AVATAR - Energy Use Case - E. Van Wingen
Have a look at the following movie (in Dutch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDvxvAeBSfM
The idea is that the (highly autonomous) vessels will run on renewable energy generated by large PV installations on warehouse rooftops and SME buildings located along the waterways outside the city center.
In several modern cities in the EU, the existing waterways will be used as much as possible for urban freight distribution.
This not only includes parcel services and delivery of shop supplies. Construction projects in the low emission zones, garbage collection, event supplies, ferry and shuttle services, etc. are also possible.
AVATAR – an EU INTERREG project - focuses on these developments. AVATAR unmanned electric vessels will not cause CO2 emissions or noise pollution, but help to reduce traffic in city centers.
It is the ambition that electrically powered vessels will not run on electricity from nuclear power stations, which will eventually disappear, nor on electricity from fossil fuels, because advanced European cities want to achieve energy independence.
The solution is obvious (AVATAR ENERGY use case) : the vessels will run on renewable energy, generated by large PV installations on warehouse rooftops and SME buildings located along the waterways outside the city center.
The vessels will be able to charge electricity at night to enable them to sail the next day.
As the sun does not shine at night, as much solar and wind energy as possible, will be stored in hydrogen at daytime.
Hydrogen therefore becomes the fuel of the AVATAR vessel. However, could it be envisaged that noisy vessels equipped with diesel engines are sent out to city centers ? After all, in small quantities hydrogen can be combined with diesel fuel. No, because the vessels will keep emitting fine dust and CO2, making noise ... and, in addition, the vessels will be required to carry H2 storage tanks.
Therefore, the best future solution will depend on an array of factors. Usually, these are determined by the circumstances and therefore by the local parameters.
In AVATAR, the starting point is as follows:
- Renewable energy generated in North Sea Port is stored in hydrogen.
- At night, an ICE CHP running on H2 converts the hydrogen into electricity that allows the electric city distribution vessels to charge their batteries. While the ICE CHP is charging the vessels, heat is released.
- In the AVATAR approach, this heat will be stored in a buffer tank that is part of the central heating installation of, for example, an SME. In practice, the heat could also be transferred to the city’s district heating network. It is understood that the CHP heat will be put to good use.
- This means virtually no energy from the electricity and heat generated is lost.
As a result, the city distribution vessels will be highly efficient. Buildings are heated without losses and unnecessary energy-consuming road transport is saved.
See also info on Linkedin.
