EMPOWER

Globally, shipping contributes significantly to CO₂ and other GHG emissions, exerting increasing pressure on the industry to comply with emerging regulatory frameworks and reporting obligations e.g., FuelEU Maritime, EU ETS, and in future the IMO Net-Zero Framework. Shipowners face new requirements for accurate emission reporting and potential penalties, driving the need for reliable, real-time monitoring systems. From the port authority's perspective, there is a growing need to quantify and manage emissions arising from port operations and to verify emissions from ships to enable informed decisions on operational improvements, certification of green ports, and the future designation of low-emission corridors. For coastal cities, maritime emissions represent a significant and relatively under-regulated source of air pollution, with substantial impacts on public health. Cities require robust tools to enforce emission limits and integrate monitoring into broader sustainability initiatives, such as the NetZeroCities City Missions.

The EMPOWER project delivers a transformative, end-to-end solution for real-time monitoring and management of ship and port emissions, addressing the needs of ship-owners, port authorities, verification bodies, and coastal cities. It transforms fragmented and heterogeneous emission-monitoring systems into a coordinated, interoperable, and enforcement-ready infrastructure, enabling reliable emissions assessment, compliance and decision-making for possible corrective actions. The project applies a user-centered approach, evaluating the capabilities, limitations, and correlations of different techniques as measurements extend away from emission sources. This enables tailored selection of monitoring strategies suitable for the specific port operations and environmental conditions, ensuring optimal operational performance and reliability.

EMPOWER leverages the expertise of technology leaders, research institutions, certification bodies and national metrology institutes, providing credibility, reducing measurement uncertainties, and enhancing confidence in results. The unique strength lies in the direct involvement of national metrology institutes with sensor manufacturers, which offers sensor calibrations against primary standards, thereby ensuring traceability from the outset rather than relying on post-hoc or empirical estimates. This approach delivers the regulatory-grade assurance required for compliance and high-confidence decision-making. The framework is replicable across European ports and fully compatible with ongoing EU initiatives, including FuelEU Maritime, EU ETS maritime extension, and the Cities Mission, providing both immediate operational benefits and long-term systemic impact through standardization, replication roadmaps, and support for green port and corridor certification.