http://www.cunninghamreport.com/news_item.php?id=1149While California continues to clean up its trucking fleet, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are working with Foss Maritime to clean up the San Pedro Harbor's tugboats, one hybrid at a time.
The Carolyn Dorothy, Foss's 10th Dolphin-class tug, is mostly indistinguishable from the other green-and-white Foss tugboats in the harbor. Noticeable differences are the smaller exhaust stacks, the "hybrid" logo on each side, and the quieter ride enjoyed by the four-man crew. The two ports invested $1.3 million in the tug as a joint venture with Foss, which brought the tug to the harbor in January 2009 after building it at the Foss shipyard in Rainier, Ore.
Foss also invested close to $2 million above the price of a standard tug to develop the technology necessary to make the boat not just green, but able to do the work of a diesel-propelled tug.
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http://www.foss.com/environment_hybridtug.htmlThe hybrid technology used to develop Foss’ Hybrid Tug is environmentally responsible—without sacrificing horse power or maneuverability. With its efficient combination of batteries, generators and main engines, the Hybrid Tug is both powerful and green.
Reducing Emissions. Improving Air Quality.
The Hybrid Tug is expected to significantly reduce emissions compared with the operating duty cycle of the conventional Dolphin tugs in San Pedro Harbor, including a reduction in nitrogen oxide, particulate emissions, sulfur dioxide and carbon emissions. This exceeds the EPA’s Tier 2 emissions requirement for marine engines. This tug design was awarded the EPA’s Clean Air Excellence Award for Clean Air Technology in 2008.
Along with less pollution, the hybrid offers improved fuel economy and lower maintenance costs. It is also quieter than its Dolphin sister tugs, when operating on batteries that can be recharged using shore power.
Hybrid Conversions
The flexible hybrid technology can be used to convert existing tugs of all types to hybrid vessels with lower emissions, improved fuel economy and lower maintenance costs. The Foss Engineering team can convert your standard tug to a hybrid tug, accommodating many tug designs and propulsion systems.
Why go hybrid?
The Hybrid Tug reduces nitrogen oxide, particulate emissions, sulfur dioxide, and carbon emissions without sacrificing power or maneuverability.
The Hybrid Tug’s extreme noise reduction improves the quality of life on the vessel, on shore, and under water.
The technology used for the Hybrid Tug is extremely flexible, allowing it to be used to convert existing tugs of all types to hybrid.
The Hybrid Tug improves fuel economy by reducing idling and increasing engine efficiency.
Dozens of possible equipment configurations means the Foss Hybrid delivers the power you need when you need it.
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I was really impressed when Foss first announced the "Green Assist" tractor tug. The design is really quite brilliant- because tractor tugs only use their full engine power roughly 10% of the time, much fuel is wasted because marine diesels are designed to be most efficient at max RPMs. By switching to electric azipods and generators, the tug runs its engines at max efficiency when it needs power. When it's cruising or loitering, the generators are shut off and the tug runs on batteries alone.
The beautiful thing is this is all achieved with no loss in performance and a huge cost-savings in expensive fuel. Plus its very easy to do. Expect to see much of the Foss tractor tug fleet converted over the next decade- this is the new standard for tractor tugs.
The maritime industry has been doing a great job of combating pollution thanks largely to the standards set by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The industry has always been interested in fuel-efficiency, but POLA has really pushed emissions reductions as well.
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