Environmental rating of vehicles with different fuels and drive trains: a univocal and applicable methodology

Abstract

A new and applicable environmental rating tool for use as a policy tool, called EcoScore, was developed and allows evaluating the environmental impact of road vehicles with different drive trains or using different fuels. A single environmental indicator integrates different aspects of the environmental impact of the vehicles such as global warming, air quality depletion and noise pollution. To integrate these different aspects, the Ecoscore methodology includes different damage categories like: global warming, human health impairing effects and harmful effects on ecosystems. The contribution of the different normalised damages to the single value, called Ecoscore, is based upon a weighting system. The methodology can also be used for the ranking of heavy duty vehicles and two-wheelers. However, in this paper, the methodology will be explained using passenger vehicles and light-duty vehicles as an illustration. The methodology will be implemented by the Flemish government as a policy tool for the promotion of cleaner vehicles. An extensive database including vehicle records and their related emission data was used to develop, to validate and to analyse the environmental rating system. A sensitivity analysis was carried out which allowed the evaluation of the robustness of the methodology.

Comprehensive review of life cycle assessment methodologies for passenger vehicles

“…Many researchers suggest that reducing emissions in the life cycle of hybrid vehicles can be achieved by using an internal combustion engine powered by alternative fuels, such as natural gas (Heidary et al, 2023;Nandola et al, 2023), biofuels (Andersson & Börjesson, 2021;Moreira et al, 2022), or hydrogen (Wong et al, 2021). As exemplified in the research presented in (Timmermans et al, 2006;Paulino et al, 2018) the implementation of novel technologies within internal combustion engines, explicitly targeting the reduction of air pollutant emissions, demonstrably facilitates a decrease in emissions during vehicle operation and additionally contributes to a reduction in the overall WTW emissions. The findings of the analyses presented in the paper (Samsu Koroma et al, 2023) demonstrate that integrating electric powertrain components into a compact unit can potentially reduce the consumption of rare metals and minerals, thereby enhancing resource utilization efficiency and mitigating the environmental impact throughout the material supply chain.…”

Is it possible to turn a diesel engine into a less pollutant device?

“…They are forming acids that, on humans can cause irritation of the bronchial tubes, coughing and people suffering from asthma can be very sensitive to NOx. In terms of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems the impact is also negative [6]. Areas with NOx emissions contain higher levels photolytic source of OH, stimulating O3 production that leads to O3 rich air and quality problems, while in the ocean areas, OH leads to lower levels of O, with a negative impact on the climate control [7].…”

“…This particulate matter (PM10) stays in the air for hours or even days. Being bonded to other harmful substances, they enter the respiratory system and into the lungs leading to a big number of health problems [6,7].…”

“…Table 1 presents an overview of the parameters used for the Eco-score methodology, for a better awareness of its impact and why reducing pollution is necessary. After consulting the results, it is clear that diesel engines have the highest impact on human health, the Eco-score methodology being mostly influenced by the high number of particle matter (PM10), followed by NOx and SO2, which influence both human health and ecosystems [6].…”