Transportation Engineering-Green port strategies in China Ke Du A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Edinburgh Napier University for the degree of Master of Research April 2019 Declaration I declare that this thesis has been composed solely by myself and that it has not been submitted, in whole or in part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where states otherwise by reference or acknowledgment, the work presented is entirely my own. I confirm that this thesis presented for the degree of Master of Research, has i) been composed entirely by myself ii) been solely the result of my own work iii) not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or processional qualification except as specified. Parts of this work have been published in Du, K., Monios, J., Wang, Y. (2019). Green port strategies in China. Abstract In responding to the increasing challenges from both global climate change and local air pollution, environmental strategies are increasingly applied by ports in many developed countries, either independently by ports or as part of a national transport strategy. Their effectiveness has been successfully evidenced with significant emissions savings from the port sector, although some ports remain reluctant due to the increased costs for their users and potential loss of traffic. For developing countries, this conflict between port competitiveness and environmental protection is even sharper. Therefore, recognising that green port strategies are not “one size fits all”, the question of how to transfer successful green port strategies from developed to developing countries remains unanswered. This thesis aims to understand the gap between developed and developing countries in green port strategy application by analysis of ports in China. China was chosen on the basis that, while still classed as a developing country, China’s rapid economic development and world-leading ports position the country as a bridge between developed and developing countries. Green port strategies already employed in developed countries are used as the basis for semi-structured interviews undertaken at two leading ports in China that are considered pioneers in their green port management. Results show that the green port strategies applied in the ports were investment in intermodal transport connections and dry ports in the hinterland, reducing waste, dust and noise and to a lesser extent emissions of port activities and a limited application of cold ironing. This situation is similar to ports in developed countries, who also prefer to act on the issues under their control, first actions within the port and second the intermodal connections, but least motivated to take action against carriers. Future research needs to focus on how ports can incentivise greener practices by vessels in the port area and better align these to the profit motive. i Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my supervisor Dr. Jason Monios of Maritime Logistics at Kedge Business School, Dr. Jonathan Cowie of Transport Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University and Prof. Yuhong Wang of Maritime and Transportation at Ningbo University, for their patient guidance, encouragement and advice throughout my time study in Napier. I have been extremely lucky to be supervised by Jason and Jonathan who cared so much about my work, and who responded to my questions and queries so promptly. I would also like to thank all the members, especially Prof. Tom Rye, Prof. Achille Fonzone, Mrs. Yvonne Lawrie and Independent Panel Chair Prof. Johnson Zhang who helped me in my supervisor’s absence and their supports in my research skill developing activities as well as in the daily life. I would also like to thank Prof. Pengjun Zheng, Mrs. Qiaodan Ding and Mr. Rong Wang for their unrequited help for the interview arrangement during the time I spent in Ningbo University, and also the experts who were involved in the semi-structured survey in this research project: the managers and staff in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group and Dalian Port Group who were on condition of anonymous in this research. Without their passionate participation and first-hand information, the thesis could not have been successfully conducted. Then, I would like to thank the Transport Research Institute, not only for providing me the scholarship and the funding which allowed me to undertake this research, but also for giving me the opportunity to attend conferences and meet so many amazing people. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. I am indebted to them for their support. ii Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... ii Contents .......................................................................................................................... iii List of figures ................................................................................................................... v List of tables .................................................................................................................... vi List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................... vii Publications ..................................................................................................................... ix 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research motivation and objective ......................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Impact and relevance of the findings ...................................................................... 4 1.4 Structure of the thesis .............................................................................................. 5 2. Literature Review........................................................................................................ 6 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Environmental impacts in ports .............................................................................. 6 2.3 The green port concept ............................................................................................ 9 2.4 Green port tools ..................................................................................................... 13 2.4.1 Shipping emissions ........................................................................................ 13 2.4.2 Port activity .................................................................................................... 15 2.4.3 Inland transport system .................................................................................. 17 2.5 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 19 3. Methodology .............................................................................................................. 21 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Research methods used by previous researchers in this field ............................... 21 3.3 Use of qualitative methodologies .......................................................................... 29 3.4 Case study design .................................................................................................. 31 iii 3.5 Case selection ........................................................................................................ 32 3.6 Data collection ...................................................................................................... 36 3.7 Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 39 3.8 Validity and reliability .......................................................................................... 42 3.9 Research ethics ...................................................................................................... 44 4. Overview of green port policy and strategy in China ............................................ 46 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Overview of the Chinese port system ................................................................... 46 4.3 China’s green port policy and strategy .................................................................. 53 5. Case studies of two Chinese ports ............................................................................ 57 5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................