Evaluation of the environmental impact of harbour activities: problem analisys and possible solutions

A relevant problem is a main subject of this work: the pollution in ports close to inhabited zones where, due to the contemporaneous presence of many cruise ships, the contents of noxious elements in the air are excessive and the quality of life risks to become unsustainable. The impact of the operations of cruise ships in port has been analysed together with the possible consequences of their impact on the human health and the rules that attempt to reduce the effects of the pollution on it. Some possible solutions were proposed; first of all, the so called “cold ironing” consisting in a connection between the electric system of the ship and a shore system providing the ship with the electric energy to be used onboard. The major characteristics of the cold ironing were analysed together with its main problems; among them, the need of integrate this practice in a more wide scene, combining it with the microgrids in order to not to solve the problem simply by moving the production of electric energy from one site to another.