Abstract
The Tsinghua University Life Cycle Analysis Model (TLCAM) is applied to calculate the life cycle fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for more than 20 vehicle fuel pathways in China. In addition to conventional gasoline and diesel, these include coal- and gas-based vehicle fuels, and electric vehicle (EV) pathways. The results indicate the following. (1) China’s current dependence on coal and relative low-efficiency processes limits the potential for most alternative fuel pathways to decrease energy consumption and emissions; (2) Future low-carbon electricity pathways offer more obvious advantages, with coal-based pathways needing to adopt carbon dioxide capture and storage technology to compete; (3) A well-to-wheels analysis of the fossil energy consumption of vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) showed that they are comparable to conventional gasoline vehicles. However, importing rather than domestically producing LNG for vehicle use can decrease domestic GHG emissions by 35% and 31% compared with those of conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles, respectively; (4) The manufacturing and recovery of battery and vehicle in the EV analysis has significant impact on the overall ability of EVs to decrease fossil energy consumption and GHG emissions from ICEVs.
Highlights
(1) China’s current dependence on coal and relative low-efficiency processes limits the potential for most alternative fuel pathways to decrease energy consumption and emissions; (2) Future low-carbon electricity pathways offer more obvious advantages, with coal-based pathways needing to adopt carbon dioxide capture and storage technology to compete; (3) A well-to-wheels analysis of the fossil energy consumption of vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) showed that they are comparable to conventional gasoline vehicles
For vehicle fuel derived from oil, NG and coal sources, the analysis of the intensity of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contained two categories: (1) the intensity related to the direct use of the end-use energy which was calculated by Tsinghua University Life Cycle Analysis Model (TLCAM); and (2) taking a given end-use energy as a starting point, we calculated the sum of the total end-use energy consumption and composition for the subsequent production and transport sub-stages
The results indicated that when the curb weight is changed by 10%, the GHG emissions from the production of a BEV with NMC/LFP and a ICEV would be influenced by 7.3%, 6.7% and 6.6%, respectively
Summary
China’s vehicle population has experienced rapid increasing. As of 2015, there were more than 172 million vehicles in China, a figure that has been growing at an average annual rate of 24.5% [1], which is certain to further drive China’s growing demand for vehicle fuels. CO2 and other air pollution from fossil fuel consumption have aroused widespread concern. Together, these have contributed to the increased attention focused on alternative fuels to replace conventional gasoline and diesel. 29 million tons of conventional gasoline and diesel were replaced by alternative vehicle fuel in 2015, accounting for 10% of the total amount of gasoline and diesel consumed in that year (the figures for gasoline alone were 16.5 million tons and 14%, respectively) [2,3,4]. LNG, CTL, and biodiesel are alternatives to conventional diesel fuel, approximately 12.5 million tons of which was replaced by them in 2015, 7% of total diesel consumption in that year [2]. NG is the dominant replacement fuel and was responsible for 73% and 66% of the substitution of conventional gasoline and diesel fuels, respectively [4,5]
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