The US Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the availability of two reports documenting reductions in air pollutant emissions and fuel consumption resulting from repowering a Puget Sound regional tugboat and an inland tugboat.
MARAD’s Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance (META) Program provided funding to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) to replace two older propulsion engines on the MV Island Chief with new Tier 2-certified engines, and two older auxiliary engines with new Tier 4-certified engines. These upgrades resulted in significant reductions in emissions of criteria air pollutants (PM, NOx, SOx) as well as in overall fuel consumption. PSCAA reinvested the fuel savings it realized from the reduced overall fuel consumption into additional fleet repowers. The project also supported education and job creation at a local technical college, expanded industry outreach, and PSCAA has developed its own grant program to reduce harbor craft emissions.
MARAD’s META program also provided funding to the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission for replacement of two older propulsion engines on the MV Daniel Wise with new Tier 3-certified main propulsion engines. Real-world emissions testing was conducted at intervals for up to 17,000 hours of operation after the engine upgrade, and showed significant reductions in emissions of criteria air pollutants (PM, NOx, SOx), as well as in overall fuel consumption,.
The reports can be downloaded by clicking below
Source: US MARAD