Environmental cost and eco-efficiency from vessel emissions in Las Palmas Port

•External costs based on emissions from full bottom-up model and AIS vessel tracks.•NOx (22%), SO2 (29%) and PM2.5 (33%) reflect the dominant cost shares.•Temporal evolution reflects major peaks in January, March and November.•Average external costs result in 180,930,427 € and 554 € per inhabitant.•Eco-efficiency parameters attempt to reflect ecological capital efficiency at Port.

This study presents external costs and eco-efficiency parameters associated to exhaust emissions in Las Palmas Port. Emission assessment is based on a vessel emissions inventory obtained from the full bottom-up Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model and messages transmitted by the Automatic Identification System over 2011. External costs are estimated based on a top-down approach. Results are combined with port operations profiles resulting in eco-efficiency performance towards economic and environmental concerns in Las Palmas Port. Results could also support the valuation of instruments to abate emissions in crowded port-cities that as Las Palmas, host a large population of residents and visitors.