Shaping the future of zero-emission water transport

The goal of zero-emission water transport (ZEWT) in Europe by 2050 faces many hurdles. There are challenges in understanding the best technologies, the costs involved, and the impact on society and the environment. Stakeholders from different sectors need clearer guidance to make informed decisions. Without a well-defined plan, progress toward ZEWT could be slow and uneven. In this context, the EU-funded TRUSTEE project will deliver evidence-based foresight scenarios for 2030 and 2050, outlining the most promising ZEWT technologies and use cases. TRUSTEE will also create a framework to assess the environmental, social and financial aspects of ZEWT and identify barriers to its deployment. The project will bring stakeholders together and offer clear recommendations for successful ZEWT implementation.

Objective

TRUSTEE project aims at supporting the European roadmap to deploy the ZEWT providing the decision makers and the wide stakeholders community with a comprehensive and science-based set of knowledge and recommendations built on an evidence based approach, founded on:
- clarity and comprehensiveness of foresight scenarios in 2030 and 2050 where ZEWT will be deployed
- a comparative multidimensional assessment framework incorporating environmental, social, technological, financial and operational aspects, including safety and security aspects for workforce and citizens
- a robust validation roadmap with an equitable representation of direct and indirect stakeholders.

TRUSTEE is built on the following objectives:
- Define and validate future European ZEWT wide ecosystem at 2030 and 2050 time horizons through foresight scenarios
- Detail and validate the most promising ZEWT Use Cases for the 2030 and 2050 target horizons
- Build and validate a multi-stakeholders and cross-sectorial assessment framework for system components and overall ecosystems underpinning the Zero Emissions target in the European water transport sector
- Identify systemic and sectorial barriers challenging the ZWET targets and defining recommendations for its timely deployment
- Create a common knowledge background among all direct and indirect stakeholders for ZEWT targets timely achievement.

Thanks to a consortium with relevant expertise and strong institutional liaison with all the ZEWT stakeholders, TRUSTEE will achieve the desired impact delivering actionable Open Access Results:
- ZEWT 2030 and 2050 foresight scenarios
- ZEWT technology readiness review
- Comparative analysis framework for ZEWT use cases assessment, combining environmental, technical integration, operational, societal and financial indicators
- ZEWT barrier analysis
- Most promising ZEWT Use Cases
- Recommendations for ZEWT standards, regulations and policy development
- ZEWT open access learning pack.

More information about the project can be found at the project website.