Sustainable Vehicle Technologies: Driving the green agenda

203 Pages·2012·28.76 MB·English

by  Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)

Sustainable Vehicle Technologies:
Driving the Green Agenda
Automobile Division Organising Committee
Richard Folkson (Chairman) Consultant
Lisa Bingley MIRA
Chris Brace University of Bath
George Haritos University of Hertfordshire
Jon Hilton Flybrid Systems
James Marco Cranfield University
Mike Richardson Jaguar Land Rover
Mark Stanton Jaguar Land Rover
Chris Wheelans
Sustainable Vehicle Technologies:
Driving the Green Agenda
14–15 NOVEMBER 2012
GAYDON, WARWICKSHIRE
Oxford Cambridge Philadelphia New Delhi
Published by Woodhead Publishing Limited
80 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ, UK
www.woodheadpublishing.com
www.woodheadpublishingonline.com
Woodhead Publishing, 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100, Philadelphia,
PA 19102-3406, USA
Woodhead Publishing India Private Limited, G-2, Vardaan House,
7/28 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi – 110002, India
www.woodheadpublishingindia.com
First published 2012, Woodhead Publishing Limited
© The author(s) and/or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated, 2012
The authors have asserted their moral rights.
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources.
Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and the
publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials. Neither the
authors nor the publisher, nor anyone else associated with this publication, shall be liable
for any loss, damage or liability directly or indirectly caused or alleged to be caused by
this book.
Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming and
recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from Woodhead Publishing Limited.
The consent of Woodhead Publishing Limited does not extend to copying for general
distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission
must be obtained in writing from Woodhead Publishing Limited for such copying.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trade-
marks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012950277
ISBN 978 0 85709 456 8 (print)
ISBN 978 0 85709 457 5 (online)
Cover image courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.
Produced from electronic copy supplied by authors.
Printed in the UK by 4edge Ltd, Hockley, Essex.
CONTENTS

LCA
C1324/014 Energy demand assessment of electrified drivetrains in 3
material extraction and system manufacturing
C-S Ernst, M Hans, L Eckstein, RWTH Aachen University,
Germany
C1324/018 Evaluating and prioritising sustainable vehicle technologies: 13
compliance, competition, conservation and context
I H Ellison, Jaguar Land Rover, UK
C1324/035 A life cycle assessment comparison of rapeseed biodiesel 23
and conventional diesel
M Stow, M C McManus, C Bannister, University of Bath, UK
C1324/032 Improving the sustainability of aluminium sheet 35
A Tautscher, Jaguar Land Rover, UK
C1324/038 Advanced phase powertrain design attribute and technology 47
value mapping
A Georgiou, Ford Motor Company; G Haritos, University of
Hertfordshire, UK
FUELS
C1324/013 Ammonia as a hydrogen energy carrier and its application 61
to internal combustion engines
M Koike, H Miyagawa, T Suzuoki, K Ogasawara,
Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Japan
C1324/026 Evolutionary decarbonization of transport: a contiguous 71
roadmap to affordable mobility using sustainable organic
fuels for transport
J W G Turner, R J Pearson, Lotus Engineering; P Harrison,
A Marmont, R Jennings, Air Fuel Synthesis Ltd, UK;
S Verhelst, J Vancoillie, L Sileghem, Ghent University;
M Pecqueur, K Martens, Karel de Grote University College,
Belgium; P P Edwards, University of Oxford, UK
C1324/028 High pressure grid CNG: the low CO2 option for HGVs 89
J Baldwin, R M McKeon, CNG Services Ltd, UK
C1324/030 Materials handling vehicles; an early market sector for 99
hydrogen fuel cells within Europe
I Mansouri, R K Calay, University of Hertfordshire, UK
DUTY CYCLE
C1324/022 Electric vehicle efficiency mapping 113
S Carroll, C Walsh, Loughborough University; C Bingham,
University of Lincoln; R Chen, M Lintern, Loughborough
University, UK
C1324/037 Dependence on technology, drivers, roads, and congestion 123
of real-world vehicle fuel consumption
N E Ligterink, T C Kraan, A R A Eijk, TNO, Delft,
The Netherlands
ENERGY USAGE REDUCTION
C1324/006 The environmental case for bespoke double deck trailers 137
L A Curtis, Gray & Adams Ltd, UK
C1324/015 Aerodynamic drag reduction for low carbon vehicles 145
J P Howell, Tata Motors European Technical Centre, UK
C1324/025 Vehicle light weighting using a new CAE tool for predicting 155
thin film defects in high strength castings
M A Buckley, Jaguar Land Rover; N J Humphreys,
University of Birmingham, UK
C1324/024 Vehicle optimisation for regenerative brake energy 165
maximisation
M T Von Srbik, R F Martinez-Botas, Imperial College
London, UK
PROPULSION (ENERGY EFFICIENCY)
C1324/004 Direct heat recovery from the ICE exhaust gas 177
R Cipollone, D Di Battista, A Gualtieri, University of
L’Aquila, Italy
C1324/020 HyBoost – An intelligently electrified optimised downsized 189
gasoline engine concept
J King, M Heaney, E Bower, N Jackson, Ricardo;
J Saward, A Fraser, Ford Motor Company; G Morris,
P Bloore, Controlled Power Technologies, UK;
T Cheng, J Borges-Alejo, M Criddle, Valeo, France
PROPULSION
C1324/002 Development of a range extended electric vehicle 205
demonstrator
M D Bassett, J Hall, T Cains, G Taylor, M Warth, MAHLE
Powertrain Ltd, UK; C Vogler, Dresden University of
Technology, Germany
C1324/027 Modelling and simulation of a fuel cell powered medium 215
duty vehicle platform
R Felix Moreno, J T Economou, K Knowles, Cranfield
University, UK
C1324/033 Auxiliary power units for range extended electric vehicles 225
N Powell, M Little, J Reeve, J Baxter, Ricardo UK Ltd;
S Robinson, A Herbert, Jaguar Land Rover; A Mason,
P Strange, Tata Motors European Technical Centre;
D Charters, MIRA Ltd; S Benjamin, S Aleksandrova,
Coventry University, UK
AUTHOR INDEX
A life cycle assessment comparison of
rapeseed biodiesel and conventional diesel

M Stow 1, M C McManus 1, C Bannister 2
1 Sustainable Energy Research Team
2 Powertrain and Vehicle Research Centre
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, UK

1 ABSTRACT

Biodiesel is often considered to improve energy security and reduce the impact of
fuel on climate change. However there are concerns about the impact of biodiesel
when its life cycle is considered. The potential impact of using biodiesel rather than
conventional diesel was investigated using a life cycle assessment (LCA) of
rapeseed biodiesel. Biodiesel leads to reduced fossil fuel use and is likely to reduce
the impact of transport on climate change. However it was found that the impact of
biodiesel towards other categories, i.e. land use and respiratory inorganics, was
greater than petroleum diesel. Therefore biodiesel production should be carefully
managed to mitigate its impact on the environment.

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment; Biodiesel; Rapeseed

2 BACKGROUND

Biodiesel is considered to have a number of advantages over diesel. Biodiesel can
be produced from an array of feedstocks and, unlike diesel, feedstock sources are
highly distributed around the world. This means that an increase in biodiesel use
should lead to an increase in energy security(1). Biodiesel is often thought,
incorrectly, to be carbon neutral on the basis that any carbon released during
combustion had previously been absorbed from the atmosphere during crop
growth(2). Biodiesel is compatible with diesel. Blends of biodiesel and diesel are
(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0) labelled Bη, where η is the proportion of biodiesel as a percentage. They can be
blended together in any proportion, the same distribution infrastructure can be
used and at low blend levels, used in diesel engines with no modification(3). These
apparent advantages have led to legislation being introduced to increase the use of
biofuels(4). The European parliament has set a target that 10% of fossil fuel
consumption for transportation must be replaced by biofuels by 2020 in all Member
States(5).

However, there are concerns about biodiesel’s sustainability(4). The impact
biodiesel has on land use change, both direct and indirect, is of major interest(1).
Previous biodiesel LCAs have highlighted the agricultural stage to have a large
effect on the impact of biodiesel, due mainly to the nitrogen fertiliser used(6).
There is consensus that tailpipe emissions of NO increase with biodiesel(7) and
x
evidence that CO also increases(8). Due to these concerns, a LCA was carried out
to investigate the environmental impact of the production and use of biodiesel in
the UK using rapeseed as a feedstock.
_______________________________________
23
© The author(s) and/or their employer(s), 2012
3 INTRODUCTION TO LCA

The impact of a product on the environment can be investigated using LCA, as
shown in Figure 1(9). LCA examines the environmental impact of a product or
system over a range of environmental issues, such as greenhouse gases, fossil fuel
use, and ozone depleting substances etc. LCA is analysed in terms of a functional
unit, chosen because it reflects the function of the product. This allows comparison
between products fulfilling the same function. When comparing multiple products, it
is unlikely that one will perform better than another in all impact categories
investigated. Thus, which product is considered to have the smallest overall impact
on the environment will be decided based on the value the assessor places on each
individual category.

Figure 1 LCA methodology: adapted from ISO 14040: 2006(9)

In processes where more than one product is produced, the inventory should be
apportioned between the co-products. According to a hierarchy set out in ISO
14044:2006 the first option is system expansion to include processes relating to
the co-product. If this is not suitable, then the inputs and outputs should be
partitioned between the co-products in a ratio which reflects some physical property
of the products, this is the burden of that product(10).

4 LCA OF BIODIESEL

(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)

Figure 2 Rapeseed biodiesel production and use
24
Data to model the lifecycle of rapeseed biodiesel was obtained from published
literature, which matched the data quality requirements, and used to build an
inventory. This inventory was modelled in SimaPro 7(11), primarily using the
Ecoinvent database, which contains inventory data for many materials and
processes. The inventory was analysed using the Eco-indicator 99H impact
assessment method. The diesel LCA was modelled using the same method.

Table 1 Inventory of B100 for 1km with a fuel consumption of 68g
Inputs Amount Output Amount
Nature Emissions to air
Carbon Dioxide 353.7 g Hexane 0.0065 g
Arable land 0.25 m2 Carbon Monoxide 0.91 g
Technosphere Carbon Dioxide 43.2 g
Methanol 10.2 g Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) 0.65 g
Pesticide 0.23 g Nitrous Oxide 0.45 g
Potassium Hydroxide 0.60 g Methane 0.11 g
Ploughing 0.49 m2 Ammonia 0.50 g
Transport 0.068 tkm Hydrocarbons 0.055 g
Sowing 0.49 m2 Particulates 0.037 g
Nitrogen fertiliser 9.1 g Emissions to water
Fertilising 0.49 m2 Nitrate 2.50 g
Phosphorous fertiliser 0.98 g Phosphorus 0.017 g
Application of pesticides 3.4 m2 Potassium 0.98 g
Potash 1.2 g Emissions to soil
Combine harvesting 0.49 m2 Methane 0.032 g
Sulphur 3.9 g
Lime 0.16 kg
Electricity 0.023 kWh
Heat 0.20 MJ

(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0) 4.1 Goal and scope
The purpose of this LCA was to investigate how a transition towards biodiesel might
affect the impact of transportation by comparing it to a diesel LCA. It was also used
to investigate the potential for reducing this impact, by identifying which processes
contributed significantly and then to model alternative methods of production.
Rapeseed biodiesel was considered to be a transportation fuel in this LCA. To allow
a comparison between the biodiesel LCA and the diesel LCA, the functional unit was
1km of distance travelled.

During biodiesel production (See Figure 2 for details of production method, inputs
and outputs), three co-products are formed: straw, meal cake (what remains of the
seed after oil extraction) and glycerol(12). Although system expansion is the
preferred method of burden allocation(10), this would increase the uncertainty in
the result as it is not clear what product the co-products would offset(13).
Therefore, burdens were partitioned proportionally, according to the desired
characteristic of the co-product, as outlined below.
25