Eco Island Ferry - Comparative LCA of island ferry with carbon fibre composite based and steel based structures

Introduction

This report is a comparative life cycle assessment of a conventional steel ferry and a carbon fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite ferry.

As such, the objective of this report is to evaluate the environmental impacts of the current Tun Island Ferry and the proposed alternative Eco Island Ferry according to ISO 14040 standards for life cycle assessment. The functional unit is defined as servicing the Tunø ferry route in one year. This includes:

• 700 voyages per year
• Each journey from Hov to Tunø is approximately 2 times 9.7 nautical miles or 18 km (out and return) = 19.4 nautical miles or 36 km (estimated in Google Earth)
• Each journey has a duration of 2 times 1 hour (out and return) = 2 hours (Soerensen 2012)
• The load capacity of the ferry is 200 passengers and 6 cars (or 4 cars and 1 truck) (Evegren and Rahm 2012, p 4)

This report studies the environmental performance of the two ferry alternatives, including the emissions related to the production of construction materials and engine size, energy savings related to change in the weight of the ferry, and the waste handling at the end-of-life of the ferry.