Transport - Creating

Improving the current and future performance of inland navigation in the fields of environment, logistics and safety

Within the framework of the CREATING project, ECN focuses on the environmental performance of inland navigation, together with the project partners Via Donau, CBRB, IPA, SPB and VNSI. The general objective is to study the present performance of inland vessels regarding pollutant emissions to the air and to propose solutions to improve their performance on this.

Inland navigation is known as environmentally friendly transport mode. Regarding emissions to the air, especially with respect to the emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon-dioxide (CO₂), the performance of inland vessels is outstanding. On average, CO₂ emissions of an inland vessel are only 1/3 of those of a truck per ton-kilometre (tkm). However, the introduction of road-transport emission limits since the early 1990s has led to a significant reduction of the pollutant emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen-oxides (NO_x) in that sector. In inland navigation, such strict emission limits are still lacking. Consequently, the advantage in environmental performance of inland vessels has decreased, and with the introduction of EURO IV and EURO V limits for road transport in 2006 and 2009 new trucks may emit even less NO_x and PM per tkm than inland vessels.

Some key conclusions so far

 Substantially stricter emission limits are required in order to keep future emissions caused by inland navigation below road transport emissions.

• Due to the average substitution rate of marine engines of 15 years or higher, substantial penetration of clean engines in the inland navigation fleet will be very slow, unless additional policy measures will be introduced.
• Lowering the sulphur content of the fuel is essential for lowering the SOx emissions which are much higher than for the road sector. In addition low sulphur fuel is a prerequisite for application of emission reduction techniques for diesel engines.

For more information please contact Hein de Wilde