Abstract
During the project High V.LO-City, which ended in December 2019, 14 hydrogen fuel cell buses were operated in four European cities. This paper aims at presenting total emissions through the lifetime of fuel cell buses with different hydrogen production options, including the refuelling stations. The environmental assessment of such bus system is carried out using the life cycle assessment methodology. Three hydrogen production pathways are investigated: water electrolysis, chlor-alkali electrolysis and steam methane reforming. Fuel economy during bus operation is around 10.25 KgH2/100 km, and the refuelling station energy demand ranges between 7 and 9 KWh/KgH2. To support the inventory stage, dedicated software tools were developed for collecting and processing a huge amount of bus data and refuelling station performance, for automating data entry and for impacts calculation. The results show that hydrogen-powered buses, compared to a diesel bus, have the potential to reduce emissions during the use phase, if renewables resources are used. On the other hand, impacts from the vehicle production, including battery pack and fuel cell stack, still dominate environmental load. Consequently, improving the emission profile of fuel cell bus system requires to promote clean electricity sources to supply a low-carbon hydrogen and to sharpen policy focus regarding life cycle management and to counter potential setbacks, in particular those related to problem shifting and to grid improvement. For hazardous emissions and resource use, the high energy intensity of mining and refining activities still poses challenges on how to further enhance the environmental advantages of fuel cells and battery packs.
Highlights
1.1 Policy contextThe urgent need to curb emissions from transport sector has led the European Union (EU) to set forth policies and related supportive measures
This paper aims at presenting a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) case study that uses real-world operations data to investigate the environmental impacts of the High V.LO-City hydrogen fuel cell bus system (i.e. H2FC bus, integrating hydrogen production and delivery options and refuelling stations operation) against a conventional Euro-6 Diesel bus
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The outcomes of these demonstration projects have substantially proved the effectiveness of such approach, favouring renewables penetration and significantly improving the air quality in cities
Summary
The urgent need to curb emissions from transport sector has led the European Union (EU) to set forth policies and related supportive measures. The European Green Deal covers all sectors of the economy—notably transport, energy, agriculture, buildings, and industries— to foster the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy and to stop climate change. According to the EU strategy hydrogen can support the decarbonization of industry, transport, power generation and buildings across Europe. 299 [25] set out a vision on the transition towards a more integrated energy system and poses hydrogen as one of the pillars capable of supporting climate change and energy security goals The parallel Communication no. 299 [25] set out a vision on the transition towards a more integrated energy system and poses hydrogen as one of the pillars capable of supporting climate change and energy security goals
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