Call: Transformation of the existing fleet towards greener operations through retrofitting (ZEWT Partnership)
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Programme | |||||||||
Acronym | HE-CL5-D5 | ||||||||
Type of Fund | Direct Management | ||||||||
Description of programme "Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 - Destination 5: Clean and competitive solutions for all transport modes" | This Destination addresses activities that improve the climate and environmental footprint, as well as competitiveness, of different transport modes. The transport sector is responsible for 23% of CO2 emissions and remains dependent on oil for 92% of its energy demand. While there has been significant technological progress over past decades, projected GHG emissions are not in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement due to the expected increase in transport demand. Intensified research and innovation activities are therefore needed, across all transport modes and in line with societal needs and preferences, in order for the EU to reach its policy goals towards a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to reduce significantly air pollutants. The areas of rail and air traffic management will be addressed through dedicated Institutional European Partnerships and are therefore not included in this document. This Destination contributes to the following Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations (KSO):
It covers the following impact areas:
The expected impact, in line with the Strategic Plan, is to contribute “Towards climate-neutral and environmental friendly mobility through clean solutions across all transport modes while increasing global competitiveness of the EU transport sector", notably through:
Zero-emission road transport With the aim of accelerating the development and deployment of zero tailpipe emission road transport with a system approach in Europe, the European Partnership “Towards zero emission road transport” (2Zero) will work towards a common vision and delivering a multi-stakeholders roadmap for a climate neutral and clean road transport system that improves mobility and safety of people and goods and ensures future European leadership in innovation, production and services. The transformation towards zero tailpipe emission road mobility will deliver tangible benefits including, at the local scale, pollutant emission reductions, cleaner air (including unregulated pollutants, nanoparticles and secondary pollutants), reduced noise, increased accessibility and more liveable urban plus peri-urban spaces. Major benefits for citizens’ health and quality of life will be generated, and European economic growth will be supported, hence a solid base for new business opportunities will be created. Within 2Zero, priority will be given to the development of drivetrains for zero emission heavy-duty long-haul vehicles, where progress is lagging behind other sectors of road transport. Several levels of interactions are foreseen with other European initiatives, in particular with the Industrial Battery Value Chain (Batteries) and the Cooperative Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) co-programmed partnerships, as well as Clean Hydrogen Europe (CHE) and the Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities. The main impacts to be generated by topics targeting zero emission road transport under this Destination are:
Aviation Aviation, the climate and the economy are all inherently global and interlinked. Aviation’s global economic impact, before COVID-19, was more than €2.4 trillion per year, while the European one was more than EUR 700 billion per year. However, the environmental impact, although in absolute terms small, it is projected to increase towards 2050 to a level that is not compatible with the Paris Agreement, if action is not taken now. The proposed European aviation R&I in Horizon Europe will follow a policy-driven approach along the two main priorities (i.e. climate neutrality by 2050 and digital transformation) and implemented in three streams of activities:
While these three work streams will work in complementarity, all propulsion technologies for integration at engine level will be developed exclusively in EPCA. The main impacts to be generated by topics targeting aviation under this Destination are:
Enabling climate neutral, clean, smart, and competitive waterborne transport The European Green Deal refers to the need to achieve clean, climate neutral shipping and waterborne operations and to the importance of research and innovation in this respect. Waterborne transport, in particular where large sea-going vessels are used, remains an important emitter of GHG and the sector needs to step up its efforts on a significant scale and through a wide range of measures. Within the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) global agreement was reached in 2018 to cut total shipping GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 (baseline). The EU considers this too timid and is committed to a much higher level of ambition. By the same date the Union aims to cut all transport emissions by at least 90%. Even though the share of Inland Waterway Transport with regard to global GHG emissions is of minor importance the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) and its Member States take various steps to reduce the GHG emissions of the fleet. In 2018 the Mannheim Declaration was adopted which incorporates the EU GHG reducing targets for inland navigation and these efforts are supported through this work programme. To provide the innovations needed to achieve the targets and show global leadership (also in pushing far more ambitious global regulatory standards) a new co-programmed European Partnership “Zero Emission Waterborne Transport” (ZEWT) will mobilise resources and leverage private and public investments towards the central objective of demonstrating by 2030 the deployable solutions needed for all main types of waterborne transport to become “net zero emission” by 2050 at the latest. Most topics on waterborne transport will contribute to the implementation of this partnership. Projects under ZEWT partnership topics are expected to provide up to two presentations on progress made to the ZEWT partnership members, also with the aim to support the monitoring of the ZEWT partnership performance as well the necessary underlying development to make these achievements possible within the time frame of the partnership. Furthermore, in the context of the EU’s digital strategy “A Europe Fit for the Digital Age” the waterborne transport sector will have to embrace a wide-ranging digitalisation, resulting in new business patterns, smart ports, automation of shipping and cargo handling (which will provide higher efficiency and significantly safer operations), autonomous vessels, and new design and decision tools. Topics on waterborne transport under this Destination of the cluster 5 work programme address climate neutrality and protection of the marine environment, digitalisation, and industrial competitiveness with the aim to support all pertinent EU policy objectives, also with regard to synergies with related programmes like the Connecting Europe Facility and the EU Innovation Fund. The main impacts to be generated by topics targeting waterborne transport under this Destination are:
Impact of transport on environment and human health Transport emissions are one of the main contributors to air quality problems, particularly in urban areas. At the same time, noise also negatively affects health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified traffic noise, including road, rail and air traffic, as the second most important cause of ill health in Western Europe, behind only air pollution caused by very fine particulate matter. Transport noise, particularly from road traffic, but also from rail and aviation, is a major contributor to noise pollution in urban areas. While type-approval noise limits for road vehicles, including their tyres, have been tightened over the years, the overall exposure to noise generated by road vehicles has not improved mainly due to increasing traffic volumes. L category vehicles are often perceived as a significant contributors to noise pollution and this might be due to the fact that noise emissions seem to be strictly optimised for specific conditions (but also due to tampering by their users, which in some cases is made too easy by the way the vehicles are built). Electrification promises to address most of these issues, but as some transport modes are more difficult to electrify in the near future, there is need for research and innovation activities to develop appropriate and environmentally sustainable solutions. Furthermore, possible new pollutants and related health- challenges need to be monitored and investigated, and ways to deal with emissions by the existing fleet need to be studied and demonstrated. The main impacts to be generated by topics targeting transport-related health and environmental issues under this Destination are:
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Link | Link to Programme | ||||||||
Call | Transformation
of the existing fleet towards greener operations through retrofitting (ZEWT Partnership) | ||||||||
Description
of call "Transformation of the existing fleet towards greener operations through retrofitting (ZEWT Partnership)" |
Expected Outcome Project outputs and results are expected to contribute concretely to the following expected outcomes as marked (“*”) whilst supporting the overall medium and longer term objectives:
Scope: Progress towards climate neutrality of waterborne transport can be achieved more quickly by means of retrofit solutions that improve the performance of the existing fleet (sea-going and IWT) whilst solutions which are exclusive to new ships can only be implemented at the pace of the commercially driven fleet renewal. In the trajectory towards the transition to new technologies that will make waterborne transport and operation greener and climate neutral picking the low hanging fruits is important. With the comparatively long life cycles of waterborne assets and their high initial capital costs addressing the existing fleet is paramount in order to achieve fast and tangible results. Therefore, interventions that are easily implemented by shipyards, ship owners and operators need to be developed in the shortest possible time to reduce emissions from vessels already in service, both seagoing and those operating in inland navigation. The latter are particularly relevant as they tend to be in use in excess of 30 years and are largely owned by SMEs with limited investment potential. In this context the owner-operator dilemma poses additional problem in the waterborne sector: A large number of ships are bareboat chartered by an operator who does not take investment decisions although he could benefit from them through lower running costs. The owner who would have to make those investment decisions, however, does not gain financial advantages as charter rates are generally fixed and depend on ship size and speed only. A performance related charter rate system has often been discussed but rarely implemented. Easy and relatively cheap retrofitting solutions may help in overcoming this dilemma. For inland navigation and/or maritime shipping projects are expected to address one or more of the following:
Projects will focus on the design for technically and economically efficient retrofitting of the ship along these main lines. Cost efficiency of the proposed solutions will come from standardised and modular solutions applicable to different ships or by significantly reducing operational costs over the expected remaining life time of the asset. This may require new business models and implementation strategies based on a catalogue of solutions including smart maintenance. Attention will be paid to solutions which are not causing secondary emissions to air or water and which will not significantly increase fuel consumption. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Zero Emission Waterborne Transport’ (ZEWT). | ||||||||
Link | Link to Call | ||||||||
Thematic Focus | Research & Innovation, Technology Transfer & Exchange, Clustering, Development Cooperation, Economic Cooperation, Green Technologies & Green Deal, Climate, Climate Change, Environment & Biodiversity, Mobility & Transport/Traffic , Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy | ||||||||
Funding area | EU Member States Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) | ||||||||
Origin of Applicant | EU Member States Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) | ||||||||
Eligible applicants | Education and Training Centres, Federal State / Region / City / Municipality / Local Authority, Research Institution, Lobby Group / Professional Association / Trade Union, International Organization, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, SMEs (between 10 and 249 employees), Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees), NGO / NPO, Public Services, National Government, Other, Start Up Company, University, Enterprise (more than 250 employees or not defined), Association | ||||||||
Applicant details | eligible non-EU countries:
At
the date of the publication of the work programme, there are no countries associated to Horizon Europe. Considering the Union’s
interest to retain, in principle, relations with the countries associated to Horizon 2020, most third countries associated
to Horizon 2020 are expected to be associated to Horizon Europe with an intention to secure uninterrupted continuity between
Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. In addition, other third countries can also become associated to Horizon Europe during the
programme. For the purposes of the eligibility conditions, applicants established in Horizon 2020 Associated Countries or
in other third countries negotiating association to Horizon Europe will be treated as entities established in an Associated
Country, if the Horizon Europe association agreement with the third country concerned applies at the time of signature of
the grant agreement.
Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority. Specific cases:
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Project Partner | Yes | ||||||||
Project Partner Details | Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions , legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes:
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Further info | Proposal page limits and layout: The application form will have two parts:
Page limit - Part B: 70 pages | ||||||||
Type of Funding | Grants | ||||||||
Financial details |
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project. | ||||||||
Submission | Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOTpossible. |
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