Assessment of well-to-wheel energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of Fischer-Tropsch diesel.

Abstract

The middle distillate fuel produced from natural gas (NG) via the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process has been proposed as a motor fuel for compression-ignition (CI) engine vehicles. FT diesel could help reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is evaluating the designation of FT diesel as an alternative motor fuel under the 1992 Energy Policy Act (EPACT). As part of this evaluation, DOE has asked the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory to conduct an assessment of well-to-wheels (WTW) energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of FT diesel compared with conventional motor fuels (i.e., petroleum diesel). For this assessment, we applied Argonne's Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model to conduct WTW analysis of FT diesel and petroleum diesel. This report documents Argonne's assessment. The results are presented in Section 2. Appendix A describes the methodologies and assumptions used in the assessment.