Life-Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Inland Shipping on South Holland's Waterways

Inland shipping is an efficient way of freight transportation, especially in the Province of South Holland (the Netherlands), but this sector faces a significant challenge in further reducing climate change effects and local health and environmental impacts caused by the combustion of diesel fuel. In this study, an analysis of the inland shipping sector in South Holland and its challenges and opportunities regarding a transition to “zero-emission” shipping is performed, based on a life cycle assessment (LCA). This LCA compares the environmental impacts of the annual operations of a medium-size, short-route inland barge, comparing different engine technologies and energy carriers: diesel in a combustion engine, hydrogen (grey/blue/yellow) in a combustion engine, hydrogen (grey/blue/yellow) in a fuel cell-electric power system, and electricity in a battery-electric power system. Results are obtained for 2020, 2030, 2050, and 2100, based on the SSP2 pathway for future socio-economical development wherein the electricity grid mix decarbonises and fossil-based diesel is phased out in favour of biodiesel and synthetic diesel, and assessed using the EF v3.1 assessment family. The results indicate that the most significant sources of emissions are barge operations (for combustion engines, especially for diesel, and most of all for older diesel engines) and the fuel supply chain (for diesel and hydrogen), as well as some contribution from the production of batteries (for the battery-electric alternative) and fuel cells (for the hydrogen fuel cell alternative). Contributions from the life cycle of the barge hull, lubricant and oil streams, and infrastructure are minor. The main contributor to climate change is CO2, and the main contributors to local health and environmental impacts are emissions of particulate matter (PM), NOx, and SOx. For the selected case study barge, a battery-electric system provides the stronge
https://qlcav.quan.cat/?project=inlandshipping Interactive version of results
Industrial Ecology