Every port infrastructure and the activities that take place within it have a significant environmental impact in terms of water and air quality, atmospheric emissions, land and resource consumption, and waste production. In particular, international institutions are increasingly focusing on maritime traffic with a view to minimising its environmental impacts.
The document “Italian Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2017. National Inventory Report 2019” found that shipping-related emissions accounted for 3.7% of the total GHG in the transport sector in 2017 and around 0.9% of the national total. Greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 28.6% from 1990 to 2017, due to the decrease in fuel consumed in port and shipping activities; the number of movements, rising since 1990, reversed the trend in recent years, to become somewhat stable between 2015 and 2017.
In the light of the commitments made in Europe and the increasing attention paid to the sustainability of economic activities, the reform of the Italian Port System, which has the primary objective of improving its competitiveness, is steering the sector towards finding solutions that lessen the impact of activities in port areas, identifying environmental improvement as one of the factors of port competitiveness.
Port system planning must therefore address and respect energy and environmental sustainability criteria, in line with the policies promoted by the relevant European directives in force.
This publication is the Environmental Energy Document for the port of Taranto prepared by the Port System Authority of the Ionian Sea in compliance with national legislation.
The Document, in compliance with the Guidelines adopted by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (MATTM), in agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), first provides a snapshot of the state of affairs of the Port of Taranto as of 2018 (the last year for which complete and certified data are available), in terms of energy, infrastructure and transport, and then individually examines the different activities of the port and their components. Data collection was carried out with the active involvement of all those working in the port system, both through collective and individual meetings coordinated by preparing and administering specific, structured questionnaires:
- "Basic questionnaire", aimed at collecting energy and environmental data on buildings and concession areas in ports;
- "Questionnaire for defining future scenarios", concerning any planned activities aimed at reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions;
- "Carbon Footprint Questionnaire", aimed at acquiring additional data on the means of transport (land and sea) and on the facilities and equipment used by the bodies involved within the Port System.
The available data made it possible to draw up the Energy Balance and measure the Carbon Footprint of the Port System Authority of the Ionian Sea.