ABSTRACT
Contemporary energy markets supply two complementary transportation systems; fueling ships (also called bunkering) and fueling industrial demand (plus power generation). The important characteristic of energy markets is the concentration of production and a more geographically dispersed consumption. Coal is a convenient fuel that is easily combustible to store and transport. It remains an inexpensive and widely available resource that is technically simpler to use but is associated with carbon emissions and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide. Transportation is almost entirely reliant on refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel for automobiles, diesel for trucks, inland barges and non-electric locomotives, bunker fuel for maritime shipping, and Jet-A fuel for the air transportation. Energy products are massive and are carried in bulk, underlining the importance of ports as energy transport platforms (economies of scale) and energy transformation platforms (economies of agglomeration).
