Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of electric and conventional vehicles in Lithuania

Abstract

Abstract Electrification of city transport and the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in transport systems have become leading trends for sustainable transportation. Many researchers state potential environmental benefits of electric vehicle (EV) when integrating RES into production of electricity, which is needed to recharge the EV’s battery. However, it is still unclear under what electricity mix scenarios environmental advantage will be the most significant and what technologies/fuel type have a major impact on the environment. For this reason, the article presents a comparative environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) fuelled with petrol and diesel. Besides, LCA of BEV under different electricity mix scenarios, that are prognosticated for the years 2015–2050 in Lithuania, is assessed. The paper shows a complete life cycle, composed of “Well-to-Wheel” and “Cradle-to-Grave” analysis for conventional and electric vehicles. This study uses ReCiPe methodology including both midpoint and endpoint indicators in order to express the impact on the environment. The results at the midpoint level reveal that in terms of climate change BEVs of 2015 electricity mix generate 26 and 47% more greenhouse gas emissions than those of ICEVs fuelled with petrol and diesel, respectively. Although in 2020–2050 electricity mix scenarios oil is expected to be eliminated and the use of RES will be highly increased, ICEV-petrol is expected to be the most polluting, comparing to ICEV-diesel and BEV in 2020 and later scenarios. Similar results are revealed at the endpoint level, as ICEV-petrol has the highest environmental damage in all categories: human health, ecosystems and resources. Next comes ICEV-diesel with 28% less total environmental damage, followed by BEV of 2015 electricity mix with 42% less impact than ICEV-diesel. Finally, BEV with electricity mix of 2050 has 54% smaller impact than BEV with electricity mix of 2015.