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Life-Cycle Emissions Analysis of Alternative Fuels for Heavy Vehicles, Stage 1 - 2000

Tom Beer
Tim Grant
Richard Brown
Jim Edwards
Peter Nelson
Harry Watson
David Williams

CSIRO

In this pdf format, this document has 148 pages and is 2.11MB.

Table of Contents

Acronyms xii
Life-cycle Emissions Analysis of Alternative Fuels for Heavy Vehicles xv
Executive Summary xv
Abstract xv
Recommendations xvi
Key Findings xvii
Chapter 1 2
Background 2

1.1

 Introduction 2
 

1.1.1

 Approach 3

1.2

 National Environment Protection Measures 3
  1.2.1 Ambient Air Quality 3
1.2.2 Diesel Vehicle Emissions 4

1.3

 Diesel fuel and the Diesel Engine 5
  1.3.1 Introduction 5
1.3.2 Fuel Quality Review 5
1.3.3 Australian Design Rules 6
1.3.4 Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Consumption 7
1.3.5 Evaporative emissions 8
1.3.6 Change in heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions with diesel fuel properties 9
1.4 Greenhouse Gases and Other Emissions 10
1.5 Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) 12
  Life-cycle assessment modeling 15
1.6 Structure of the Report 15
1.7 Web-based General Information Sources 17
Chapter 2 18
National and International Studies on Alternative Fuels and Heavy-Vehicle Emissions 18

2.1

 Tailpipe Emissions 18
  2.1.1 Buses 18
2.1.2 Trucks 20

2.2

 Life-Cycle Emissions 22
  Australian Transport 22
  2.2.1 Buses 22
2.2.2 Trucks 22
2.2.3 US Transport 23
2.2.4 European Transport 23

2.3

   Statistical Variability 25
  2.3.1 Buses 25
2.3.2 Trucks 28

2.4

 Methodology 28
Chapter 3 30
Comparative Emissions and Analysis 30

3.1

 Full fuel-cycle emissions 30
  3.1.1 Buses 30
  3.1.2 Heavy vehicles other than buses 32

3.2

 Full-life-cycle Emissions 35

3.3

 Uncertainty Analysis 35
  3.3.1 Buses 36
3.3.2 Heavy vehicles other than buses 36
3.4 Other greenhouse gases and smoke 37
3.5 Eco-indicators 37
3.6 Ranking (including uncertainty) 38
 

3.6.1

 Overall Ranking 40

3.7

 Discussion 40

3.8

 Recommendations 43
Chapter 4 45
Diesel 45
4.1 Background 45
4.2 Life-cycle Analysis of Diesel 46

4.3

 Conventional Low Sulfur Diesel and Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel 48

4.4

 Life-cycles of Low and Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel 49
Chapter 5 53
Natural Gas 53

5.1

 Background 53
 

5.1.1

 Natural Gas Manufacture 53
5.2 Natural Gas Market 54
5.3 Vehicles 55
5.4 Fuel Characteristics 55
5.5 Implications for Engine Conversions 55

5.6

 Emissions 56
  5.6.1 Fugitive Emissions 56
5.6.2 Methane Emissions from vehicles 56
5.6.3 Methane Fugitive losses in distribution 57
5.6.4 Overall Greenhouse emissions from heavy vehicles 57
5.7 Local Air Pollution and Noise 58
5.8 Particles 59
5.9 Summary 59
5.10 CNG 59
5.11 LNG 63
 

5.11.1

 Fuel-cycle calculations 64
Chapter 6 65
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) 65

6.1

 Background 65
 

6.1.1

 LPG in heavy vehicles 65
6.2 Emissions Tests 66
6.3 Fuel-Cycle Results 67
Chapter 7 69
Alcohol Fuels: Ethanol and Diesohol 69
7.1 Background 69
7.2 Characteristics of Alcohol Fuels 70
7.3 Production and Distribution 70
  7.3.1 Ethanol production 70
7.3.2 Ethanol from sugar and starch fractions 70
7.3.3 Ethanol from lignocellulose fraction 72
7.3.4 Supply of biomass feedstock in Australia 72
7.3.5 Ethanol distribution 73

7.4

 Costs to Users of Alcohol Fuel and Vehicles 73
  7.4.1 Fuel production costs 73
7.4.2 Fuel distribution costs 73
7.4.3 Greenhouse gas emissions 74
7.4.4 Full-cycle emissions 75
7.5 Carbon Monoxide Emissions 79
7.6 Sulfur Dioxide Emissions 79
7.7 Oxides of Nitrogen 79
7.8 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 79
  7.8.1 Exhaust VOC emissions 79
7.8.2 Evaporative VOC emissions 79
7.9 Other Emissions from Alcohol Fuels 80
7.10 Diesohol 80
7.11 Emissions Summary: Alcohol Fuels 80
7.12 Conclusion 81
Chapter 8 82
Fuels from Vegetable Oil 82
8.1 Canola 82
8.2 Biodiesel 84
8.3 Production of Biodiesel 85
8.4 Tailpipe Emissions 85
 

8.4.1

 Air Toxics 87

8.5

 Life-Cycle Emissions 87
 

8.5.1

 European work 87
8.6 By-Products 88
8.7 Energy Balance 88
8.8 US Work 89
  8.8.1 Reductions in CO2 emissions 89
8.8.2 Air pollutant emissions 89
8.9 Our Estimates 90
8.10 100% Biodiesel 90
8.11 20% Biodiesel 90
8.12 Biodiesel Extenders 94
Chapter 9 95
Waste Oil 95
9.1 Sources and Usage of Waste Oil in Australia 95
9.2 Methods of Using Waste Oil 98
9.3 Crankcase Waste Oil Blended Directly with Diesel Fuel 99
  9.3.1 Option 1.1: Blending at time of vehicle servicing 99
9.3.2 Option 1.2: Continuous blending during vehicle operation 99
9.4 Central Collection of Waste Oil and Processing 99
  9.4.1 Option 2.1 Diesel extender (derived from waste oil) blended with diesel fuel 100
9.4.2 Option 2.2 Diesel quality fuel 100
9.5 Combustion of Hydrocarbons 100
9.6 Calculations 101
9.7 Recommendations for Future Investigation 103
References 104
PART 3 111
APPENDICES 111
Appendix 1 112
Glossary of Terms 112
Appendix 2 115
Uncertainty Analysis 115
Appendix 3 116
Scoring and Ranking 116
Appendix 4 117
Full Fuel-Cycle (g/MJ) Results 117
Appendix 5 118
Eco-Indicators 118
Appendix 6 121
Commercial Performance of Alternative Fuels 121

A6.1

  US Experience 121

A6.2

 European Experience 122

A6.3

 Summary 123
 
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1.1

 National Environment Protection Standards for Ambient Air Quality 4

Table 1.2

 EU Emission Standards for Heavy-duty Diesel Engines, g/MJ 6
Table 1.3 Default Australian emission factors for automotive diesel fuel (g/km) 7
Table 1.4 Emission test results for 21 in-use heavy diesel vehicles 8
Table 1.5 Average, maximum and minimum values of the tailpipe emissions (g/km) recorded for buses undergoign an urband (CBD) drive cycle on a dynamometer 9
Table 1.6 Measurement-based Average Exhaust Emissions Data for HDV (g/MJ) 10
Table 1.7 Change (percent) in heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions with variations in diesel fuel properties 10
Table 1.8 Australian greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector and the road sub-sector in 1997 11
Table 1.9 100 year global warming potentials 11
Figure 1.1 The in-process and direct greenhouse gas emissions 14
Figure 1.2 The in-process and direct greenhouse gas emissions 14
Figure 1.3 West Virginia University Mobile Heavy-vehicle Chassis Dynamometer Facility 17
Table 2.1 Emission rates (g/km) used in the Transperth Bus report based on Millbrook trials 19
Table 2.2 Revised Millbrook trials emission rates (g/km) 19
Table 2.3 Emission rates (g/MJ) for diesel and CNG buses used in NSW buses 20
Table 2.4 Range of greenhouse gas emission estimates for trucks (compared with diesel fuel) 21
Table 2.5 Calculated energy intensity and greenhouse gas intensity of the Australian urban bus fleet 22
Table 2.6 Calculated energy intensity and greenhouse gas intensity of the Australian road freight fleet 23
Table 2.7 Pre-combustion life-cycle comparison of German canola and biodiesel as compared to diesel 24
Table 2.8 European tailpipe emissions for heavy-duty vehicles as a percentage of diesel emissions 24
Table 2.9 European well-to-wheel lifecycle emissions for heavy-duty vehicles as a percentage of diesel emissions 24
Table 2.10 Average, maximum, and minimum values of the tailpipe emissions (g/km) recorded for buses undergoing an urban (CBD) drive cycle on a dynamometer 26
Table 2.11 Average, maximum, and minimum values of the tailpipe emissions (g/km) recorded for heavy-duty vehicles 27
Table 2.12 Vehicle types and fuels used to generate values given in Table 2.11 28
Figure 3.1 Total fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 - equivalents) in g/km for buses 30
Table 3.1 Full fuel-cycle (g/km) emissions for buses 31
Table 3.2 Fuel-cycle fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions (g/km) for urban buses in CO2-equivalents 32
Table 3.3 Greenhouse and air pollutant emissions (g/km) for non-bus heavy vehicles 33
Table 3.4 Fuel-cycle fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions (g/km) for heavy vehicles in CO2-equivalents 33
Figure 3.3 Particulate matter emissions (g/km) for urban buses 34
Figure 3.4 Particulate matter emissions (g/km) for non-bus heavy vehicles 34
Table 3.5 Uncertainties (in percent) of tailpipe emissions for buses 36
Table 3.6 Uncertainties (in percent) of tailpipe emissions for heavy vehicles other than buses 36
Table 3.7 Fuel ranking in relation to greenhouse gases, the lowest value denotes the lowest greenhouse gas emissions 39
Table 3.8 Fuel scores and final ranking in relation to air quality, the lowest value denotes the lowest emissions 40
Table 4.1 Australian Refineries: 1997 Average Pool Qualities of Diesel 45
Table 4.2 Emission factors for diesel vehicles expressed as g/km 46
Table 4.3 Fuel-cycle emissions (in g/km) of an average Perth diesel bus 46
Figure 4.1 Process tree of estimated CO2 equivalent emissions per kilometer from the existing Perth diesel bus fleet 47
Table 4.4 Comparison of Citydiesel and Low Sulfur Diesel 48
Table 4.5 Low Sulfur Diesel Bus - emission in g/km 49
Figure 4.2 Process tree of estimated CO2 equivalent emissions per kilometer from low sulfur diesel (LSD) 50
Table 4.6 Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Bus - emissions in g/km 51
Figure 4.3 Process tree of estimated CO2 equivalent emissions per kilometer from ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULS) 51
Table 4.7 Comparison of emissions with oxygenating catalysts on buses 52
Figure 5.1 Australian gas field and pipelines 54
Table 5.1 Number of Natural Gas Vehicles in Australia 1991 and 1995 55
Table 5.2 Emission factors (g/MJ) for heavy vehicles fueled by natural gas 56
Table 5.3 Estimates (g/MJ) of fugitive CNG/LNG emissions during bulk transfer and storage 57
Table 5.4 Emission results (g/km) for CNG buses (based on data in Motta et al. 1996) 58
Table 5.5 Methane and non-methanic hydrocarbon emissions (g/kWh) from CNG buses 59
Table 5.6 CNG Bus emissions in g/km 60
Figure 5.2 Process tree of CO2 fuel-cycle equivalent emissions for a hypothetical Perth bus using CNG 61
Table 5.7 Comparison (g/kWh) of diesel and CNG buses 61
Figure 5.3 Process tree of CH4 fuel-cycle emissions for a hypothetical Perth bus using CNG 62
Table 5.8 Emissions from LNG buses using Cummins L-10 240G engines 63
Table 5.9 LNG fuelled bus - emissions in g/km 64
Figure 5.4 Process tree of CO2 equivalent and CH4 fuel-cycle emissions for a LNG fuelled bus 64
Table 6.1 Properties of LPG (NGGIC, 1996, 1998) 67
Table 6.2 Default Emission Factors (g/km) for LPG (NGGIC, 1996) 67
Table 6.3 Fuel-cycle emissions (g/km) for a bus using LPG 67
Figure 6.1 Process tree for LPG emissions of CO2 equivalent 68
Figure 7.1 Diesohol bus used by Sydney Buses from 1993 to 1998 69
Figure 7.2 The ethanol plant at Minaldra's Nowra plant 71
Table 7.1 Average, maximum, and minimum values of the tailpipe emissions 74
Table 7.2 Emissions (g/MJ) for Stockholm ethanol and diesel buses 75
Table 7.3 Life-cycle (g/km) emissions from Stockholm ethanol bus 75
Table 7.4 E95 Bus - emissions in g/km 76
Figure 7.3 Process tree of CO2 equivalent emissions for ethanol derived from wood 77
Figure 7.4 Process tree of CO2 equivalent emissions for ethanol derived from straw 78
Figure 7.5 Results of emission testing of diesohol buses 80
Table 8.1 Comparison of typical properties of diesel, canola oil and biodiesel 82
Table 8.2 Comparison of emissions from use of rapeseed oil and diesel fuel 83
Table 8.3 Biodiesel Production Worldwide 85
Table 8.4 Engine dynamometer results (g/kWh) of emissions from a 20% blend of various biodiesel with diesel 86
Figure 8.2 Emissions of biodiesel relative to diesel 86
Table 8.5 Gaseous PAH levels (µg/cycle) of diesel fuel and a 50% biodiesel diesel blend 87
Table 8.6 Comparison of the energy input for biodiesel and diesel oil 87
Table 8.7 Energy balance for biodiesel 88
Table 8.8 Well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions (kg CO2 - equivalent per GJ diesel and biodiesel) 89
Table 8.9 Fuel-cycle emissions, (g/km), of a bus using 100% bio-diesel 90
Table 8.10 BD20 Bus - emissions in g/km 90
Figure 8.3 Process tree of 20% biodiesel emissions of greenhouse gases 91
Figure 8.4 Process tree of greenhouse gas emissions from a biodiesel powered bus 92
Figure 8.5 Process tree of particulate matter emissions from a 100% biodiesel powered bus 93
Figure 8.6 Example of US advertising for biodiesel as diesel extender 94
Table 9.1 Sources of recoverable waste oil in Australia 95
Table 9.2 Uses of uncollected waste oil 95
Table 9.3 Uses of centrally collected waste oil 96
Figure 9.1 Existing flows & volumes of waste oil 97
Table 9.4 Typical concentrations (ppm) of selected contaminants in diesel and waste oil 98
Table 9.5 Emissions of gas from transport vehicles using specified diesel blends as a percentage of virgin diesel fuel gas emission in the same transport vehicles 101
Table 9.6 CO2 emission factors and liquid fuel energy densities by fuel type 102
Table 9.7 Non-combustion Greenhouse life-cycle emissions for diesel, waste oil, diesel extender and recycled lubricating oil 103
Table A.3.1 Ranking and scores of greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles 116
Table A.4.1 Full fuel-cycle g(MJ) emissions for buses 117
Figure A5.1 Full fuel cycle comparison 118
Figure A5.2 Process tree of heavy metal indicators for BD100 values 119
Figure A5.3 Process tree of carcinogens indicators for BD100 values 120
Figure A6.1 Summary of commercial performance of US buses using alternating fuels 121
Table A6.2 European well-to-wheel fuel costs for heavy-duty vehicles in (US$ GJ vehicle performance) 122
Table A6.3.1 Fuel LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas 124
Table A6.3.2 Fuel CNG Compressed Natural Gas 124
Table A6.3.3 Fuel Ethanol as blend (@ 10%, E10) or neat (anhydrous) 125
Table A6.3.4 Fuel biodiesel as blend (@ 20%, BD20) or neat 125