Study to assess a vehicle's lifetime CO2 footprint

[Howzit]

http://lowcvp.org.uk/assets/reports/RD11_124801_4%20-%20LowCVP%20-%20Life%20Cycle%20CO2%20Measure%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf

Has anybody seen this in-depth study on the lifetime CO2 foot print of ICE cars and EVs? It is reported that the CO2 generated during EV production takes 150,000 km of driving to amortize, before the total lifetime CO2 is less than for similar petrol powered vehicles.

I got this study from a California based EV car company.

[kristopher]

1. The full story

Mods this is a press release, no copyright.

LowCVP News Release 8th June 2011
LowCVP study demonstrates the increasing importance of measuring whole life carbon emissions to compare vehicle performance
ELECTRIC and hybrid cars create more carbon emissions during their production than standard vehicles – but are still greener overall, according to a new report.

The report highlights the increasing importance of accounting for whole life carbon emissions to compare the greenhouse gas emissions of low carbon vehicles. The report was prepared by Ricardo1 for, and in collaboration with, the expert membership of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership that includes major vehicle manufacturers and oil companies.

The study found that some of the CO2 savings made during the use of low carbon vehicles is offset by increased emissions created during their production, and to a lesser extent disposal. However, overall electric and hybrid vehicles still have lower carbon footprints than normal cars.
For example, a typical medium sized family car will create around 24 tonnes of CO2 during its life cycle, while an electric vehicle (EV) will produce around 18 tonnes over its life. For a battery EV, 46% of its total carbon footprint is generated at the factory, before it has travelled a single mile.

Greg Archer, LowCVP Managing Director, said: “This work dispels the myth that low carbon vehicles simply displace emissions from the exhaust to other sources. However, it does highlight the need to look at reducing carbon emissions from vehicles throughout their lifecycle.
“The automotive industry is already taking positive steps to address this issue - the recent announcement by Toyota of a solar array to provide electricity to power the hybrid Auris production facility and wind power at the Nissan Leaf plant are excellent examples of this.

For a standard mid-sized gasoline ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle the embedded carbon in production will be around 5.6tCO2e, around three quarters of which is the steel in the vehicle glider. This highlights the importance of deploying low weight, low carbon alternatives to current steels in the ultra-low carbon vehicles of the future. A similar electric vehicle will have embedded production emissions of 8.8tCO2e, 43% of which arise from the battery. Decarbonising both electricity supply, through renewables; and the production of batteries will therefore be essential for electric vehicles to deliver ultra-low carbon lifetime emissions.

The report also indicates that lifecycle carbon emissions for mid-sized petrol and diesel vehicles doing a similar lifetime mileage are almost identical – the greater efficiency of the diesel being offset by high production emissions. It also highlights that some regulations designed to improve recyclability, safety or reduce air pollution can increase carbon emissions in production or use.

Ricardo Chief Technology & Innovation Officer and Chairman of the LowCVP, Prof. Neville Jackson, said “There is an emerging consensus that we need to move towards a more holistic analysis of whole life CO2 emissions in order to make more informed and better long term decisions on future technologies.

“Life cycle analysis is still in its infancy, with little defined process and standards. The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership report is an important contribution to this type of analysis and highlights the need to work toward a common methodology and approach to deliver consistent and robust life cycle data on CO2 emissions.”

As a wider range of electric, biofuel and potentially hydrogen vehicles compete with petrol and diesel models in the future it will become essential to compare vehicles on a whole-life carbon basis. The study shows the complexity, but also the practicalities of calculating whole life carbon emissions and highlights the need to develop a standard methodology acceptable to vehicle manufacturers.
Greg Archer added: “We already measure the whole life carbon emissions of biofuels and doing the same for vehicles is entirely feasible. However, it does require effort to be directed now, at agreeing how this should be done consistently at an EU, or possibly global level.”

Notes to Editors Vehicle Whole Life Carbon Emissions Analysis

Standard gasoline vehicle Hybrid vehicle Plug-in hybrid vehicle Battery electric vehicle

Estimated lifecycle emissions (tonnes CO2e) 24 21 19 1 9

Proportion of emissions in production 23% 31% 35% 46%

Estimated emissions in production (tonnes CO2e) 5.6 6.5 6.7 8.8

Based upon a 2015 vehicle in use for 150k KM using 10% ethanol blend and 500g/KWH grid electricity.



About LowCVP
The LowCVP (www.lowcvp.org.uk ) was established in 2003 to take a lead in accelerating the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels in the UK and to help ensure that UK business can benefit from that shift. It has approaching 200 organisations from the automotive and fuel industries, the environmental sector, government, academia, road user groups and other organisations with a stake in the low carbon vehicles and fuels agenda.

The report is being released as part of the LowCVP Annual Conference 2011, “Just over the Horizon: mobility to 2020 and beyond”. The conference is being held on Thursday 9 June 2011 at the Clifford Chance Auditorium, Canary Wharf.

Further details: http://www.lowcvp.org.uk

For further information, or to register at the Conference, please contact: Dan Jenkins, Bright Sparks PR. [e-mail] mob: [phone] ENDS