This project is a lifecycle feasibility study for Scottish Enterprise by evaluating the technical and commercial possibilities of using 'hydrogen' for zero emission ferries. While offering the roadmap for lifecycle low carbon shipping, it will propose optimal solutions for sustainable economy growth and the competitiveness. This project will produce highly reliable predictions of the costs/benefits of using future maritime fuels, offering practical insights into directing the future plan/investment for the West-Scotland shipping business. Credible business scenarios will be designed with a high-level screening of 23 short-route ferries currently engaged in 27 West-Scotland coastal routes. These routes were chosen as a representative sample for the entire West-Scotland ferry services. The project outputs will be directly fed into the CMAL's future decarbonisation plan and investment.

While carbon-free fuels are in the early stages of development in the UK, there are various views on how these fuels can be produced, distributed, and used onboard for the clean shipping economy. To determine the optimal energy solutions, all credible scenarios for the upstream pathways for these fuels will be developed, based on the current and future prospected UK energy infrastructure and grids. Their technical aspects for maritime application will be investigated in consideration of safety, regulation, costs, infrastructural availability, supply chain constraints, barriers, and the downstream emission pathways to their uptake onboard. Ship conceptual design will be conducted to evaluate the systems, technologies, equipment required for onboard installation to utilize zero carbon fuels.

The outputs of this project will be further prepared to assist the Scottish Government's ambition to increase low emission vessels in the publicly owned ferry fleet by 30% under the Scottish Government's Climate Change Plan 2018-2032\. Hence, project performance will be the perfect way to proceed with proposals for real application toward high technology readiness levels.