Georgia Ports to repower RTG cranes

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has been awarded a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant in conjunction with the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.

The USD$2.72 million award will repower GPA-owned equipment with higher tier engines that reduce air emissions.

"When we officially adopted the Environmental Policy last year, the GPA made a commitment to do everything it could to conduct port operations in an environmentally sensitive and responsible manner," said GPA's Executive Director Curtis Foltz. "I'm very pleased the new engines will increase fuel efficiency by burning cleaner, emitting less pollution and reducing fuel use per container."

Through assistance of this grant, the GPA will repower 17 of its older rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTG) from TIER I to newer, cleaner TIER III diesel engines. In addition to significant reduction in emissions as a result of upgrading to TIER III engines, these new diesels will be more fuel efficient. These diesel engines automatically switch from idle (about half of normal operating speed) to higher operating speeds and back to idle speed as needed to meet the variable load demands.

The RTG repower project, as calculated by the EPA's Diesel Emissions Quantifier, will reduce diesel emissions 33.29 percent or 24,829 tonnes over the lifetime of the 17 cranes. It will also reduce fuel consumption by 129,200 gallons annually.
(source:www.cargonewsasia.com)