Electricity-based fuels for fuel cells in inland shipping
The study considers alternative fuels exclusively in fuel cell drive systems and compares them with diesel drive systems with the internal combustion engines that are common today. The analyzes include the entire process chain. In order to be able to analyze the technical and economic influences of adapting various fuel and fuel cell technologies for inland vessels, four reference vessels that frequently occur in the inland waterway market were selected: cargo ship, push convoy, day excursion ship and cabin ship.
On the one hand, the study includes a detailed market analysis of German inland shipping and its development-determining boundary conditions and addresses technological, economic and ecological aspects. On the other hand, a description of climate and environmental protection goals and strategies in inland navigation by the federal, state and local governments is part of the study as well as current funding opportunities and a structured overview of energy requirements and emissions. Based on a system of applications in commercial shipping, government ships, tourism, leisure and public transport, a market potential analysis and a technical-economic comparison of electricity-based fuels for fuel cells for entire value chains (production to use) are carried out for these. Knowledge management includes the appropriate presentation of the results and the creation of guidelines for those involved in inland navigation. The analyzes were carried out on behalf of the National Organization Hydrogen (NOW) GmbH in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) by energy and environmental experts from Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST) together with DNV GL and the engineering office for ship technology.
