Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Using the GREET Model—A Comparative Study

Abstract

Facing global warming and recent bans on the use of diesel in vehicles, there is a growing need to develop vehicles powered by renewable energy sources to mitigate greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. Among the various forms of non-fossil energy for vehicles, hydrogen fuel is emerging as a promising way to combat global warming. To date, most studies on vehicle carbon emissions have focused on diesel and electric vehicles (EVs). Emission assessment methodologies are usually developed for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) which are non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, and toiletries instead of vehicle products. There is an increase in the number of articles addressing the product carbon footprint (PCF) of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the recent years, while relatively little research focuses on both vehicle PCF and fuel cycle. Zero-emission vehicles initiative has also brought the importance of investigating the emission throughout the fuel cycle of hydrogen fuel cell and its environmental impact. To address these gaps, this study uses the life-cycle assessment (LCA) process of GREET (greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation) to compare the PCF of an EV (Tesla Model 3) and a hydrogen fuel cell car (Toyota MIRAI). According to the GREET results, the fuel cycle contributes significantly to the PCF of both vehicles. The findings also reveal the need for greater transparency in the disclosure of relevant information on the PCF methodology adopted by vehicle manufacturers to enable comparison of their vehicles’ emissions. Future work will include examining the best practices of PCF reporting for vehicles powered by renewable energy sources as well as examining the carbon footprints of hydrogen production technologies based on different methodologies.

Eco-Design Learning Framework on Integrating Life Cycle Assessment Into Engineering Courses for Sustainability Competency Enhancement

“…The technical documents of the balancing vehicle were provided to support students in defining the goal and scope, including performance parameters, manufacturing processes, three-dimensional models, and bills of materials. The consumption and pollution algorithms help participants perform inventory analysis and environmental impact assessment, such as the GREET model [31]. The normalization algorithm is given to achieve the equivalence between different measurement units, such as 1MMBtu = 293 kW•h.…”

Sustainability Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement using the GREET LCA Model: Practical Review of Automotive ESG Reporting

“…The range of objects that have been studied in previous LCA studies has varied from food products to buildings to motor vehicles (De Benedetto and Klemeš 2009). The LCA methodology in several previous contributions regarding vehicles differentiated the production and use phases (Puig-Samper Naranjo et al 2021;Wong et al 2021). The rst stage involves calculating the total emissions of the fuels used from production to use, while the second stage calculates the total emissions of the vehicles considered, from the extraction of the various raw materials (mostly metals) used in their production to the end of the average life of the vehicle (Pero et al 2019).…”

Life cycle assessment of electric scooters for mobility services: A green mobility solutions

“…Furthermore, they also reported that the environmental performance of electric scooters in Germany is highly dependent on the share of different energy sources in the German electricity mix. Wong et al 15 compared the LCA of electric vehicles (Tesla Model 3) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (Toyota MIRAI) and employed LCA by using the processes of GREET (greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation). They reported that fuel cell vehicles contribute significantly to the product carbon footprints of both vehicles followed by a cleaner production of hydrogen results lower negativity on the environment.…”