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ENERGIX-Stort program energi

ZEVS: enabling Zero Emission passenger Vessel Services

Alternative title: ZEVS: enabling Zero Emission passenger Vessel Services

Awarded: NOK 16.4 mill.

The Norwegian Government's Climate Plan 2021-2030 aims to introduce low and zero emission requirements for high speed ferries - where appropriate - by 2025. A knowledge base regarding the prospects of such transport solutions and how emission requirements should be designed to ensure cost-effective operation and to limit any inconveniences for passengers is currently lacking. enabling Zero Emission passenger Vessel Services (ZEVS) seeks to fill these knowledge gaps to help the Government make well-informed decisions in their pursuit of green passenger vessels. ZEVS will prepare an overview of technical possibilities and abatement costs, which enables the authorities to identify where zero emission solutions are manageable and how the costs of zero emission requirements are distributed among regions. The overview will be based on tools for energy and emission calculation, cost optimization of infrastructure and transport services, and visualization that will be developed by the project and published open access. ZEVS will also provide a handbook to help County Governments find cost-effective procurement and business models to limit added costs of zero emissions transport. ZEVS started in February 2021 and will be completed by 2024. 5 of 6 work packages are initiated alongside 2 Master thesis, 1 PhD, and 1 temporary researcher position. The project is managed by Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) and is implemented in collaboration with Institute of Energy Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and KU Leuven (Belgium). The project comprises 14 user partners from the public sector and the industry: Ministry of Local Government and Modernization; Norwegian Coastal Administration; Norwegian Maritime Authority; Norwegian Environment Agency; Viken, Rogaland, Møre og Romsdal and Nordland County Governments; Ruter; Skyss/Kringom; Brødrene Aa as; Statkraft energi as; SEAM as; and MHTech.

Passenger vessels are a common part of the coastal transport system, with around 100 services in Norway today. Despite the goal from the Norwegian government for fossil free public transport by 2025, all passenger vessels currently use marine gas oil. Coupled with low passenger numbers, this makes them one of the most emission intensive (as well as costliest) modes of public transport per passenger kilometre. While there is a growing literature on the diffusion of zero emission vehicles, corresponding maritime studies are more scarce and broadly comprise sectoral outlooks or concrete case studies. To address this research gap, ZEVS is an interdisciplinary project that will create new knowledge and expertise to support fossil free high-speed passenger vessel uptake and foster a more sustainable transport system. Key project outcomes are mapping of the technical and economic feasibility of zero emission passenger vessels that will be made available to policy makers and public bodies through an interactive toolbox, a suite of open-access models for feasibility evaluation and a roadmap of politically and business feasible solutions for successful implementation. These will be achieved via an innovative project design combining top-down and bottom-up analysis, iterative studies and case selection based on stratified sampling to understand the technical, economic, and political feasibility of these vessels at national level. The core team comprises of interdisciplinary experts with complementary competences from research institutes and academia, supported by user partners in central and regional government, public agencies, and the energy and ship-building industry. All aspects of ZEVS will make distinct contributions to state-of-the-art knowledge and scientific literature in the field. Since contracts in several counties with currently employed ferry operators expire in 2021-2024, this is an ideal time for the much needed competence that ZEVS will provide.

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ENERGIX-Stort program energi