Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Propulsion Systems for Heavy-Duty Transport Applications

Sam Simons,Ulugbek Azimov

doi:10.3390/en14113079

Abstract

To meet climate change challenges, the UK government is aiming to reach zero emissions by 2050. The heavy-duty transportation sector contributes 17% to the UKs total emissions, so to combat this, alternative power units to traditional fossil fuel-reliant internal combustion engines (ICEs) are being utilized and investigated. Hydrogen fuel cells are a key area of interest to try and reduce these transportation emissions. To gain a true view of the impact that hydrogen fuel cells can have, this study looks at the impact the manufacturing of a fuel cell has upon the environment, from material extraction through to the usage phase. This was done through the use of a lifecycle assessment following ISO 14040 standards, with hydrogen systems being compared to alternative systems. This study has found that whilst fuel cells depend upon energy intensive materials for their construction, it is possible to reduce emissions by 34–87% compared to ICE systems, depending upon the source of hydrogen used. This study shows that hydrogen fuel cells are a viable option for heavy-duty transport that can be utilized to meet the target emissions reduction level by 2050.

Highlights

Energies 2021, 14, 3079. https://Climate change is an issue that is prevalent worldwide, with an increase of 41% in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases from 1990 to 2020 [1], leading to global average temperatures increasing by 0.95 ◦ C from the 20th century average [2]
Evangelisti [15], which state a value of 50 kgCO2 e/kWnet and 100 kgCO2 e/kWnet respectively, this investigation yields a value of 89.30 kgCO2 e/kWnet
From these results it is shown that hydrogen produced via electrolysis using a Protonexchange Membrane (PEM) produces the highest global warming potential (GWP) at 4.77 × 105 kgCO2 e

Summary

Introduction

Climate change is an issue that is prevalent worldwide, with an increase of 41% in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases from 1990 to 2020 [1], leading to global average temperatures increasing by 0.95 ◦ C from the 20th century average [2]. Without action the effects of climate change will cause irreversible damage globally This need for change has resulted in multiple countries signing treaties such as the Paris Agreement, which is a legally binding agreement for participating parties to reduce their emissions, to limit temperature rise to 2 ◦ C above pre-industrial levels [5].

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