(Project concluded on November 30, 2020)

Nowadays, there is a growing concern about decreasing pollutant emissions from marine vessels in order to minimise the impact on the atmospheric pollution. This means that the naval industry needs to be prepared for this scenario and develop cleaner and more efficient powertrains. Hybrid systems are a viable approach to reach this goal. They employ batteries to store energy, so as to eliminate engine transients, leaving it running in its optimal condition and using the stored energy to supply the extra demands. The use of hybrid systems in marine vessels brings a number of new challenges, mainly related to the order of magnitude of the power supplied and risk management. Besides hybrid systems, using alternative fuels with low sulphur levels is also an option to be considered to diminish pollutant emission. Liquefied Natural Gas is a viable short term alternative to substitute the bunker oils currently employed as fuel in vessels. A promising option for the long term is to employ natural gas in fuel cells, which are very efficient systems, although its technology is not sufficiently mature to secure a safe utilization in vessels. We are going to analyse all these alternatives, considering performance, cost, safety and infrastructure needs in order to quantify the economic gains, fuel savings, performance improvements and emission reduction.