Opportunities for Green H2 in EU High-Speed-Crafts Decarbonization Through Well-to-Wake GHG Emissions Assessment

Abstract. This paper introduces a mathematical model to assess the polluting impact of the EU medium-sized High-Speed-Crafts (EU-HSC) decarbonization options, and their consequences in terms of Market-Based-Measures (EU-MBM) costs and Goal-Based-Measures (EU-GBM) compliance under expected regulatory scenarios. Its application to a particular EU-HSC operating in the Canary Islands by considering slow steaming and HSCs’ retrofitting with alternative technologies for its electricity supply concludes that, green H2 Fuel-Cells provide the greatest environmental advantage regarding the slow steaming alone, achieving a 6.96% improvement in emissions and EU-MBM savings of 39.76% by 2033. The expected normative progression involves a 5.90% improvement in the MBM costs’ convergence with the actual pollutant impact of HSCs. The findings warn about the pressing need to review the OPS emissions’ implementation in the Fuel EU fines, and about a concerning call effect for the most polluting EU-HSCs towards the outermost regions due to their permanent exceptions on the EU-MBMs’ application.