Expected Outcome:

To support the Zero Pollution Action Plan^[1], project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• The air pollutant emissions from combustion-based heavy-duty vehicles (including Non-Road Mobile Machinery like excavators, bulldozers, harvesters etc.), aircraft and ships using alternative fuels, with a broad coverage of existing (at least in advanced prototype form) powertrains and exhaust after treatment technologies, are measured and characterised according to real-life scenarios of use.
• Emerging pollutants resulting from the use of novel low-carbon fuels are identified and quantified.
• In light of recent WHO guidelines, concentrations of ultrafine particle emissions down to at least 10nm are also measured and chemical compounds present on those particles are characterised (in particular carcinogenic compounds like aldehydes, PAHs and NPAHs).
• Air pollution exposure projections based on plausible technological trajectories are produced, up to the year 2050.
• Technology packages to mitigate the emerging forms of pollution are proposed and projections updated accordingly.
• Reliable scientific data to guide future policy and technology choices following the “do no significant harm” principle is provided.
• Guiding principles for optimized Design, Operation and Maintenance, to minimize emissions, for designers and operators.

Scope:

Low- or zero-carbon fuels proposed for use in the next decade can be covered, however the priority is on fuels that have already been demonstrated in real world applications or are foreseen to gain market share according to the projections made in the context of the ‘Fit for 55’ package.

A complete polluting emissions speciation should be performed in different working conditions encountered in real use. Therefore, the pollutants expected to be quantified should go beyond the list of the currently regulated ones.

Since accessing ships and aircrafts for testing is not straightforward, and no fuel or engine development work should be funded in the proposals, cooperation with existing projects where such fuels are tested is expected.

A study of possible mitigation actions should focus on any new pollutants that have a high toxicity, a high global warming potential, or both.

The potential from upstream emissions and of secondary pollutants formation in the atmosphere deriving from the new emissions should also be considered and quantified. Any trade-offs between GHG effects over the next 20-year period, health and other environmental impacts should be identified and assessed.

The projects should assess impacts on human health, in particular those of any emerging pollutants.

In consideration of the above, proposals should address all the aforementioned aspects and issues in order to achieve the expected outcomes

Specific Topic Conditions:

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5-6 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

[1]https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/zero-pollution-action-plan_