Julien Matheys

Comparison of the environmental impact of five electric vehicle battery technologies using LCA

The environmental assessment of various electric vehicle battery technologies (lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, sodium nickel-chloride, and lithium-ion) was performed in the context of the European end-of-life vehicles directive (2000/53/EC). An environmental single-score based on a life-cycle approach, was allocated to each of the studied battery technologies through the combined use of the Simapro® software and of the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method Eco-indicator 99. The allocation of a single-score enables determining which battery technology is to be used preferably in electric vehicles and to indicate how to further improve the overall environmental friendliness of electric vehicles in the future.

Life-cycle assessment of batteries in the context of the EU Directive on end-of-life vehicles

In this paper, the results of a life-cycle assessment of different types of traction batteries for battery and hybrid electric vehicles are presented. The life-cycle assessment approach allows the attribution of a single score to the various battery technologies. This analysis provides policy-makers with some clear information regarding the environmental impacts of the different battery technologies. When adding this information to the technical and economic information related to the different technologies, this allows decision-making based on some comprehensive and sound data.

Life Cycle Assessment of conventional and alternative small passenger vehicles in Belgium

In this paper it is examined how environmentally friendly conventional and new vehicle technologies are and how their environmental effects can be compared. An automotive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is being performed for small family passenger vehicles in Belgium. Next to the well-to-wheel (WTW) emissions (related to fuel production, distribution and fuel use in the vehicle), the LCA also includes cradle-to-grave emissions (related directly and indirectly to the vehicle production, transportation, maintenance and the end-of-life (EoL) processing of the vehicle). The considered impact categories are: air acidification, eutrophication, human health and greenhouse effect (GHE). Thanks to a range-based modeling system, the variations of the weight of the vehicles, the fuel consumption and the emissions are taken into account. The results show that the battery electric vehicle (BEV) has the best environmental score for all the considered impact categories. Petrol vehicles have the worst impact on the greenhouse effect, but hybridization of the drive train has a positive influence on this impact category. The impact of the hybrid vehicle is considerably lower than of the equivalent petrol vehicle. On the other hand, when assessing the acidification impact, one can notice that the hybrid car has a high impact. Without the recycling of the NiMH battery, the results for the hybrid vehicle would be even higher than for the equivalent petrol vehicle. This is due to the production of the nickel contained in the NiMH battery. Vehicles running on diesel have the highest impact on eutrophication. The tank-to-wheel (TTW) part contributes the most to the overall impact on eutrophication, as a result of the NOX emissions. The evaluation of the impact on human health shows that the petrol vehicle has the highest impact, due to the high NOX, particulate matter (PM) and SOX (WTT) emissions.

Environmental Assessment Of Different VehicleTechnologies And Fuels

In this paper, a comparative LCA of conventional and alternative vehicles is performed. Thanks to a modeling approach combining LCA methodology, vehicle homologation data and statistical tools, all the available vehicle types in a given fleet are included in a single LCA model. Statistical distributions are used to include the variations of the main parameters (weight, fuel consumption and emissions) of all the considered vehicles in the LCA model. When dealing with greenhouse effect, battery electric vehicles (BEV) powered with the Belgian electricity supply mix, have a lower greenhouse effect (18.6 ton CO2eq/lifetime) than all the comparable vehicle technologies with exception of the sugar cane based bio-ethanol E85 vehicle (8.47 ton CO2eq/lifetime). For the different impact categories considered in this study, the impacts of the LPG technology are comparable to diesel. Euro 4 LPG and Euro 4 diesel have respectively greenhouse effects of 53.2 ton CO2eq/lifetime and 49.4 ton CO2eq/lifetime. FCEVs have lower impact than petrol and diesel vehicles for greenhouse effect, respiratory effect and acidification. CNG vehicles appear to be an interesting alternative for conventional vehicles. They have a low greenhouse effect (34.7 ton CO2eq/lifetime for a Euro 5 CNG) and the best score for respiratory effects and acidification. Furthermore Euro 4 CNG and Euro 4 HEV have comparable greenhouse effects (respectively 44.9 ton CO2eq/lifetime and 46.4 ton CO2eq/lifetime). Thanks to an iterative calculation process and the use of range of values instead average values, the variation of all the LCA results is assessed without performing a new LCA model. This approach provides the Urban Transport XVIII 15 doi:10.2495/UT1200 1 2 www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 (on-line) WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, Vol 128,

The Influence of Potential Policy Measures On the Eco-Efficiency of Personal Vehicle Mobility in Brussels

This paper on the eco-efficiency of personal vehicle mobility in Brussels is from the proceedings of 14th international Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century, which was held in Malta in 2008. The authors consider the influence of potential policy measures on the eco-efficiency of personal vehicle mobility, noting that urban areas such as the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) are facing air quality issues, due to a dense road network, a high degree of motorization, and a large influx of commuters entering the city daily. The authors then outline several possible policy measures that could be implemented by the Brussels Regional Government to influence the characteristics or intensity of urban traffic as well as its impact on the environment. These measures include a reorientation of the fiscal system for vehicles (registration and circulation tax), applying a road or congestion charge, variable parking fees, and other strategies. The Brussels Regional Government has commissioned a study to investigate the effects of these different policy measures on the traffic intensity in the city, as well as on the environment and the eco-efficiency of the vehicle fleet. The study will include costs and purchasing behavior as well as how the use of vehicles could evolve. The authors briefly describe how the Ecoscore, an environmental indicator for vehicles, is applied as a tool for policy support.

Battery Environmental Analysis

This chapter presents an environmental analysis of battery and hybrid electric vehicles, which are a seen as a part of the solution to problems such as urban air pollution, fossil fuel depletion, and global warming. The impacts of the different battery technologies have to be analyzed individually to allow the comparison of the different chemistries and to enable the definition of the most environmentally friendly battery technology for electrically propelled vehicles and it can be done in a qualitative or a quantitative way. The recycling phase of a battery allows it to compensate for the environmental impacts of the production phase to a great extent and the metals in them tend to be recycled more massively than many other components. A substantial part of the potential damage to human health and to the ecosystems can be avoided due to the recycling processes while the damage to nonrenewable resources seems to be reduced in a less important way. A rough evaluation of the potential environmental impact of less-widespread battery technologies such as nickel–zinc, Li–ion polymer and lithium metal, zinc–air, vanadium redox, zinc–bromine, polysulfide–bromine, and nickel–iron technologies are considered for qualitative analysis. The findings suggest the importance of recycling of the spent batteries as it can save resources and lower the total environmental impact of the life cycle of the batteries.

LCA of Conventional and Alternative Vehicles Using a “Data Range-Based Modeling System”

This paper on using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for conventional and alternative vehicles is from the proceedings of 14th international Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century, which was held in Malta in 2008. The authors propose the LCA method to help public authorities to be able to take the most appropriate and efficient policy measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; LCA can provide relevant and complete life cycle environmental impact data for each vehicle technology. The authors describe a special modeling system (RangeLCA), that uses a range of values instead of averaged ones, and that takes into account the potential variability of the data. They use temporary LCA results on the Volkswagen Touareg and the Volkswagen Golf, and a sensitivity analysis of different parameters, to discuss the advantages of the RangeLCA method. They conclude that the range-based modeling LCA offers improvements in the reliability and the accuracy of LCA results by taking into account all of the possible situations and their influences on each other.