Automotive LCAs J. L. Sullivan Argonne National Laboratory
Energy Systems Division Argonne National Laboratory When Did It All Start In the early 90 s, fuel economy improvements were an imperative. Why? To reduce dependence on fossil fuels To reduce greenhouse gas emissions To meet regulations How can cars be made more fuel efficient: More efficient power trains Reduced vehicle weight Lower aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, reduced power train friction Smaller vehicles Better fuels However, decision makers began to recognize the tradeoffs between improvements in fuel economy and the environmental burdens carried by vehicle system changes
An Environmental Holistic Approach Was Born The need for a more holistic approach went beyond automobiles Changes to many other product systems also became the focus Paper vs. plastic grocery bags Cloth vs. paper baby diapers Warm vs. cold water laundry detergents Many others The key recognition was that products need to be viewed as systems and not just artifacts
The Vehicle or Any Product System Inputs Raw Materials Recycled Materials Life Cycle Stages Raw Material Acquisition Manufacturing: - Materials Manufacture - Product Fabrication - Filling/Packaging/Distribution Use/Reuse/Maintenance Outputs Wastes: Air, Water, Solid Product Co-Products Energy Recycle/Waste Management Other Releases
USAMP and Other Vehicle Studies One of the earlier whole vehicle LCAs was conducted by USAMP/USCAR Conducted on the generic family sedan (D-class) Participants included: Ford, GM, Daimler/Chrysler, AISI, AA, APC Metrics tracked were: CED, CO2, ores, CAPs, emissions to water for LC stages: matrl_prod, part_mnfct, veh_assmb, veh_op, mntn_rpr & EOL What have we learned from that and other studies: For ICVs, veh_op accounts for around 85% of life cycle energy With the exception of matrl_prod, all other stages are small. Tradeoffs between fuel economy improvements and alternative material use A pound of weight saved yields more life cycle benefit for lower efficiency cars Vehicle lifetime reduces overall lifecycle burdens Materials recycling generally reduces life cycle burdens Battery recycling can reduce SOx emissions from HEVs, PHEVs, and EVs HEVs have reduced CED, despite some change in vehicle composition Many others
LCAs in Transportation LCAs either have, are, or can be applied to range of transportation questions: OEMs exploring new designs to improve vehicle environmental performance For cars and trucks Mass transit vs. personal transportation --- where does it work and where not? Long haul trucking vs. rail LCA is the method of choice For that, LCI data are needed LCI data bases available: GREET1, GREET2, GaBi, ecoinvent, Ecospold
GREET1 and GREET2 GREET1 focuses on the use, production and delivery of: Fossil fuels: coal, natural gas, CNG, LPG, diesel, gasoline, jet fuels, H 2, marine fuels Biofuels: Ethanol, biodiesel, bio-oil, RNG Electricity production from renewable, fossil, nuclear primary sources Uranium Fertilizers GREET1 also includes data on: vehicle operational performances Compositional specs, heat content, CED, GHGs, CAPs for fuels pyrolysis algae growth
GREET1 and GREET2 GREET2 provides data on: Vehicle compositions, Production data in terms of CED, fuels, GHGs and CAPs for: o Wide range of metals: e.g. steel, Cu, Ni, Cr, Al, Zn, Ti, Pt, others o Polymers including: rubber, plastics (e.g. HDPE, PS, ABS, PP, others) o Minerals: glass, cement, lime o Battery materials e.g. LiMn 2 O 4 GREET2 has recently had its material production data for steel, Al, Cu, Ni polymers updated For those wishing to conduct LCAs, GREET1 and GREET2 provides the data needed
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