The port of Gothenburg is one of the first in the world to offer ‘cold ironing’; when cargo ships berth at the port, they switch off their diesel engines and plug in to the local electricity grid. Bunker fuels help to produce the acid rain which falls over Sweden, and cold ironing helps to reduce this effect. Zeebrugge in Belgium can also offer this high-voltage technology, but only a small number of ships have the correct type of plug to take advantage of the facility.
According to some analysts, shipping is responsible for about twice the emissions of carbon dioxide as aviation.
