Life Cycle Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Natural Fiber Composites for Automotive Applications: Impacts of Renewable Material Content and Lightweighting

Greenhouse Gas Emissions;Life Cycle Energy;Natural Resources and Environment

Boland, ClaireLee, Ellen ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Greenhouse Gas Emissions;    Life Cycle Energy;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/106576/Claire%20Boland%20Thesis%202014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This study examines the life cycle energy and emissions associated with substituting natural fibers, cellulose and kenaf, for glass fibers in plastic composites used for automotive components. Specifically, a 30wt% glass-fiber composite component weighing 3 kg was compared to a 30wt% cellulose-fiber composite component (2.65 kg) and 40wt% kenaf-fiber composite component (2.79 kg) for seven vehicles. These vehicles ranged from cars, cross-overs and sport utility vehicles. Across these vehicles, it was found that the cellulose composite material on average reduced life cycle energy by 9.4% and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 18.5% while the kenaf composite component reduced energy of 6.1% and GHG by 10.6% compared to the baseline component. The material production of the cellulose-fiber composite is slightly more energy intensive on a part basis (MJ/part) than the glass-fiber baseline composite material, but the non-renewable energy contribution is lower. In the case of both natural fiber components analyzed, a majority of the life cycle energy savings is a result of the use phase lightweighting. Because the use phase dominates over the component’s entire life cycle, the fuel consumption parameter (R*) is the single largest determining factor for lightweighting. The R* value for the vehicles examined ranged from 0.33 [L/(100kg 100km)] to 0.38 [L/(100kg 100km)].