New Delhi: The Biden administration has announced $3bn in funding to improve and electrify port infrastructure, supporting an estimated 40,000 jobs and reducing pollution.
This funding is provided through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Ports grants to 55 selectees across 27 states and territories.
The investment aims to upgrade port operations and infrastructure to cleaner equipment, resulting in cleaner air for port workers and nearby communities.
The Clean Ports programme will eliminate more than three million metric tons of carbon pollution over the first ten years of implementation, equivalent to 391,220 homes’ energy use for one year.
The funds will be used to purchase battery-electric and hydrogen-powered equipment, including over 1,500 units of cargo handling equipment, 1,000 drayage trucks, ten locomotives, and 20 vessels.
It will also facilitate the purchase of shore power systems for ocean-going vessels, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fuelling infrastructure, and solar power generation.
Biden will announce the funding at the Port of Baltimore, which will receive $147m to purchase zero-emission cargo handling equipment and drayage trucks and facilitate the transition of the port to a zero-emission facility.
The Port of Baltimore, situated on the East Coast, is a bustling hub for vehicle import and export.
Over 20,000 workers—unionized longshoremen and truckers—support daily Port operations.
The Maryland Port Administration’s Equipment Electrification and Terminal Decarbonisation project has been selected to receive over $145m to purchase zero-emission cargo handling equipment and drayage trucks and facilitate the transition of the port to a zero-emission facility.
The project will also receive a nearly $2m planning grant to help the port chart a path to greater emissions reductions in the future, delivering cleaner air for the port and neighbouring communities.
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