PhD position A techno-economical investigation of pathways to Sustainable Shipping

To flatten the curve of climate change, urgent actions are needed. In 2019 the European Commission (EC) launched the European Green Deal (EGD) strategy to overcome climate change challenges. Complementary to this the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy was published in December 2020. Greening transport is one of the key objectives of the EGD. Transport accounts for 25% of the EU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The objective of the EGD is to reduce the GHG emissions of transport by 90% by 2050. Waterborne transport accounts for approximately 13% of EU’s transport GHG emissions, which equals to more than 3% of the total EU GHG emissions.

In this context, seaports will play a major role in boosting the use of cleaner technologies, green energy carriers and logistics concepts in maritime transport (sea), port operations (transhipment and storage) and hinterland transport (road, rail, barge, and pipeline) to reduce GHG emissions. The Port of Rotterdam, the largest seaport in Europe with many transport connections for all modes of transport, is frontrunner in the energy transition and has the vision to become a zero-emission port by 2050. Together with the Fellow Ports HAROPA, Sines and DeltaPort (inland port), the Port of Rotterdam supports the EGD sustainability goals. The intention is to perform a large range of pilot projects as input for a Masterplan toward zero emissions in 2050.

For this larger project we are interested in gaining more insights into the potential of various fuels and the conditions under which they might flourish as input for the 2050 Masterplan. These fuels will be competing with each other. A key question is if we will end up in a situation with multiple fuels as a result of synergies with specific vessel types or once more in a winner takes all situation, with one dominant fuel overtaking all competing markets. The pilots and partners will provide insights into the actual viability of all aspects of a fuel (production, transport, storage, bunkering and use) and combined with investigations into existing capacity and the potential for expansion this would form a solid basis for a model to investigate these aspects.

In this PhD project you will work on developing state-of-the-art analytical tool in order to establish links between all aspects of the fuel and their development over time. What will determine the success of a fuel, which decisions (and  support) are key in this development and how will this impact the take up over time. This requires identifying relevant aspects from innovation theory, but also to establish pathways, e.g. by application of e.g. Markov Chains, Epoch-Era or Game Theory.

As a PhD student, you will be part of a vibrant team of researchers in the Ship Design, Production and Operations groups, with a focus on all aspects of maritime technology. You will be supervised by Assistant prof. Jeroen Pruyn. The group is part of the Maritime and Transport Technology Department , which aspires to conduct world-class research & education focusing on the broader maritime and transport sector. The research is conducted from a deep understanding of the underlying physics and is oriented towards industrial applications and societal needs.