Abstract
Aluminium and fibre reinforced plastics have been put forward as alternatives for steel to reduce passenger car weight and save energy during use. Often-reported drawbacks are increased energy for production and reduced recyclability, and hence, increased waste generation. This study considers the merits of the alternatives by making a multi-parametric comparison of the life cycle energy use and waste generation of three lightweight alternatives to today’s all-steel car structure. The ‘development level’, captured as the percentage of high strength steel in today’s car structure, is identified as an important new variable in the analysis of automotive life cycle energy use.
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