Researchers

Stakeholders in the Dutch inland shipping sector such ministries, ports and trade organizations, have agreed to nearly eliminate emissions by 2050. Yet, 95% of vessels still use diesel engines. To effectively realize this ambition, the sector needs to operationalize its zero-emission vision into governance strategies. However, stakeholders operate in a highly uncertain environment, which makes designing and implementing long-term governance strategies difficult. Academics and practitioners are turning to robust and adaptive governance approaches, which promise to cope with the uncertainty of crises such as climate change or Covid19. However, the extent to which these approaches serve to cope with the uncertainty of actor dynamics and transition dynamics remains unexplored. This PhD project asks: how can the inland shipping sector plan for its sustainable transition in the presence of uncertainty? A combination of qualitative research methods, participatory methods and agent-based modelling will be used.

In answering this question, this PhD project aims to:

1. develop new knowledge on robust and adaptive governance;
2. create a framework for developing robust and adaptive governance strategies for inland shipping sustainability;
3. co-develop robust and adaptive governance strategies that contribute to a zero-emission sector;
4. strengthen collaboration between stakeholders through cocreation processes. Overall, this PhD project seeks to accelerate the sustainable transition of the inland shipping sector.

In the Netherlands, inland shipping serves as a crucial component of the transportation network, accounting for 31% of goods transport. The total emissions from Dutch inland shipping are 1.6 Megatonnes of CO₂ and 21.2 kilotonnes of NOx.  This presents significant environmental challenges, contributing to 13% of CO₂ emissions and 37% of NOx emissions in the country’s total freight transport. To address these emissions, this project deals with developing a data-driven virtual representation of the inland waterway transport (IWT). Key aspects such as individual vessel characteristics, logistic chain dynamics, and infrastructure considerations are integrated into the digital twin framework. Through advanced modelling techniques, including energy consumption and emissions estimation, the digital twin enables precise tracking of vessel performance while accommodating operational constraints and regulatory mandates. This research also addresses some technical challenges, including the representation of comprehensive data sets, complexities associated with ship energy modelling, and limitations in sensor availability. The proposed digital twin offers multiple benefits, including performance optimization, predictive maintenance capabilities, route optimization, enhanced energy efficiency, and emissions control. Ultimately, this research will support stakeholders, policymakers, ship operators, and environmental agencies in making informed decisions to promote sustainable inland shipping practices in the Netherlands.

Simeon Slagter’s research focuses on reducing emissions and improving the energy efficiency of the inland shipping sector through smart decision-making methods. The goal of the research is to develop novel control-based operational strategies in the field of voyage planning, energy management and trajectory planning to reduce the overall emission profile for inland vessels.

The voyage planning methods that are being developed take into account different propulsive systems of vessels and the spatial and temporal dynamically varying waterway conditions of inland navigation. A novel data-driven water depth prediction method will be incorporated to further enhance the accuracy and emission reducing capabilities of the voyage planner. The second step of the research involves co-optimization of energy and speed; this can be achieved through integration of energy management and voyage planning methods. This co-optimization will lead to improved voyage planning, and reduced energy consumption and emissions through optimized use of the engines, motors and energy storage devices onboard. Additionally, the co-optimization structure allows the accurate planning of refuelling or battery swapping moments.

Formidable investments are required to achieve zero emissions in inland shipping, while this mission is fraught with technological, market, and regulatory uncertainties. The question is which strategies, business models and interorganizational agreements are mostly likely to alleviate the investment and adoption issues stemming from such uncertainties.

As it is aimed within the 4th work package of the PATH2ZERO project, I focus on new sustainable business models in the IWT ecosystem. I conduct research on developing new chartering and greening options that reap the benefits of new technologies, market opportunities and address the uncertainties at hand. Hence, I research on ways of reconsidering ownership, dealing with a variety of fuels, boosting of entrepreneurship of operators so that they can gain a premium for sustainable shipping, and policymaking that provides incentives to the actors in the logistics and energy systems to perform the transition toward ZE-IWT.

Moreover, I conduct research on Sectoral Innovation to better understand the effectiveness of cross-sector partnerships for developing technologies when the alliance benefits involve a mix of commercial gains and social responsibility. I will collect data on technology development projects by leading vessel builders, with the aim of increasing knowledge on the management of technology development projects that involve a mix of commercial and social objectives.