IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i13p5101-d1184950.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of Well-to-Wheels Energy Use and Emissions of Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Electric, LNG, and Diesel-Powered Logistics Vehicles in China

Author

Listed:
  • Sida Qian

    (School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, University Park of Weiyang District, Xi’an 710021, China)

  • Lei Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, University Park of Weiyang District, Xi’an 710021, China)

Abstract

Global energy and environmental issues are becoming increasingly serious, and the promotion of clean energy and green transportation has become a common goal for all countries. In the logistics industry, traditional fuels such as diesel and natural gas can no longer meet the requirements of energy and climate change. Hydrogen fuel cell logistics vehicles are expected to become the mainstream vehicles for future logistics because of their “zero carbon” advantages. The GREET model is computer simulation software developed by the Argonne National Laboratory in the USA. It is extensively utilized in research pertaining to the energy and environmental impact of vehicles. This research study examines four types of logistics vehicles: hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), electric vehicles, LNG-fueled vehicles, and diesel-fueled vehicles. Diesel-fueled logistics vehicles are currently the most abundant type of vehicle in the logistics sector. LNG-fueled logistics vehicles are considered as a short-term alternative to diesel logistics vehicles, while electric logistics vehicles are among the most popular types of new-energy vehicles currently. We analyze and compare their well-to-wheels (WTW) energy consumption and emissions with the help of GREET software and conduct lifecycle assessments (LCAs) of the four types of vehicles to analyze their energy and environmental benefits. When comparing the energy consumption of the four vehicle types, electric logistics vehicles (EVs) have the lowest energy consumption, with slightly lower energy consumption than FCVs. When comparing the nine airborne pollutant emissions of the four vehicle types, the emissions of the FCVs are significantly lower than those of spark-ignition internal combustion engine logistics vehicles (SI ICEVs), compression-ignition direct-injection internal combustion engine logistics vehicles (CIDI ICEVs), and EVs. This study fills a research gap regarding the energy consumption and environmental impact of logistics vehicles in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Sida Qian & Lei Li, 2023. "A Comparison of Well-to-Wheels Energy Use and Emissions of Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Electric, LNG, and Diesel-Powered Logistics Vehicles in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:13:p:5101-:d:1184950
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/13/5101/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/13/5101/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hussain, Syed Asad & Razi, Faran & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2023. "The perspective of energy poverty and 1st energy crisis of green transition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    2. Kalghatgi, Gautam, 2018. "Is it really the end of internal combustion engines and petroleum in transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 965-974.
    3. Correa, G. & Muñoz, P. & Falaguerra, T. & Rodriguez, C.R., 2017. "Performance comparison of conventional, hybrid, hydrogen and electric urban buses using well to wheel analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 537-549.
    4. Hao, Han & Liu, Zongwei & Zhao, Fuquan & Li, Weiqi, 2016. "Natural gas as vehicle fuel in China: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 521-533.
    5. Jiqi Zhu & Yan Li & Wenhong Cao & Yuebing Li & Zengliang Gao, 2023. "Failure Analysis of Novel BOSS Structures for Type IV Hydrogen Storage Vessels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Lu, Qiang & Zhang, Bo & Yang, Shichun & Peng, Zhaoxia, 2022. "Life cycle assessment on energy efficiency of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ka-Wai Ng & Hing-Yan Tong, 2024. "Comparisons of Driving Characteristics between Electric and Diesel-Powered Bus Operations along Identical Bus Routes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Kale, Aneesh Vijay & Krishnasamy, Anand, 2023. "Experimental study of homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion in a light-duty diesel engine fueled with isopropanol–gasoline blends," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    3. Sharafian, Amir & Talebian, Hoda & Blomerus, Paul & Herrera, Omar & Mérida, Walter, 2017. "A review of liquefied natural gas refueling station designs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 503-513.
    4. Zhang, Yi & Ji, Qiang & Fan, Ying, 2018. "The price and income elasticity of China's natural gas demand: A multi-sectoral perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 332-341.
    5. Lee, Dong-Yeon & Elgowainy, Amgad & Vijayagopal, Ram, 2019. "Well-to-wheel environmental implications of fuel economy targets for hydrogen fuel cell electric buses in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 565-583.
    6. Luiz Almeida & Ana Soares & Pedro Moura, 2023. "A Systematic Review of Optimization Approaches for the Integration of Electric Vehicles in Public Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-26, June.
    7. Yuan, Zhiyi & Ou, Xunmin & Peng, Tianduo & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2019. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of multi-pathways natural gas vehicles in china considering methane leakage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Shangfeng Han & Baosheng Zhang & Xiaoyang Sun & Song Han & Mikael Höök, 2017. "China’s Energy Transition in the Power and Transport Sectors from a Substitution Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-25, April.
    9. Diego Perrone & Teresa Castiglione & Pietropaolo Morrone & Ferdinando Pantano & Sergio Bova, 2023. "Energetic, Economic and Environmental Performance Analysis of a Micro-Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CCHP) System Based on Biomass Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-22, September.
    10. Altsitsiadis, E. & Kaiser, M. & Tsakas, A. & Kyriakidis, A. & Stamos, A., 2024. "Investigating the Regional and Individual Drivers of the Support for Renewable Energy Transition: The Role of Severe Material Deprivation," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2419, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. Dennis Dreier & Mark Howells, 2019. "OSeMOSYS-PuLP: A Stochastic Modeling Framework for Long-Term Energy Systems Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-26, April.
    12. Li, Hai & Zheng, Peng & Zhang, Tingsheng & Zou, Yingquan & Pan, Yajia & Zhang, Zutao & Azam, Ali, 2021. "A high-efficiency energy regenerative shock absorber for powering auxiliary devices of new energy driverless buses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    13. Qian, Yong & Wu, Zhiyong & Guo, Jinjing & Li, Zilong & Jiang, Chenxu & Lu, Xingcai, 2019. "Experimental studies on the key parameters controlling the combustion and emission in premixed charge compression ignition concept based on diesel surrogates," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 233-246.
    14. Zhang, Guanglu & Lin, Boqiang, 2018. "Impact of structure on unified efficiency for Chinese service sector—A two-stage analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 876-886.
    15. Ziyad, Ben Ahmed & Yousfi, Mohamed & Vander Heyden, Yvan, 2022. "Effects of growing region and maturity stages on oil yield, fatty acid profile and tocopherols of Pistacia atlantica Desf. fruit and their implications on resulting biodiesel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 167-181.
    16. Zhao, Lei & Yuan, Hao & Xie, Jiaping & Jiang, Shangfeng & Wei, Xuezhe & Tang, Wei & Ming, Pingwen & Dai, Haifeng, 2023. "Inconsistency evaluation of vehicle-oriented fuel cell stacks based on electrochemical impedance under dynamic operating conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    17. Ma, Zetai & Xie, Wenping & Xiang, Hanchun & Zhang, Kun & Yang, Mingyang & Deng, Kangyao, 2023. "Thermodynamic analysis of power recovery of marine diesel engine under high exhaust backpressure by additional electrically driven compressor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    18. Li, Danyang & Chen, Wenying, 2019. "TIMES modeling of the large-scale popularization of electric vehicles under the worldwide prohibition of liquid vehicle sales," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    19. Mendiburu, Andrés Z. & Lauermann, Carlos H. & Hayashi, Thamy C. & Mariños, Diego J. & Rodrigues da Costa, Roberto Berlini & Coronado, Christian J.R. & Roberts, Justo J. & de Carvalho, João A., 2022. "Ethanol as a renewable biofuel: Combustion characteristics and application in engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    20. Luo, Pan & Gao, Kai & Hu, Lin & Chen, Bin & Zhang, Yuanjian, 2024. "Adaptive hybrid cooling strategy to mitigate battery thermal runaway considering natural convection in phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:13:p:5101-:d:1184950. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.