Decarbonizing waterborne transport in a developing country: Challenges and opportunities

Journal article, 2025

Human-induced greenhouse gas emissions make climate change faster. Following the Paris Agreement, Bulgaria, alongside the international community, has put efforts into decarbonizing its energy industry, manufacturing, service, and transport. This paper studies possible paths to decarbonize waterborne transport in a developing country – Bulgaria, using a systemic approach. It considers the organization and operation principles of Bulgarian inland and maritime transportation, e.g., the main shipping routes, fleet, available infrastructure, and Bulgarian obligations to the European Union and the International Maritime Organization. We analyzed the energy demands and the preferred alternative energy sources of the local shipping industry based on the available multi-source data. To further widen our perspective, the study considered the Bulgarian energy industry and provided insights into alternative energy sources that are available or can be developed within a reasonable time. The study recommends promising measures to decarbonize Bulgarian waterborne transport – using plug-in batteries and biodiesel for inland shipping, and biodiesel for maritime shipping. The findings and the design of the study are transferable as they can be applied to decarbonizing shipping in developing countries, particularly in Europe.