Big data analytics provides actionable insights into ship emissions

Abstract

Atmospheric emissions such as NOx from ship engines have a drastic impact on the environment. Controlling them is crucial for maintaining a sustainable growth for any logistics company. The Port of Rotterdam (The Netherlands) is using big data analytics to gain actionable insights into these emissions. Our case study deals with the implementation of the emission calculations and reporting implemented in Hadoop. In the analytical setup we introduce the method for estimating emissions based on recorded ship position data and information about its engines. We present a flexible approach that stores intermediate results allowing different levels of aggregation. These results are visualized in a Geographical Information System (GIS). We present some selected results followed by conclusions and recommendations.