Life Cycle GHG of NG-Based Fuel and Electric Vehicle in China

Energies

Xunmin Ou¹  Xiliang Zhang¹  Xu Zhang¹ 

[1] Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy (3E), Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; E-Mails:

关键词: NG-based fuel;    vehicle;    GHG;    life cycle analysis;    China;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en6052644

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper compares the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of natural gas (NG)- based fuels to the GHG emissions of electric vehicles (EVs) powered with NG-to-electricity in China. A life-cycle model is used to account for full fuel cycle and use-phase emissions, as well as vehicle cycle and battery manufacturing. The reduction of life-cycle GHG emissions of EVs charged by electricity generated from NG, without utilizing carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology can be 36%–47% when compared to gasoline vehicles. The large range change in emissions reduction potential is driven by the different generation technologies that could in the future be used to generate electricity in China. When CCS is employed in power plants, the GHG emission reductions increase to about 71%–73% compared to gasoline vehicles. It is found that compressed NG (CNG) and liquefied NG (LNG) fuels can save about 10% of carbon as compared to gasoline vehicles. However, gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel made through the Fischer-Tropsch method will likely lead to a life-cycle GHG emissions increase, potentially 3%–15% higher than gasoline, but roughly equal to petroleum-based diesel. When CCS is utilized, the GTL fueled vehicles emit roughly equal GHG emissions to petroleum-based diesel fuel high-efficient hybrid electric vehicle from the life-cycle perspective.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.