Jacobs and IGO Solutions are offering ports a new way to measure and track how emissions are generated at terminals, using data to create a more targeted pathway to decarbonisation.
In October 2025, the American Association of Port Authorities awarded the Port of Everett first place in its annual Lighthouse Award for Environmental Practices in the Large Port Category. Everett won the award for a pilot programme called “DecarbonisationAnalytics for Port Equipment” (DAPE) that was set up in partnership with Jacobs and IGO Solutions.
WorldCargo News met with Jacobs and IGO Solutions to discuss DAPE and how it brings a new approach to both emissions measuring and equipment optimisation.
Calculating the emissions from diesel-powered non-road machinery is a tricky exercise. Most port emission inventories calculate emissions using a formula that includes engine power, the load factor for the equipment, operating hours, and the emissions factor for the quantity of pollutants the engine produces.
The load factor is particularly relevant for ports. Diesel engines produce more emissions when they work harder, and the load factor represents how hard an engine works on average during operation compared to its total rated capacity.
Load factors have been an issue in port emissions inventories previously. In 2018, the Port of Oakland released a new Seaport Air Emission Inventory report that revealed the way it had been calculating emissions reductions achieved by using shore power for vessels at berth did not accurately represent the amount of power vessels were actually using.
When Oakland began calculating vessel emissions at berth, it used an Air Resources Board load factor that assumed ships’ auxiliary engines operated at 18% of maximum generator capacity while berthed. Analysis of data from more than 1,000 vessels connected to shore power at the port in 2017 found their average in-use power demand was 10.5% of auxiliary generator capacity — 42% below the default 18% load factor estimate. Applying the 18% load factor overstated total power use by 74% compared with measured power consumption. As a result, the emissions reductions achieved when vessels switched to shore power were also being significantly overstated.
Aldo Ferrufino is vice president and director ports & maritime at Jacobs. One of the key elements in emission calculation methodologies in the port environment, he said, is the high idling time of port equipment. At mixed cargo ports like Everett, breakbulk-handling equipment might travel long distances, but use its maximum rated engine power only occasionally to hoist a load.
DAPE is designed to provide more accurate data by measuring emissions across the duty cycle on the vehicle itself alongside providing visibility in real-time asset tracking in the port. A Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) is attached to the vehicle exhaust that samples and measures particulate levels, nitrogen gases and carbon oxides in the exhaust stream, creating a unique vehicle topology. The PEMS system can be installed and moved between machines without requiring any modifications to the equipment.
The PEMS is combined with a telemetry system that tracks the equipment location, speed and its functions (lifting, lowering, idling). The PEMS and telemetry data are sent to a cloud infrastructure, along with uploads of work order files and other operational data. All the data is processed and presented by interactive software with dashboards and maps, creating a real-time control platform for asset information and control.
Explaining the system to WorldCargo News, Aldo Ferrufino said it is important for ports and terminals to understand not just the quantity of emissions that are produced, but where and how. Combining real-time emissions and operational data, Jacobs can use data visualisation tools to show ports and terminals where emissions are generated. Jay Pandya, principal co-founder at IGO Solutions, added that the heat maps and dashboards help unlock not just ways to lower emissions, but to highlight areas where terminal operators can leverage data to drive operational efficiencies.
With the DAPE Dashboard, ports and terminals can see a consolidated view of how equipment is operated across the terminal. DAPE makes no assumptions about how the equipment is operated. It produces real-time data on what the equipment was asked to do, how it performed that task, and what emissions were produced.
In the Port of Everett pilot project, the system was installed on two reachstackers, two medium capacity forklift trucks and one terminal tractor. The pilot project highlighted that the equipment has very high idling hours compared to total operational hours, and long travel paths that follow the perimeter of facilities. Using data visualisation Jacobs was able to help the port identify where it can work with its terminal operators to implement operational effectiveness and target spatial planning efforts that have the greatest impact on emissions and operating costs. Furthermore, real emissions data can be used to predict future emissions more accurately and to model different operational scenarios.
With an accurate measure of emissions and an understanding of how they are generated a port can begin to develop a “Decarbonisation Roadmap” that meets their business needs and external drivers such as regulatory compliance and community engagement. For the Port of Everett, Jacobs and IGO developed a GHG Reduction Tool that lists strategies, carbon savings, costs and benefits.
The GHG Reduction Tool identifies direct actions (such as purchasing electrified equipment), collaborative actions (measures that require engagement and collaboration from third parties) and nature-based solutions (measures that will sequester or offset residual GHG emissions such as mangrove restorations).
For the Port of Everett, the GHG Reduction Tool highlighted a mix of short-term and long-term measures the port can leverage to lower its emissions profile as it works towards its 2050 emissions target. Short-term measures include installing sub-metering to track energy usage across the port and upgrading interior and exterior lighting. More long-term measures include beginning with training employees on energy efficiency and decarbonisation methods, onsite energy generation, and decarbonising yard equipment through electrification or hydrogen fuel.
Jay Pandya firmly believes that the pilot programme at Everett demonstrates the DAPE system developed by Jacobs and IGO has the potential to change the way the entire port industry tracks emissions and plans operational efficiencies by providing real-time equipment monitoring in a customisable, cloud-based dashboard tailored to each port’s needs.
For terminals that operate very large equipment fleets it is not necessary to have a PEMs unit on every machine. PEMs units provide emissions data by equipment type that, when combined with telematics data, provides an accurate picture for a group of machines in with the same specifications and duty cycle. The PEMs unit can also measure the impact of biodiesel and other lower emissions fuels on the emissions profile.
At its core DAPE is designed to highlight the relationship between emissions and efficiency. By reducing idle time and travel distances terminals can lower emissions while reducing operating costs at the same time. Accurately assessing what terminal equipment is doing and then optimising processes to do it more efficiently “goes straight to the bottom line” Pandya concluded.
*This story first appeared in the October 2026 print issue of WorldCargo News.