Abstract
Bio-methane as fuel in a natural gas engine is a viable solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The present paper illustrates the results of the first set of measurements carried out in the BiomethER project (EULIFE). BiomethER aimed to design and build two innovative bio-methane production plants, located in Emilia Romagna region (Italy), fed by different feedstock: the first one with sewage sludge and the other with landfill waste. Biogas extracted by the anaerobic digester was cleaned and upgraded to biomethane for road vehicles application. To verify the compatibility of biomethane in conventional compressed natural gas engine (CNG) vehicles, three passenger cars have been tested with two gases: conventional natural gas and bio-methane coming by BiomethER sewage sludge plant. Test concerned dynamic performances and exhaust emissions and was operated on the chassis dynamometer facility, in ENEA Casaccia Research Centre. Preliminary results showed no appreciable deviation was noticeable for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions between the two fuels, acceleration and maximum power were almost the same for the three vehicles tested. The WTW evaluation of GHG emissions for the biomethane resulted in up to 79% lower in comparison with natural gas provided by the Italian pipeline.
Highlights
At present days one of the biggest worldwide challenges is the reduction of environmental impact produced by energy-intensive sectors largely depending on fossil fuels
The target of this experimental campaign is to make a comparison of the environmental and energy performance of natural gas vehicle (NGV) passenger cars powered with natural gas and biomethane
Cars under testing were three passenger cars equipped with a compressed natural gas engine (CNG) engine complying with EURO 6 standard and belonging to the B segment
Summary
At present days one of the biggest worldwide challenges is the reduction of environmental impact produced by energy-intensive sectors largely depending on fossil fuels. Directive 2014/94 (DAFI) established a set of measures for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure to promote the development of a large refuelling network including compressed and liquefied natural gas (CNG and LNG), hydrogen and electric energy. The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) 2009/28 [1] settled national targets for the share of energy from renewable sources in transport in 2020 and established sustainability criteria for biofuels. Directive 2009/30 on Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) [2] sets a target for life cycles GHGs emissions reduction and defines the criteria of sustainability for biofuels inherent the GHG reduction, raw material, land use, and biodiversity protection. Directive 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (wellknown as RED II) imposed a share of 14% of renewable energy for the transport sector with a sub-target for advanced biofuels of 3.5% in 2030. This paper reports the results of the first testing campaign, it is organized into four paragraphs: 2 Testing Campaign Description, 3 Well To Wheel GHG Emissions, 4 Results of Testing Campaign and
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call