What does a green port look like? The South Jersey Courier Post has examined this very question in looking at Camden's South Jersey Port Corporation and their bid to green their port operations. I've copied some highlights from the article which could apply to Cleveland's Port relocation project.: (article text in italics / commentary in plain text)

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"...the international maritime industry is rife with diesel engines on
ships, cranes and other dockside equipment spewing carbon emissions
around the clock.

South Jersey Port Corp. has received a
$550,000 grant from the federal and state governments to retrofit its
dockside equipment. While a good first step, it does not address
pollution from foreign ships.

The next generation of ships, docks and ancillary equipment could be more environmentally sensitive."

Retrofitting diesel equipment and vehicles encompasses a broad category of solutions including devices like Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC's) and Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF's), both of which reduce fine particulate pollution (small enough to pass into the blood stream), nitrogen oxides (a precursor to ground level ozone), carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. At the Port of Cleveland, Federal Marine Terminals, has been working over the past few years to retrofit their loading equipment with DOC's.

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"South Jersey Port Corp. eliminated 80,000 truck moves a year by
building a new $40 million pier for St. Lawrence Cement Co. at Broadway
with direct highway access. The new deepwater berth is also equipped
with a diesel-powered crane and a covered conveyor belt so particles
from the processed slag are not airborne while moving from one part of
the pier to the next."

The logic behind South Jersey Port Corp's new pier may be similar to a reason for moving Cleveland's Port to E. 55th - better access to other modes of transport. Like other heavy duty diesel equipment, a diesel powered crane could be retrofitted with either a DOC or a DPF to reduce fine particle pollution when the crane is in operation. A covered conveyor belt helps to reduce large particle pollution (greater than 10 microns)

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"With 2 million square feet of flat warehouse space, which could be
converted into solar panels, the agency (South Jersey Port Corp.) has the potential to be a
renewable energy powerhouse."

With First Solar manufacturing in Toledo and two European Solar companies considering moving headquarters and/or production to Cleveland, the possibility of PV panel covered warehouses at Cleveland's new port location seems to be high. If the bulk of stevedoring operations could be fueled by electricity, a solar powered port could be far less polluting as well as offer more efficient and lower cost operations in an energy starved future.