A landmark first has positioned the Terminal Puerto Arica (TPA) as an innovative and sustainable port and helped it achieve international standards. The port has attained The Carbon Footprint Certification for applying the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) estimation system to its usual operations. This initiative, pioneered within the port business, has allowed TPA to detect aspects that contribute to global warming, allowing it to take informed mitigating actions to reduce emissions in a responsible, clear and efficient way.
This accomplishment was celebrated on Tuesday 3 July in a ceremony headed by the Chilean environmental sub-secretary, Ignacio Toro Labbé and attended by representatives of some of the highest authorities in employment, economy, port constructions, maritime transport and business. At this event, TPA CEO, Pedro Jaramillo extended a thank you message to employees and suppliers for the assistance provided during the whole process: “In the old days the port was usually seen as a contaminating area, today we can happily say that we are leaders in environmental matters. This is the first port certification in Chile and in Latin America; this fact shows that in our city, employees are able to comply with international standards. We have a detailed map of the most important emissions for our port tasks and have a management plan to reduce them and become the friendliest Chilean port to the environment.” Mr Jaramillo summarized that the objective is “to reduce and manage the CO2 emission, by the identification of the biggest emissions process, their costs and potential savings, to harmonize the company, the society and the environment.”
Detailed estimation activities carried out
The GHG estimation mechanism was developed with the assistance of the sustainability team at PricewaterhouseCoopers and validated by the international company ABS Consulting. The verification scope extended to all emissions generated in the port chain of value, including the four main operators, TPA, Ultraport, Agunsa and Contopsa and estimated the total amount of emission as 21.827 tonnes of equivalent CO2 (tCO2e). The number is shown according to direct emissions (4.036 tCO2e) composed mainly of the usage of oil operating equipment at the port; indirect emissions (1.182 tCO2e) including electric light and consumption at offices and refer containers; and other indirect emissions (16.609 tCO2e) include the indirect emissions from ships and trucks that arrive to the port. As this third figure of indirect emissions is out of the port’s operational reach, they will focus on reducing the emissions of the first two figures – direct and indirect emissions at the port itself.
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