ABSTRACT
The assessment of carbon emissions in maritime ports is a fundamental task to comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) goal of cutting such emissions by 50% until 2050. Currently, there is no universally recognized procedure for assessing the carbon footprint of ports, and in this paper a model for the life cycle analysis of ports is introduced that allows for the quantification of direct and indirect carbon emissions of ports. The LCA model is applied to the Port of Sines, in Portugal, leading to a carbon footprint of about 6.11 kg CO2 eq./tonne. Furthermore, this model is aimed to be fully supported on the Digital Twin of the port. From the outcome of the analysis, and in comparison with values from other ports based on the GHG protocol, the LCA approach shows to lead to a more comprehensive assessment of ports, covering not only operational emissions due to daily activities in the port but also all upstream emissions.
