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Zero emission vessels - Reduce emission in Ports

Waterborne transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are on the rise, and they represent today almost 3% of global GHG emissions [1]. Ships entering EU ports emit 13% of the total EU transport GHG emissions [2], while inland waterway transport in the EU is estimated to emit 3.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year [3]. Apart from GHG emissions, shipping is responsible for water degradation, air pollution and noise pollution. All these impacts have a negative impact on cities and their inhabitants.  

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency focusing on waterborne transport, has developed an initial strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships [5]. The strategy presents several measures to achieve its aims, including optimization of logistic chains and their planning, focus on power supply from renewable sources and development of infrastructure to support supply of alternative fuels and innovative technologies to further enhance the energy efficiency of ships. 

The European Commission is contributing to the task with several initiatives. The EU Maritime transport strategy 2009-2018 [8] included a set of environmental objectives for international shipping, such as the reduction of GHG emissions, NOx, and SOx, and the promotion of alternative fuels in ports. The roadmap for a resource efficient transport system set an objective of 40% reduction for EU CO2 emissions from maritime transport by 2050 compared to 2005 levels [9]. In the framework of the European Green Deal, EU climate target plans include the introduction of a high share of alternative fuels, such as renewable and low carbon liquid fuels [10]. To enable the uptake of alternative fuels, the Commission proposed a regulation requiring ports to address the demand for decarbonised fuels. At the same time, docked ships will be required to use shore-side electricity [11]. 

The Partnership Proposal for Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport focuses on six parallel activities, covering the use of sustainable alternative fuels, electrification, energy efficiency, design and retrofitting, digital green, and ports [4]. Also, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership [12] covers research on hydrogen and fuel cells for maritime applications, e.g. development and validation of a vessel running on liquid hydrogen (l, m), a vessel for hydrogen storage (n) or fuel cells, and hydrogen technologies developed for ports (o). Finally, energy-efficient and zero-emission vessels are also one of out of the five main topics of European waterborne transport research in H2020 [6]. Their successful deployment cannot happen without support from port cities.  

Within the framework of Mission Innovation, an industry roadmap for zero-emission shipping was developed. Three main pillars are considered the foundation for a zero-emission shipping future: ships, fuels, and fuelling infrastructure [7]. The latter is the most important, from the perspective of cities. 

The biggest potential for the reduction of emissions from waterborne transport is a transition towards a new generation of fuels and the preparation of appropriate fuelling infrastructure. There are several potential alternative fuels that can lead toward zero-emission vessels, including hydrogen and ammonia. These fuels can be used either in combustion engines (for long-distance shipping) or in fuel cells combined with electric motors (for shorter distances) [2]. Depending on the type of waterborne transport different solutions are necessary [4]: 

  • ferries – the most suitable option for waterborne transport electrification, since they operate between fixed points in a limited range. Apart from battery packs, fuel cells and internal combustion engines powered by alternative fuels might be also used as an energy source; 

  • short sea shipping – vessels that operate in a range of up to 200 nautical miles should enable to use battery packs, fuel cells, hybrid propulsion systems with electric and alternative fuels as well as propulsion systems using on-board renewable energy sources - as an individual energy source or in a combination of them; 

  • inland waterway transport – limited range and operation with easily available recharging and refueling infrastructure enable to implement and test a wide variety of zero-emission solutions. Temporarily, as a transition phase, for currently operating vessels, retrofitting and usage of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, produced from renewable and sustainably sourced vegetable fats and oils) might be considered; 

  • long-distance, international cargo ships, offshore vessels, and cruise ships - they mostly operate far from ports, nevertheless several solutions can be applied to reduce the impact on the environment (air, water, and noise pollutions), including in the vicinity of cities. Their high energy requirements make their transition towards zero-emission the most challenging but also necessary in the nearest future. Options include alternative fuels, electric and hybrid engines, renewable energies, etc. 

Regardless of solutions implemented for particular vessels, all relevant infrastructure (for recharging, refuelling etc.) in ports needs to be prepared and all the operations needs to be managed according to specific needs for new types of vessels. 

MATURITY:  

Zero emission vessels are currently during various stages of TRL, depending on particular solution applied. There are electric ferries already in use, which can replace vessels currently used within and between cities. They are designed for short distance, inshore applications and but similar solutions can also be used for inland waterway transport. They have a potential to be used for last mile delivery in cities with system of navigable waterways as they may help to reduce congestion.  

Among innovative solutions for zero emission vessels, the use of Liquefied Biogas is ready for commercial deployment but its usage is still extremely low [4]. The use of other potential alternative fuels, such as ammonia and methanol, is still at the demonstration phase. 

The strategic targets of the Partnership for Zero-Mission Waterborne Transport are also during the ‘demonstration’ level with time window until 2030 (2050 for long-distance ships), showing that more work needs to be done until proposed solutions will be available on the market.  For example, LEANSHIP project (d) took research achievements from previous European projects and put them into demonstration phase to prepare developed solutions for large-scale market uptake.  

The general aim of Partnership for Zero-Mission Waterborne Transport [4] is to provide and demonstrate zero-emission solutions for all main ship types and services before 2030, which will enable zero-emission waterborne transport before 2050. However, considering maturity level of existing solutions, one of the main challenges to achieve this aim are the long-lasting service and lifespan of ships (the average age of seagoing ship is about 21 years) [4]. This makes any change towards more energy efficient and zero emissions vessels a long lasting task, making any radical change very difficult if possible. Thus, any solution which helps to reduce emissions needs to be deployed as soon as possible. They should be deployed however, in a way that offer the highest possible interoperability. This is to avoid situation that an emission-reduction solution deployed in a ship is not compatible e.g. in another ports or other vessels, or if further, more efficient solutions which are now in a lower phase of TRL, become available. 

CO-BENEFITS
PRE-CONDITIONS & ENABLING CONDITIONS
CONSTRAINTS/BARRIERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
DRAWBACKS/ADVERSE IMPACTS OF THE SOLUTIONS after implementation
EXTERNAL LINKS
IMPACTS (Indicators + DNSH)
INSTRUMENTS/Processes for implementation
EXAMPLES

In this collection

Grey water treatment (including Nature Based Solutions) and reuse

Greywater is the wastewater generated in households or office buildings without serious contaminants, such as water from baths, sinks and washing machines. Greywater can be separated from blackwater (water from toilets or kitchens) and then treated on-site for direct reuse in toilets recharge or irrigation. Greywater is a relevant secondary source of water and nutrients. Many studies have analysed the environmental, economic, and energetic benefits of the reuse of greywater [1][2][6][7]. Greywater treatment systems can be introduced in new buildings or in existing buildings with retrofitting measures. There are different greywater treatment systems: diversion and filtration, diversion and treatment (using chemicals), or nature-based solutions (NBS). 

 

Traditional greywater treatment 

Greywater treatment by mechanical systems is typically based on filtration or treatment with chemicals. In filtration, the aim is to remove impurities using filters, with typically a few or several filters in a row in order to guarantee good results. In a purifying process done with chemicals, the aim is to add chemicals that bind impurities, which are then removed from the water, for example, by filters. The mechanical treatment can start with a settlement tank, where coarse particles settle in the bottom of the tank and are then removed. After that, the greywater flows through filters, typically first gravel and sand and then biological filters like wood or peat. Last, if needed, ultraviolet light or chemicals are used to remove potential bacteria. 

Green roof and greywater treatment [7] 

 

Grey water recovery system [10] 

The first filter is a biofilter, which removes the fats and oil. The sand and gravel filter removes small particulates and other impurities. 

 

NBS-based greywater treatment 

Nature-based solutions (NBS) applications are typically constructed wetlands, green roofs, and green walls [1][2][3]. 

 

Several studies have shown that NBS-based greywater treatment has high removal performances [1][5], indicating the suitability of these systems in treating domestic greywater. Planning and design parameters should be carefully considered when implementing NBS; high residence time of water can be especially important for grey water treatment efficiency (see e.g., [1]). To optimize the removal processes in NBS, appropriate plant species and substrates (as growing material), optimal hydraulic parameters, and suitable operating conditions are needed.  

 

The decentralized process consists of several stages: (i) greywater separation, (ii) storage, (iii) treatment by innovative NBS as multi-level green walls/green façades, or by mechanical systems as multi-layer filters and activated carbon, and (iv) final disinfection using commercial O3/UV systems (Ozone and Ultraviolet).  

MATURITY:  

 

Some building-level solutions for grey water treatment and reuse (including nature-based) are commercially available, for example:  

 

  • Aqua Gratis is a technology to capture and reuse the bath and shower water for flushing toilets. The solution is at the stage of initial market commercialisation. The technology development of Aqua Gratis was funded by the EU. 

  • REDI gives a solution for single-family houses, where the treated greywater can be used for watering the garden. 

  • Disinfection can be done with commercially available solutions, e.g. with ozone and ultraviolet (UV) light. 

 

Some examples of pilots are: 

 

  • Greywater treatment with nature-based solutions for indoor or outdoor modules in multi-level green walls/green façades was carried out in Houseful. The project tested also ozone and ultraviolet light for disinfection.  

  • Water management systems and how to monitor and collect water condition information for urban water management platforms were piloted in UNaLab. 

  • Green walls and constructed wetlands were piloted in NAWAMED, with a focus on grey water treatment from a public building, a parking area, and a refugee camp. 

  • A service model for grey water treatment with NBS was tested in Houseful. The service model considers a leasing contract and a payment fee per m3 of water treated and reused. 

 

The nature-based grey water systems have been tested in a rather short period of time (e.g., some months to 1–2 years). Since the operating time of grey water treatment should be closer to 15-20 years, a further full-scale testing is still needed. [1]. 

Passive building design strategies: building orientation, passive heating and cooling

Passive building design means providing passive heating, passive cooling, and natural ventilation to maintain comfortable indoor conditions with no need for energy, by taking advantage of location (climate), orientation, massing, shading, material selection, thermal mass, insulation, internal layout and the positioning of openings to allow the penetration of solar radiation, daylight, and ventilation in the desired amounts [1–8]. When duly applied, passive design strategies are a designer’s first opportunity to increase a building’s energy efficiency, without adding much less front-end cost to a project as compared to active design strategies. Efficient passive design results in smaller heating and cooling loads (so that the building’s mechanical system – if any – can be downsized) and smaller electric loads for lighting through the use of daylighting design strategies.  

 

Beyond local climate, building orientation is a key aspect for passive design. The most energy-efficient designs are facing south or north to allow better solar energy management and better quality of daylighting. Building shape is also very relevant in the design, as an elongated and narrow plant (with south or north facing façade) allows for more of the building to be receive daylight. Shading strategies properly combined with other passive design strategies are also required, especially in hot climates [9,10]. Since the main difficulty in designing natural ventilation systems driven by buoyancy and wind is the simultaneous estimation of ventilation airflows and indoor temperatures, solar chimneys are used [11,12]. A solar chimney is a vertical shaft utilizing solar energy to enhance natural ventilation. 

 

Passive heating can be achieved by capturing the heat from the sun inside the building. Tweaking the window-to-wall ratio and the building exposure to the sun, all the while controlling for the thermal mass, heat flows and insulation allows to effectively store, distribute and retain the heat. The thermal mass defines the capacity to absorb, store and release heat. Heavyweight construction materials like concrete, brick and stone exhibit large thermal mass that can be used to effectively store the heat over peak hours and release it overnight. 

Passive building design. Figure from

 

Passive cooling is a set of design strategies to reduce heat gains and favour heat dispersion. Many methods exist and include using solar shadings as well as designing openings in such a way to allow good ventilation (such as solar chimneys). Shading can either be operable (external louvres, blinds, and deciduous trees) or fixed (e.g. eaves, overhangs, fences and evergreen trees). 

 

 '

Shading devices for north-facing openings. 

Figure from https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design 

 

Passive design strategies are rated in different standards, such as PassivHaus (Passive House), BREEAM, LEED or WELL. 

 

The literature shows that today there are many net-zero, nearly-zero energy, and certified Passive House buildings worldwide, in different climate or geographic regions. Most are in Europe and North America, followed by New Zealand, Kore, Japan, China, and India [1]. Literature also shows that is it possible to achieve at least the Passive House energy standard of performance in all climate zones [13]. 

 

MATURITY:  

 

Although individual passive techniques are already commercial, their holistic implementation in buildings is still at TRL=4-6. 

Citizen Participation Platforms

E-participation [1][2][3][4][5] enables citizens to use digital technologies or platforms, e.g., combination of geographic information systems (GIS), Web 2.0 and mobile technologies (including video, mobile messaging and Internet access), for communication, engagement and deliberation on policy or planning challenges.  

 

Engagement and participation are vital tools in climate adaptation and environmental decision making as these entail increased community acceptance, support for climate actions, and provide new insights based on local knowledge [12]. Citizens can be consumers as well as producers of useful data for policy development and decision making (WeGovNow, Smarticipate, AI4PublicPolicy). 

 

There are multiple degrees of citizen participation ranging from passive, i.e., being simply informed, to responsive, i.e., contribute to consultation, to active, i.e., being fully empowered by having final decisions delegated to them (see Arnstein’s ladder [6]) [7]. In e-participation initiatives, both top-down (i.e., issues identified by public authority) and bottom-up (i.e., citizens led initiative) approaches can be applied. As multiple actors (i.e., different departmental units) are involved in the provision of e-participation, cross-organizational issues related to ownership and accountability may arise [3].  

 

Technologies supporting government processes (GovTech) can add great value to participatory processes (e.g., access to sensor kits, web portals and data), as shown by examples of Madrid (Decide Madrid), Bristol (Bristol Approach to citizen sensing – e.g., air quality, solid fuel burning etc.) [7], and Brussels (Curieuzenair). E-participation is usually considered part of e-government [5]. 

 

E-Government (or Electronic-Government) [1][2][8] refers to the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to government functions and procedures with the objective to increase efficiency of government agencies, enhance delivery of public services, and facilitate low cost and faster public engagement with public authorities. A comparative survey [8] of global e-government performance of municipalities highlights the best e-governance practices. It uses five categories of measures: privacy and security, usability, content, service and citizen and social engagement. For citizen and social engagement category Shanghai, Auckland, Seoul, Madrid, Paris, and Lisbon are ranked top cities for year 2018-19. 

 

Open Governance [9] is about transparency of and access to government data and decision making process so that innovative forms of collaborative actions (i.e. bottom-up and top-down) can be applied to solve policy problems, raise awareness, increase public participation, change behaviour, promote e-democracy, and revolutionise traditional service provision [10][11]. It is closely associated with open government data that can provide new insights about issues and services as well as offers the opportunities to participate, comment and influence plans and policy agenda to foster greater citizen participation. 

 

 

E-participation solutions range from responding to planning e.g., top-down to bottom-up urban regeneration [Smarticipate] or policy challenge [WeGovNow] or reporting a local problem (e.g., Bristol’s FixMyStreet); or bottom-up budget planning (e.g., Helsinki’s participatory budgeting) or accessing open data (e.g., Hamburg’s Transparency portal).  

 

There are several e-participation initiatives where various ICT tools are used to deliver different public services. For instance,  

Cross border e-governance initiatives such as [ACROSS], [DE4A] and [GLASS] go beyond one city’s public administrative level (even at EU level and beyond [iKaaS]) and deal with cross-border interoperable, mobile [mGov4EU] and privacy-aware public services.  

MATURITY: 

 

Many e-government and e-participation tools are available at higher TRL and are already being used by municipalities for public services and e-participation, e.g., open source Consul platform is being used in 35 countries by 135 institutions; Similarly, Organicity tools are used for over 35 experiments in various cities. 

 

Some of the example solutions fall under validation and demonstration category such as DUET and Smarticipate.  

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Last update: June 2, 2023

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Transport and mobility
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