Cost Benefit Analysis of Using Clean Energy Supplies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Global Automotive Manufacturing

Energies

Qiang Zhai³  Huajun Cao²  Xiang Zhao¹ 

[1] Manufacturing Systems Research Lab, Global Research and Development, General Motors Company, Warren, MI 48090, USA; E-Mail:;School of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China; E-Mail:;Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: greenhouse gas emissions;    automotive manufacturing;    clean energy supply;    cost benefit analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en4101478

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Automotive manufacturing is energy-intensive. The consumed energy contributes to the generation of significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the automotive manufacturing industry. In this paper, a study is conducted on assessing the application potential of such clean energy power systems as solar PV, wind and fuel cells in reducing the GHG emissions of the global auto manufacturing industry. The study is conducted on the representative solar PV, wind and fuel cell clean energy systems available on the commercial market in six representative locations of GM’s global facilities, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, China, Egypt and Germany. The results demonstrate that wind power is superior to other two clean energy technologies in the economic performance of the GHG mitigation effect. Among these six selected countries, the highest GHG emission mitigation potential is in China, through wind power supply. The maximum GHG reduction could be up to 60 tons per $1,000 economic investment on wind energy supply in China. The application of wind power systems in the United States and Germany could also obtain relatively high GHG reductions of between 40–50 tons per $1,000 economic input. When compared with wind energy, the use of solar and fuel cell power systems have much less potential for GHG mitigation in the six countries selected. The range of median GHG mitigation values resulting from solar and wind power supply are almost at the same level.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.