Hydrogen fuel cell (H 2 FC) buses operating in every day public transport services around Europe are assessed for their sustainability against environmental, economic and social criteria. As part of this assessment the buses are evaluated against diesel buses both in terms of sustainability and in terms of meeting real world requirements with respect to operational performance. The study concludes that H 2 FC buses meet operability and performance criteria and are sustainable environmentally when 'green' hydrogen is used. The economic sustainability of the buses, in terms of affordability, achieves parity with their fossil fuel equivalent by 2030 when the indirect costs to human health and climate change are included. Societal acceptance by those who worked with and used the buses supports the positive findings of earlier studies, although satisfactory operability and performance are shown to be essential to positive attitudes. Influential policy makers expressed positive sentiments only if 'green' hydrogen is used and the affordability issues can be addressed. No "show-stopper" is identified that would prevent future generations from using H 2 FC buses in public transport on a broad scale due to damage to the environment or to other factors that impinge on quality of life.
Purpose The two main reasons for producing biomethane as renewable fuel are reduction of climate impacts and depletion of fossil resources. Biomethane is expected to be sustainable, but how sustainable is it actually? This article contributes to the clarification. Therefore, the environmental impacts of several biomethane facilities all over Europe were assessed. A special focus is put on the differences between the facilities as they follow different production routes. Methods The method used for evaluation is life cycle assessment (LCA) applied in a well-to-wheel approach. This enables to show the overall performance in terms of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) and PE fossil. The system boundary includes the entire chain from biogas production to upgrading, distribution and use. For evaluating the different production routes several years of measuring data, calculating and improving the LCA models in close cooperation with the plant operators were carried out. Results and discussion The evaluation of the production routes shows a high reduction potential compared to fossil fuels. Regarding the depletion of fossil resources, the amounts vary between the sites, but the reduction is at least 50 % and reaches almost 100 % reductions at some sites. The reduction of GWP is at least 65 %, because waste flows free of environmental burdens are used almost exclusively as substrate. Other dominant factors are power and heat demand, methane losses to the environment and the use of by-products, e.g. fertilizer. Conclusions Despite this caveat, the evaluated systems demonstrate the possible positive results of renewable fuel production if done properly
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