Elsevier, eTransportation, Volume 3, February 2020
Various studies have shown that maritime sector needs increased use of zero emission vessels in service by 2030 in order to achieve an absolute reduction in CO2 emissions of 50% by 2050 (consistent with a 2 °C pathway). These vessels, with operational emissions containing zero or negligible greenhouse gas share, would need to represent a significant portion of newbuilds from that point onwards. The objective of this research is to show the opportunity that implementation of zero emission ferry lines offers in the framework of 100% RES smart island energy systems and demonstrate their ability to supply the fuel for zero emission ferry lines. A method is presented for modelling supply of ferry lines, which are fuelled from excess energy produced by local renewable energy sources. Case study analyses show that operation costs of hydrogen and electric ferry differ depending on the island size and route. Onshore investments are 60% lower in case of electric ferry for short lines, while for longer line onshore investments were up to 4 times higher than the ones needed for the hydrogen ferry line, which had 40% smaller onboard investment costs.
