IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v5y2016i4p41-d83882.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Marginal Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Electricity Generation in Portugal and Implications for Electric Vehicles

Author

Listed:
  • Rita Garcia

    (ADAI/LAETA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo II Campus, R. Luís Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal)

  • Fausto Freire

    (ADAI/LAETA, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo II Campus, R. Luís Reis Santos, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal)

Abstract

This article assesses marginal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electricity generation in Portugal to understand the impact of activities that affect electricity demand in the near term. In particular, it investigates the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Portuguese light-duty fleet considering different displacement and charging scenarios (vehicle technologies displaced, EV charging time). Coal and natural gas were identified as the marginal sources, but their contribution to the margin depended on the hour of the day, time of year, and system load, causing marginal emissions from electricity to vary significantly. Results show that for an electricity system with a high share of non-dispatchable renewable power, such as the Portuguese system, marginal emissions are considerably higher than average emissions. Because of the temporal variability in the marginal electricity supply, the time of charging may have a major influence on the GHG emissions of EVs. Off-peak charging leads to higher GHG emissions than peak charging, due to a higher contribution of coal to the margin. Furthermore, compared to an all-conventional fleet, EV introduction causes an increase in overall GHG emissions in most cases. However, EV effects are very dependent on the time of charging and the assumptions about the displaced technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Rita Garcia & Fausto Freire, 2016. "Marginal Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Electricity Generation in Portugal and Implications for Electric Vehicles," Resources, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-15, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:5:y:2016:i:4:p:41-:d:83882
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/5/4/41/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/5/4/41/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ma, Hongrui & Balthasar, Felix & Tait, Nigel & Riera-Palou, Xavier & Harrison, Andrew, 2012. "A new comparison between the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of battery electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 160-173.
    2. Graff Zivin, Joshua S. & Kotchen, Matthew J. & Mansur, Erin T., 2014. "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of marginal emissions: Implications for electric cars and other electricity-shifting policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 248-268.
    3. Yang, Christopher, 2013. "A framework for allocating greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation to plug-in electric vehicle charging," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 722-732.
    4. Lucas, Alexandre & Alexandra Silva, Carla & Costa Neto, Rui, 2012. "Life cycle analysis of energy supply infrastructure for conventional and electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 537-547.
    5. Garcia, Rita & Marques, Pedro & Freire, Fausto, 2014. "Life-cycle assessment of electricity in Portugal," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 563-572.
    6. Lin Gao & Zach C. Winfield, 2012. "Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Advanced Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Rangaraju, Surendraprabu & De Vroey, Laurent & Messagie, Maarten & Mertens, Jan & Van Mierlo, Joeri, 2015. "Impacts of electricity mix, charging profile, and driving behavior on the emissions performance of battery electric vehicles: A Belgian case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 496-505.
    8. Hawkes, A.D., 2010. "Estimating marginal CO2 emissions rates for national electricity systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5977-5987, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eskander, Monica M. & Silva, Carlos A., 2023. "Techno-economic and environmental comparative analysis for DC microgrids in households: Portuguese and French household case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    2. Beltrami, Filippo, 2024. "The impact of hydroelectric storage in Northern Italy’s power market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    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. Will, Christian & Zimmermann, Florian & Ensslen, Axel & Fraunholz, Christoph & Jochem, Patrick & Keles, Dogan, 2023. "Can electric vehicle charging be carbon neutral? Uniting smart charging and renewables," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 69, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    2. Will, Christian & Zimmermann, Florian & Ensslen, Axel & Fraunholz, Christoph & Jochem, Patrick & Keles, Dogan, 2024. "Can electric vehicle charging be carbon neutral? Uniting smart charging and renewables," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 371(C).
    3. Spiller, Elisheba & Sopher, Peter & Martin, Nicholas & Mirzatuny, Marita & Zhang, Xinxing, 2017. "The environmental impacts of green technologies in TX," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 199-214.
    4. Papageorgiou, Asterios & Ashok, Archana & Hashemi Farzad, Tabassom & Sundberg, Cecilia, 2020. "Climate change impact of integrating a solar microgrid system into the Swedish electricity grid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    5. Bigazzi, Alexander, 2019. "Comparison of marginal and average emission factors for passenger transportation modes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1460-1466.
    6. Kevin Joseph Dillman & Áróra Árnadóttir & Jukka Heinonen & Michał Czepkiewicz & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, 2020. "Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-28, November.
    7. Onat, Nuri Cihat & Kucukvar, Murat & Tatari, Omer, 2015. "Conventional, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles? State-based comparative carbon and energy footprint analysis in the United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 36-49.
    8. 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.
    9. Manjunath, Archana & Gross, George, 2017. "Towards a meaningful metric for the quantification of GHG emissions of electric vehicles (EVs)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 423-429.
    10. Powell, Siobhan & Martin, Sonia & Rajagopal, Ram & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & de Chalendar, Jacques, 2024. "Future-proof rates for controlled electric vehicle charging: Comparing multi-year impacts of different emission factor signals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    11. Kain Glensor & María Rosa Muñoz B., 2019. "Life-Cycle Assessment of Brazilian Transport Biofuel and Electrification Pathways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-31, November.
    12. Rusich, Andrea & Danielis, Romeo, 2015. "Total cost of ownership, social lifecycle cost and energy consumption of various automotive technologies in Italy," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 3-16.
    13. Chen, Feng & Taylor, Nathaniel & Kringos, Nicole, 2015. "Electrification of roads: Opportunities and challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 109-119.
    14. Abdul-Manan, Amir F.N. & Won, Hyun-Woo & Li, Yang & Sarathy, S. Mani & Xie, Xiaomin & Amer, Amer A., 2020. "Bridging the gap in a resource and climate-constrained world with advanced gasoline compression-ignition hybrids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    15. Beltrami, Filippo & Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Grossi, Luigi & Rowley, Paul & Wilson, Grant, 2020. "Where did the time (series) go? Estimation of marginal emission factors with autoregressive components," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Forrest, Kate & Mac Kinnon, Michael & Tarroja, Brian & Samuelsen, Scott, 2020. "Estimating the technical feasibility of fuel cell and battery electric vehicles for the medium and heavy duty sectors in California," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    17. Nenming Wang & Guwen Tang, 2022. "A Review on Environmental Efficiency Evaluation of New Energy Vehicles Using Life Cycle Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-35, March.
    18. Ingrid Munné-Collado & Fabio Maria Aprà & Pol Olivella-Rosell & Roberto Villafáfila-Robles, 2019. "The Potential Role of Flexibility During Peak Hours on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Life Cycle Assessment of Five Targeted National Electricity Grid Mixes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-22, November.
    19. Ji, Wei, 2018. "Data-Driven Behavior Analysis and Implications in Plug-in Electric Vehicle Policy Studies," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6dw4d18t, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    20. Baumgärtner, Nils & Delorme, Roman & Hennen, Maike & Bardow, André, 2019. "Design of low-carbon utility systems: Exploiting time-dependent grid emissions for climate-friendly demand-side management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 755-765.

    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:jresou:v:5:y:2016:i:4:p:41-:d:83882. 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.