Belfast Harbour is hosting the city's first ever European Space Agency (ESA) Port Decarbonisation and Environmental Sustainability Workshop, hoping to provide a launchpad for a programme of "space age ideas".

The one-day event, hosted jointly by Belfast Harbour, ESA's Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme, Redshift Associates and the UK Space Agency, will see experts from across the maritime and space sectors in Europe come together at the Belfast Harbour Office to discuss the most pressing issues facing the maritime sector today.

With increasing challenges from climate change and new regulatory requirements around decarbonisation across the maritime sector, the workshop will focus on the role of space technologies in the green transition for ports around Europe, especially around the digitalisation of port operations.

Working with various partners over the past five years, digitalisation and data driven analytics have become a core component of Belfast Harbour's business, including its Climate Action Strategy. This includes activities such as advanced energy monitoring systems that take in energy data from across the Harbour Estate to allow for more informed decision-making.

An Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report published this summer by Belfast Harbour outlined how it has achieved a 57% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, against a baseline year of 2015, with a reduction of 18% in emissions in 2023 alone. The organisation is expected to reach net zero in its direct operations well ahead of its 2030 target.

-- Advertisement --

Laura O'Neill, Digital Transformation Manager with Belfast Harbour, will be among the speakers at today's event, and will discuss how Belfast Harbour is using 5G to revolutionise its port operations.

She said: "As a busy port which is committed to carrying out its operations in a cleaner, greener way, technology plays a vital role in Belfast Harbour's journey towards promoting greater sustainability. Not only is it helping us to gain greater insight into our day-to-day operations, it is also giving us the information we need to find more effective and innovative ways of reducing our impact upon the environment.

"We are delighted that Belfast Harbour has been chosen as the venue for the first-ever workshop of this kind to be organised by ESA. It is also great news for the city and region. The event gives us the opportunity to showcase the work we are doing within our Port and our Estate to an audience of key experts who can offer new insights and advice into how we can continue our journey towards becoming a net zero organisation, while supporting our customers and tenants along the way."

Rita Rinaldo, Head of Applications, Projects and Studies Division at ESA, who outlined the opportunities offered by space technologies for the green transition of the maritime sector at the event, said:

"We are very happy to be in Belfast and to showcase the important work ESA is doing in the sector to hasten and facilitate port decarbonisation around the world. The maritime sector forms a vital part of our work at BASS and we continue to provide funding and expertise to a wide range of companies across Europe, who are developing vital solutions to the challenges facing our ports and oceans.

"In January 2024, we launched the Space for Maritime Sustainability Task Force, which brings together numerous players from across the maritime sector, to engage with us in innovative projects supporting the decarbonisation and using space technologies to strengthen the maritime economy across Europe and beyond. We look forward to announcing today a dedicated sub-group of the Task Force for port representatives, dedicated to addressing the specific needs of ports."

Chris White-Horne, Deputy CEO & Chief Delivery Officer at UK Space Agency said: "The fight against the climate emergency relies fundamentally on space. More than half of the 50 most useful variables for assessing climate change are obtained through the unique vantage point of satellite data.

"This important event at Belfast Harbour is key to the UK Space Agency's mission to protect the planet and outer space. We are looking forward to exploring the ways we can address port decarbonisation, more efficiently use ports via space data, and how we can work together to tackle the unique environmental challenges in the maritime industry."

Among the other areas being examined at today's event will be industry requirements for decarbonisation in areas including onshore power, green shipping corridors and uptake of renewable energy solutions. Emerging solutions enabled by space data and services, and their potential for commercial exploitation by the port industry, will be explored.