This Low-Tech Solution Cut Ship Emissions by Up to 24%

During the pandemic, as many as 100 giant container ships would idle off the Southern California coast, belching pollutants as they waited for a berth to unload cargo at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. But traffic on the marine equivalent of LA’s perpetually clogged 405 freeway dissipated once officials implemented an OpenTable-style system that reserves a place in line at the ports for arriving vessels.

Now, researchers have calculated that the queuing system at the busiest seaport complex in the US is also paying a climate dividend, reducing estimated carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 24% per voyage between East Asia and Southern California.