The SAFeCRAFT project is dedicated to advancing the safety and adoption of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAFs) in maritime transport. By integrating, validating, and demonstrating SAFs on board oceangoing vessels, the project seeks to address critical challenges regarding their safety, technological maturity, and economic viability.
Task 8.1, led by the NTUA, will conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that evaluates SAF energy requirements and emissions throughout the entire lifespan of the alternative systems.
According to ISO 14040 and 14044 standards, LCA is made up of four steps:
The first step defines the goal and scope of the LCA. This includes setting system boundaries and identifying the functional unit. The boundaries delineate the processes and stages included in Task 8.1’s assessment, starting from SAF production all the way to their end-of-life disposal. The functional unit of the LCA is a fundamental part of it. This unit will discriminate a certain LCA from other analyses. The functional unit consists of quantitative and qualitative elements defining the “what”, “how much”, “how long” and “how well”.
Next a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is compiled. This step involves detailed data collection on energy use and material inputs. The LCI covers stages from well to wake, such as SAF production, transportation, and combustion. By analyzing energy consumption and material flows, a comprehensive database is created for the next step known as the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA).
In the LCIA phase, the NTUA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the alternative systems. Key metrics include Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Acidification Potential (AP). This phase quantifies how the emissions from each life cycle stage contribute to these impacts, offering insights into the environmental benefits of adopting various SAFs.
In the final step, the NTUA will analyze the data to make informed decisions and draw conclusions about the alternative systems’ sustainability. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are conducted to assess how variations in parameters and assumptions might affect the outcomes.
These four steps in Task 8.1 ensure a thorough and reliable LCA of alternative systems that supports the project’s goal of developing and demonstrating safe and efficient SAFs for maritime transport. They validate the environmental performance of SAFs, and pave the way for broader adoption and long-term sustainability in the maritime sector.
