Evaluating Decarbonisation Strategies in Container Terminals: A Balance Between Environmental Performance and Economic Viability

ABSTRACT Container‐terminal operations are energy intensive and a significant source of CO2 emissions, thus decarbonisation is at the heart of the sustainable maritime logistics agenda. Previous studies have focused on individual technologies and their environmental performance but little attention has been paid to the economic feasibility and system‐level implementation. This paper addresses this gap through a structured narrative review of 68 academic studies, industry case reports and policy documents published between 2011 and 2025, evaluated using a five‐criterion framework comprising emission‐reduction potential, implementation readiness, capital and infrastructure requirements, operational impact and policy feasibility. Strategies are categorised as direct mitigation (equipment electrification and onshore power supply, renewable‐energy integration, energy storage and alternative fuels and operational optimisation) and enabling technologies (IoT sensing, digital twins, artificial intelligence and emission‐monitoring platforms) as well. The reviewed evidence indicates that equipment electrification demonstrates the highest reported per‐unit emission‐reduction potential (up to about 80% relative to a diesel baseline under the source‐specific conditions reviewed), renewable energy provides about 30%–50% depending on the configuration and localities and digitalisation only indirectly reduces emissions through efficiency and compliance. The percentages reported, however, are from different baselines and system boundaries and so are not directly comparable nor additive. Across the five‐criterion assessment, no single strategy performs favourably on all dimensions. Equipment electrification provides the highest direct abatement but also entails the greatest capital and infrastructure burden, whereas operational optimisation and digitalisation offer higher implementation readiness and lower capital requirements but smaller or predominantly indirect emission reductions. The study thus argues for integrated, context‐specific approaches which pay attention to environmental performance while also focusing on economic viability and standardised measurement boundaries and techno‐economic modelling as the next steps.