Pilot Program Shows Promise in Powering Port Operations

Hydrogen’s potential as a core component of fuel cells for electric engines has been touted in recent years, and the lightweight gas is getting a literal lift in a Fenix Marine Services (FMS) terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.

The first hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) powered container handler has been stacking and handling shipping containers in a pilot test of the technology. The handler — powered by two 45-kilowatt HFCs that work in tandem with a lithium-ion battery — was built by Portland, Oregon-based lift truck manufacturer Hyster Co. and supported in part by a 2018 grant by the California Air Resources Board.

Hyster Co. states that the fuel cells can provide eight to 10 continuous hours of run time, with water and heat the only emissions. Refueling takes 15 minutes.

“Exploring the use of hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel source is important for the entire transportation industry and is a perfect complement to the other alternative energy research and development projects our parent company, CMA CGM Group, is spearheading to protect the planet and reach net-zero carbon by 2050,” FMS CEO Steve Trombley said in a press release.

There are many more hurdles to clear before a pilot program became prevalent practice, but more sustainable port operations would be timely in Southern California. According to reports, greenhouse gas emissions were up 39 percent year over year in 2021 at the Port of L.A. and 35 percent at nearby Port of Long Beach.

Standards Create New Category of Risk

Such supply chain risks as extreme weather, product recalls and legal action fall under the environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards umbrella. Add in ESG legislation implemented in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, as well as increased awareness of sustainability issues among consumers, and companies have a new category of risk.

This new frontier of potential disruptions and how they can be mitigated is the focus of Spotlight on ESG Risks, a white paper from Resilinc, a Milpitas, California-based provider of supply chain risk management research and analytics.

“Supply chain compliance for ESG in particular is gaining steam, and more regulation and requirements around it are anticipated for organizations,” the white paper states. “For example, companies are going to be required to conduct due diligence — not only at their own factories — but also at their suppliers’ locations (and their suppliers’ suppliers locations).”

The top three disruptive events in the first half of 2022 were legal action (up 110 percent year over year), product recall and extreme weather. Resilinc researchers noted that compliance events decreased, suggesting that companies and their supply chains were following ESG legislation.

That’s a potentially positive trend, the paper states: “We can expect more legislation regarding ESG to be passed over the next few years as countries work toward addressing climate change, greenhouse gases, cybersecurity, human rights and more.”

US$163 billion

Estimated worth of inventories perished or discarded each year, according to a report by Avery Dennison, a Los Angeles-based materials science and manufacturing company. That’s about 8 percent of total inventories, with beauty, apparel, pharmaceuticals, food and automotive supply chains among the biggest sources of waste.

The Missing Billions: The Real Cost of Supply Chain Waste indicates that while damage and loss are factors, a major culprit has been coronavirus pandemic-inspired overproduction, as companies strive to avoid stockouts but end up with excess inventory they are unable to clear.

“Eliminating supply chain waste is key to addressing both the needs of businesses and consumers,” the report states. “Effectively navigating volatile demand increases margins, reduces environmental damage and even gives businesses an opportunity to divert the recouped losses back into better materials, increased worker wages and investment into corporate social responsibility.”