Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet
For light-duty vehicles (LDVs), alternative powertrains and liquid fuels based on renewable electricity are competing options considered by policymakers and stakeholders for achieving necessary CO _2 emission reductions in the transport sector. While the urgency of climate change and the need to rea...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4fdb |
| _version_ | 1827869595377074176 |
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| author | Alois Dirnaichner Marianna Rottoli Romain Sacchi Sebastian Rauner Brian Cox Christopher Mutel Christian Bauer Gunnar Luderer |
| author_facet | Alois Dirnaichner Marianna Rottoli Romain Sacchi Sebastian Rauner Brian Cox Christopher Mutel Christian Bauer Gunnar Luderer |
| author_sort | Alois Dirnaichner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For light-duty vehicles (LDVs), alternative powertrains and liquid fuels based on renewable electricity are competing options considered by policymakers and stakeholders for achieving necessary CO _2 emission reductions in the transport sector. While the urgency of climate change and the need to reach mitigation targets are well understood, system-wide implications along other sustainability dimensions need further exploration. We integrate a detailed transport system model into an integrated assessment framework and couple it with prospective life cycle impact analysis. This allows to assess different technological pathways of the European LDV fleet until 2050 for a comprehensive set of environmental and resource depletion indicators. Results indicate that greenhouse gas emissions drop significantly in all mitigation scenarios. However, impacts increase in several non-climate change impact categories even with fully renewable electricity supply. Additional impacts arise from the production of battery and fuel-cell components, and from a significant rise in electricity demand, most prominently for synthetic fuels. We consequently find that changes in mobility life-styles and in the relevant industrial processes are paramount to reduce environmental impacts from a climate-friendly LDV fleet across all categories. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3e0782e0b24431098acf1c8b69317e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3e0782e0b24431098acf1c8b69317e52023-08-09T15:25:38ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117404400910.1088/1748-9326/ac4fdbLife-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleetAlois Dirnaichner0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3240-2608Marianna Rottoli1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7108-908XRomain Sacchi2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1440-0905Sebastian Rauner3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7618-9426Brian Cox4Christopher Mutel5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7898-9862Christian Bauer6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1083-9200Gunnar Luderer7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9057-6155Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , Potsdam, GermanyPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , Potsdam, GermanyTechnology Assessment Group, Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis, Paul Scherrer Institut , Villigen, SwitzerlandPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , Potsdam, GermanyINFRAS , Bern, SwitzerlandTechnology Assessment Group, Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis, Paul Scherrer Institut , Villigen, SwitzerlandTechnology Assessment Group, Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis, Paul Scherrer Institut , Villigen, SwitzerlandPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , Potsdam, GermanyFor light-duty vehicles (LDVs), alternative powertrains and liquid fuels based on renewable electricity are competing options considered by policymakers and stakeholders for achieving necessary CO _2 emission reductions in the transport sector. While the urgency of climate change and the need to reach mitigation targets are well understood, system-wide implications along other sustainability dimensions need further exploration. We integrate a detailed transport system model into an integrated assessment framework and couple it with prospective life cycle impact analysis. This allows to assess different technological pathways of the European LDV fleet until 2050 for a comprehensive set of environmental and resource depletion indicators. Results indicate that greenhouse gas emissions drop significantly in all mitigation scenarios. However, impacts increase in several non-climate change impact categories even with fully renewable electricity supply. Additional impacts arise from the production of battery and fuel-cell components, and from a significant rise in electricity demand, most prominently for synthetic fuels. We consequently find that changes in mobility life-styles and in the relevant industrial processes are paramount to reduce environmental impacts from a climate-friendly LDV fleet across all categories.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4fdbLCAIAMenvironmentclimate changetransport decarbonizationcars |
| spellingShingle | Alois Dirnaichner Marianna Rottoli Romain Sacchi Sebastian Rauner Brian Cox Christopher Mutel Christian Bauer Gunnar Luderer Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet Environmental Research Letters LCA IAM environment climate change transport decarbonization cars |
| title | Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet |
| title_full | Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet |
| title_fullStr | Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet |
| title_short | Life-cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the European car fleet |
| title_sort | life cycle impacts from different decarbonization pathways for the european car fleet |
| topic | LCA IAM environment climate change transport decarbonization cars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4fdb |
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