Alternative fuels for hard-to-abate sectors: a carbon intensity assessment

Heavy duty is a hard-to-abate segment of transport. Heavy duty freight sector includes road, maritime and the fast-growing aviation segments. Due to the need of energy dense vector, specifically for freight sector, the liquid alternative fuels are considered as the most effective short-to-medium term option to allow decarbonisation. The possibility to uptake these fuels in heavy-duty road and maritime is investigated in this paper, with the goal of highlighting the potentials and the existing bottlenecks. The eLNG and bio-LNG are considered as alternative fuel for road Heavy Duty, while hydrogen, ammonia and eDiesel have been selected for maritime. The potential GreenHouse Gases (GHG) saving for such alternative fuels are estimated on the basis of Well-to-Tank approach, and compared with the relative fossil benchmark. The results show the benefit of using LNG from residues for road sector, and potentially the maritime. Regarding the e-fuels, the GHG savings are potentially relevant, but using low carbon electricity for their production is crucial.