Venice's VTP Unveils Innovations at its "Green Ports" Forum 08/02/2010 Venezia Terminal Passeggeri S.p.A.’s (VTP) events division held the first edition of the ‘Energy for Green Ports’ forum with the support of MedCruise and several organisations, in Venice, on February 4th and 5th.   The forum brought together an international group of experts to present on the latest on renewable energy technology applicable to ports. UK Ambassador to Italy, Edward Chaplin, CMG, OBE, delivered the keynote speech in which he described the fast pace of innovation and increasing feasibility and use of alternative energy sources at ports. At the forum, VTP Engineering (VTP’s industrial division) made public two key innovations: a mobile passenger tower boarding system VTP Engineering designed, and a short-side electricity generation plant for cruise ships based on bio-fuel engines made by Rolls-Royce that can be used in any cruise port.   On the other hand the Venice Port Authority is developing, in cooperation with Enalg, a cogeneration plant to be located in the Venice lagoon that will produce algal bio-fuel to generate electricity that could be provided to two cruise ships at berth while their engines are shut, and for the port and residents of central Venice. The carbon dioxide produced by the cogeneration plant will be reused to manufacture the algal fuels onsite.   VTP Engineering also unveiled a mobile passenger tower boarding system it developed for its own use, but with the possibility of use in other ports. The tower boarding system (see rendering) consists of a gangway attached to a mobile structure with elevators and stairways and allows for adjustable heights of ingress and egress and adjustable distances from the piers to the ships, avoiding lifeboats.   The tower boarding system can embark and disembark more than 2,500 passengers per hour. “This system will work perfectly for the varied terminal and pier configurations at VTP,” says Roberto Perocchio, VTP’s managing director, “and it could also be ideal for any transit port wanting to increase its passenger throughput speed, even at vacant piers without the need of a passenger terminal.”