Study proposes Yokohama to phase out port-call incentives for LNG-fuelled ships

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley has recommended the Port of Yokohama to consider phasing out port-call incentives for LNG-propelled ships, according to Pacific Environment on Thursday (19 March). 

Instead, the study, An Analysis of Japan’s Carbon Neutral Port Initiative and Yokohama Port and Harbor Decarbonization Plan, said incentives could better be used for development of domestic supply chains for low or zero-carbon marine fuels.

The U.C. Berkeley analysis, commissioned by Pacific Environment and authored by David Wooley, director of the Environment Center at University of California’s Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, examines Japan’s Carbon Neutral Port (CNP) certification initiative and the Port of Yokohama’s comprehensive decarbonisation plan.

The CNP certification, established by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2025, sets benchmarks for Japanese maritime terminals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality in port communities.

The City of Yokohama’s Port and Harbour Decarbonisation Plan, which won the 2025 IAPH Sustainability Award for Climate and Energy, includes 121 projects ranging from harbor craft electrification to next-generation low- and zero-carbon marine fuels. Notably, Yokohama is pioneering the use of “battery-tanker” ships that would transport power from floating offshore wind turbines to shore using vessels filled with batteries.

The analysis also recommended that future decarbonisation plans at the port could include specific milestones to support intercoastal fleet electrification and supply chains for zero-carbon maritime liquid fuels, including bio-methanol production from sustainable urban and rural biomass as a cost-effective bridge to e-methanol.

In its recommendations for Japan’s CNP, it said that the CNP could expand port greenhouse gas inventories and control measures beyond carbon dioxide to include methane emissions. 

The analysis recommends that the CNP could take a more neutral position on LNG as a maritime fuel, given its significant lifecycle emissions and supply chain constraints.

It also noted that Japan’s port decarbonisation policy could be strengthened by development of domestic supply chains for sustainable biomass feedstocks needed to produce low- and zero-carbon liquid marine fuels such as green methanol. 

“Japan produces substantial amounts of agricultural and forestry residues that could be used to reduce emissions from vessels calling at Japanese ports,” it said. 

Photo credit: Daesun Kim on Unsplash
Published: 23 March, 2026