After 10 years of development and testing, Carson’s Advanced Cleanup Technologies Inc. got the green light from the California Air Resources Board to sell its emissions control technology to shipping lines for use on their ocean-faring ships.
The company’s Advanced Maritime Emissions Control System attaches directly to the exhaust ports of ships while at berth and uses scrubbers to remove between 90 percent and 99 percent of nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide and particulate matter, according to the board.
Ships with up to two auxiliary diesel engines can use the system, according to the board. Advanced Cleanup’s patented technology attaches to ships from either the berth or from a barge, and also monitors emissions while connected.
The board approved the technology by executive order earlier this month. Under its At-Berth Regulation, which went into effect in 2007, container, passenger and refrigerated-cargo ships must reduce emissions from auxiliary engines when docked. Ships can either turn off back-up engines and connect to alternative power such as electricity in a process known as cold-ironing, or use board-approved vessel retrofits that reduce emissions.
The Port of Long Beach subsidized the development of the Advanced Cleanup’s systems with about $2 million.
Ruben Garcia, Advanced Cleanup’s president, said the approval will allow the company to sell the systems commercially. Mediterranean Shipping Co. has been testing the systems at the Port of Long Beach for about four months, he said. The company sells the service by the hour under a contract, Garcia added.
Advanced Cleanup has also been testing the technology on 70 different types of ships, Garcia said, including container, refrigerated and ships that carry coal and other solids. The company first tested the system on rail lines and then moved to the ports. Now that this approval is underway, Garcia said he plans to promote it to rail lines, other West Coast ports and eventually worldwide.
“People know about the technology,” Garcia said. “I don’t think marketing it will be too difficult, because people are looking for a cost-effective alternative to cold-ironing. We’re about a third of the cost to shore power.”
Plugged In
City of Industry electrical engineering contractor Morrow-Meadows Corp. bought R.E. Wall & Associates Inc., a Tustin electrical engineering design firm, to become more vertically integrated.
The companies have often worked together on projects, said Denise Petersen, Wall’s corporate secretary and treasurer. The electrical design firm designed projects while Morrow-Meadows constructed them, she added.
Wall employees will help form a new engineering department at Morrow-Meadows that will be headed up by former Wall President Russell Givens and Vice President Forrest Petersen.
As building owners are increasingly bringing projects directly to contractors to both design and build them, this acquisition gives Morrow-Meadows the design expertise that owners want, Petersen added.
“Morrow-Meadows has been brought into projects that other engineers have designed, and now it will have in-house expertise to look at the designs and help building owners save money, bringing the design and field professionals together in a collaborative environment,” she said.
Wall’s expertise includes data centers, hospitals, biotech research facilities, airports and high-rise residential and commercial structures. It will close its office and move employees to Morrow-Meadows’ headquarters, Petersen said.
Play Time
Santa Monica toymaker Jakks Pacific Inc. said it had secured licensing rights to make Halloween costumes, dress-up items and accessories for the Powerpuff Girls franchise from Cartoon Network Enterprises, the licensing and merchandising arm of the Cartoon Network.
Under the multi-year agreement, Jakks’ Disguise Inc. costume division will produce costumes and accessories based on the characters for a new animated television series. Jakks will also manufacture everyday dress-up items and accessories.
“We are excited to partner with Cartoon Network for costumes and dress-up based on the iconic Powerpuff Girls property,” said Sara Rosales Montalvo, Jakks’ vice president of corporate communications. “It is adding a strong stable of brands to a growing portfolio of characters popular with kids and adults.”
The series and merchandise are set to launch next year.
Staff reporter Carol Lawrence can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
