comprehensive Plan for Air Quality Improvement in Port Areas (2021?2025)" to reduce fine dust and other air pollutants generated at ports over the next five years.

As fine dust and other air pollutants have recently emerged as serious social issues, interest in air pollutants generated in port areas and the need for countermeasures have increased. Accordingly, the government has established and implemented measures to reduce ultrafine dust in the port and ship sectors, such as the "Comprehensive Measures for Port and Ship Fine Dust (January 2018)" and the "Strengthened Measures to Reduce Fine Dust in Port and Ship Sectors (June 2019)."

This comprehensive plan is a statutory plan established for the first time since the enforcement of the Port Air Quality Act, which requires the systematic and effective formulation of mid- to long-term policies every five years to improve air quality in port areas and the like.

The 1st Comprehensive Plan for Air Quality Improvement in Port Areas aims to reduce ultrafine dust (PM2.5) emissions from ports by 60% by 2025 compared to 2017 under the vision of "Clean Air, Breathing Ports," and promotes 15 detailed tasks under four major strategies. This plan focuses on establishing systematic management measures through scientific analysis of the current status and outlook of air pollutants generated from emission sources within ports, including ships, port cargo handling equipment, and cargo trucks entering and exiting ports.

First, efforts will be made to reduce air pollutants originating from ships. In line with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s strengthened sulfur content standards for ship fuel oil, the plan includes mandating low-sulfur fuel oil for domestic vessels and designating emission control areas. Additionally, to activate the "Slow Steaming Program"?a method to reduce fine dust by lowering ship fuel consumption?the plan will improve the system by publicly recognizing excellent participating shipping companies and simplifying application and verification procedures, aiming to achieve a 90% participation rate by 2025.

To expand eco-friendly ships, the government will support private sector eco-friendly ship replacement construction and installation of eco-friendly facilities, convert Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries-owned government vessels to eco-friendly ships, and install diesel particulate filters (DPF), aiming to make about 80% of government vessels eco-friendly by 2025. Furthermore, technology development and demonstration related to hydrogen and electric propulsion ships, emerging as next-generation eco-friendly vessels, will be conducted simultaneously.

Alongside this, to reduce air pollutants generated within ports and build eco-friendly port infrastructure, the plan promotes eco-friendly conversion such as switching the fuel of yard tractors (YT), a type of cargo handling equipment, to liquefied natural gas (LNG). It will analyze the operational status and characteristics of cargo handling equipment by port and establish port-customized eco-friendly cargo handling equipment plans, aiming to convert over 90% of major cargo handling equipment within ports to eco-friendly by 2025. Additionally, to prevent damage caused by fugitive dust generated when handling dusty cargo such as cement, coal, and sand at ports, the plan includes constructing handling and storage facilities for dusty cargo and creating forest belts by planting trees mainly at ports handling dusty cargo to block fugitive dust.

The plan also aims to establish a management foundation for port air pollutants. It will analyze air pollutants generated at ports by emission sources such as ships, cargo handling equipment, and cargo trucks, and build a system to monitor real-time air quality status at ports. Moreover, it plans to develop a system that simulates air pollution analysis and policy effects at ports using artificial intelligence by implementing a virtual port through digital twin technology.

Moon Sung-hyuk, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "As public interest in fine dust is high, we have set active goals to reduce fine dust at ports and prepared a five-year plan based on thorough analysis to achieve them. Since this comprehensive plan is the first step toward improving air quality in port areas, we will actively cooperate with related agencies and local governments to ensure the plan is implemented without any setbacks and the goals are smoothly achieved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.