Andrew Simons

Road transport: new life cycle inventories for fossil-fuelled passenger cars and non-exhaust emissions in ecoinvent v3

PurposeThe paper presents new and updated datasets for the operation of fossil-fuelled passenger cars. These are intended to be used either as background processes or in the comparative assessment of transport options. Central goals were to achieve a high level of consistency, transparency and flexibility for a representative range of current vehicle sizes, emission standards and fuel types, and to make a clear definition between exhaust and non-exhaust emissions. The latter is an important contribution to studies focusing on hybrid and electric vehicles.MethodsThe datasets are the direct development of those available in ecoinvent v2 and are largely based on updated versions of the same sources. The datasets address petrol, diesel and natural gas vehicle fuels. The number of datasets was increased to cover small, medium and large vehicles. Other data sources were used in order to fill data gaps and to balance inconsistencies, particularly for the natural gas vehicles. Parameterisation was incorporated via the ecoeditor tool. This allows the datasets to be adapted for use as foreground processes and also increases transparency. An important method used was to observe the trends in fuel consumption and emissions across all sizes and emission standards simultaneously so that consistency would be achieved across the whole range of vehicles. Non-exhaust emissions were made dependent on vehicle weight and thereby independent of vehicle type.Results and discussionSome significant changes in individual emission factors between the v2 and v3 datasets was shown. This can be explained by a combination of corrections, updates based on more recent versions of the data sources, and attempts to make the datasets consistent to each other. This has also meant that the non-exhaust emissions are readily definable in terms of brake, tyre and road wear as a factor of vehicle weight, with the intention that this data can be applied to passenger vehicles of all technologies.ConclusionsFuel consumption, emission factors and infrastructure demand have been improved, extended and updated for petrol, diesel and natural gas vehicles adhering to the Euro 3, 4 and 5 emissions standards. Using the ecoeditor tool, significant parameterisation was included which has made the datasets far more flexible, consistent and transparent. The clear definition of non-exhaust emissions means that these can easily be applied to studies on hybrid and electric vehicles.

Safety/risk assessment methodologies of deep geological facilities: results from a cross-national comparison

Any geological disposal/storage facility must prove its safe performance prior to licensing, regardless of whether the compound is solid radioactive waste (RW) or gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2). The disposal/storage facility is considered safe if it meets the relevant safety standards and proves its reliable safe performance over defined timescales. This paper presents a cross-national comparison of the safety/risk assessment aspects of ultimate disposal facilities for RW and CO2 in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, India, and Bulgaria, completed in an international project. In both fields, the main goal of safety assessments is to create a reliable evaluation of the disposal system performance over long timescales. The procedures are based on the following scheme: system description - system development description - model development - consequence analyses. Due to the long temporal and large spatial effects of the substances disposed of, a call for the introduction of a broader range of safety indicators has emerged in both fields. The main emphasis of this study is on reliable models and data.

Multi-criteria analysis of passenger vehicles based on technical, economic, and environmental indicators

Many advanced vehicle and fuel technologies are currently being developed with the aim of reducing the environmental impacts of road transport and its dependence on fossil oil. In this paper we present a new methodology to compare a broad range of current and future passenger vehicle options in terms of technical, economic, and environmental criteria. Due to the spectrum of consumer preferences, usage profiles, and the high significance for cost and environmental impacts we consider not only various conventional and electric drivetrains but also different vehicle classes, energy sources, and driving patterns. A high level of integration between technical assessment, powertrain simulation, and life cycle assessment ensures a consistent development of future scenarios and comparison of the different technologies. Selected results for vehicle weight, cost, and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are presented. Overall the results show that the sustainability implications of electric vehicles are very dependent on the primary energy source that is used and that there is no technology which performs best for all criteria, but that different technologies tailored for specific usage patterns can provide advantages relative to each other. The full set of results can be accessed within a graphical user interface for more detailed analysis. The work presented is currently in further development and is planned to be available for online multi-criteria decision analysis.