Subsidy policy or dual-credit policy? Evolutionary game analysis of green methanol vehicles promotion

Abstract

To ensure energy supply, China has developed methanol vehicles since the 1980s. Although methanol vehicles are affordable and technologically mature, their life-cycle emissions are high because China uses coal to produce methanol. China has recently proposed green methanol vehicle (GMV) fueled by methane from CO2 or biomass to reduce emissions. As an essential part of promoting alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), a policy support scheme is necessary to increase the market share of GMV. To provide a theoretical basis for a policy support scheme before further GMV promotion, this study establishes an evolutionary game model to simulate and compare the effects of different policies on GMV deployment. The results show that by comparing the subsidy policy and the dual-credit policy, the latter is more stable and effective for GMV promotion and application; under the double-points policy, it is more favorable for GMV promotion if the government includes GMV in new energy vehicles.