Ports set out with researchers to map out zero-emission strategy for the St. Lawrence

As part of the PLAINE research program led by the Université de Montréal within the Réseau Québec maritime, which is a Green Marine supporter, the port authorities of Montreal, Quebec City and Trois-Rivières are launching an ambitious project to develop a concrete roadmap for making the St. Lawrence system entirely carbon free.

The new project’s objective is to lay the groundwork for Canada's first domestic green maritime corridor, in alignment with provincial, national and international targets for the complete elimination of carbon emissions from the maritime sector by 2050.

Several essential components will be integrated into the roadmap, such as a normative framework for the decarbonization of the maritime and port industry, a bibliography listing data sources on greenhouse gas emissions in the St. Lawrence ecosystem, a comparative analysis of ecologically oriented best practices, and a list of reference scenarios for achieving the complete decarbonization of the maritime and port system.

The two-year project will be overseen by the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les réseaux d'entreprise, la logistique et le transport (CIRRELT) at the Université de Montréal. The initiative is part of the PLAINE research program launched in 2021 with the aim of mitigating commercial shipping’s impacts on ecosystems.