The existing inland waterway ship categories in the database were matched with actual ships utilised for inland waterway transport, as documented by the Versuchsanstalt für Binnenschiffbau e.V. (VBD) in 2004. The VBD provided current technical information, including the average ship speed, utilisation ratio of the drive capacity and the fuel consumption, in cases of both current and canal waterways. The fuel consumption [in kg/h] was calculated linearly according to load from the utilisation capacity from 0% (empty) to 100% (fully loaded), with the known empty and full load capacities. The fuel consumption [in kg diesel/kg load] was then calculated taking into account the average speed of the ship [km/h], distance [km] and the maximum payload capacity [dwt]. The fuel consumption was then graphed against the capacity utilisation, which resulted in a downward sloping, concave upward curve whose corresponding power equation was of the form y=ax^-b (where y is the fuel consumption, and x is the capacity utilisation).
Inputs to the inland waterway ships are fuel and cargo. Outputs are cargo and combustion emissions. Vessel production, end of life treatment of the vessel and the fuel supply chain (such as emissions from exploration, refinery and transportation) are not included in this data set.
Emission factors of emissions typically emitted from the diesel engines of inland waterway ships, consisting of NOx, NMVOC, CH4, CO, NH3, N2O and PM, were updated based on CORINAIR's Emission Inventory Guidebook from December 2006. The emission factors for CO2 and SO2 were obtained from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Revised Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories from 2006.