U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies

Rugh, John Palmer; Kreutzer, Cory; Kekelia, Bidzina; Titov, Gene; Lustbader, Jason

doi:10.4271/06-12-01-0002

Title: U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies

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Abstract

To reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from mobile air conditioning (A/C) systems, 'U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards' identified solar/thermal technologies such as solar control glazings, solar reflective paint, and active and passive cabin ventilation in an off-cycle credit menu. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers developed a sophisticated analysis process to calculate U.S. light-duty A/C fuel use that was used to assess the impact of these technologies, leveraging thermal and vehicle simulation analysis tools developed under previous U.S. Department of Energy projects. Representative U.S. light-duty driving behaviors and weighting factors including time-of-day of travel, trip duration, and time between trips were characterized and integrated into the analysis. In addition, U.S. weather conditions weighted based on light-duty vehicle registrations were generated and used for the analysis. Three representative vehicle types for the light-duty fleet were selected based on registration data containing vehicle size information. These key inputs were used to support a weighted parametric analysis that quantified vehicle thermal load, vehicle accessory load, and vehicle fuel use. This analysis estimates that 7.6 billion gallons of fuel a year are used in the United States for vehicle A/C, equivalent to 6.1% ofmore »« less

Authors:

Rugh, John Palmer ^[1]; Kreutzer, Cory ^[1]; Kekelia, Bidzina ^[1]; Titov, Gene ^[1]; Lustbader, Jason ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: Tue Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2018

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)

OSTI Identifier:: 1492505

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5400-70795
Journal ID: ISSN 1946-4002

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars. Mechanical Systems (Online)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars. Mechanical Systems (Online); Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1946-4002

Publisher:: SAE International

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; environmental regulations and standards; greenhouse gas emissions; fuel economy; weather and climate; carbon dioxide; fuel consumption; simulators; air conditioning

Citation Formats


                    Rugh, John Palmer, Kreutzer, Cory, Kekelia, Bidzina, Titov, Gene, and Lustbader, Jason. U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.4271/06-12-01-0002.

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                    Rugh, John Palmer, Kreutzer, Cory, Kekelia, Bidzina, Titov, Gene, & Lustbader, Jason. U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.4271/06-12-01-0002

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                    Rugh, John Palmer, Kreutzer, Cory, Kekelia, Bidzina, Titov, Gene, and Lustbader, Jason. Tue .  
"U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.4271/06-12-01-0002.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1492505.

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@article{osti_1492505,

  title        = {U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies},

  author       = {Rugh, John Palmer and Kreutzer, Cory and Kekelia, Bidzina and Titov, Gene and Lustbader, Jason},

  abstractNote = {To reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from mobile air conditioning (A/C) systems, 'U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards' identified solar/thermal technologies such as solar control glazings, solar reflective paint, and active and passive cabin ventilation in an off-cycle credit menu. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers developed a sophisticated analysis process to calculate U.S. light-duty A/C fuel use that was used to assess the impact of these technologies, leveraging thermal and vehicle simulation analysis tools developed under previous U.S. Department of Energy projects. Representative U.S. light-duty driving behaviors and weighting factors including time-of-day of travel, trip duration, and time between trips were characterized and integrated into the analysis. In addition, U.S. weather conditions weighted based on light-duty vehicle registrations were generated and used for the analysis. Three representative vehicle types for the light-duty fleet were selected based on registration data containing vehicle size information. These key inputs were used to support a weighted parametric analysis that quantified vehicle thermal load, vehicle accessory load, and vehicle fuel use. This analysis estimates that 7.6 billion gallons of fuel a year are used in the United States for vehicle A/C, equivalent to 6.1% of the total national light-duty vehicle fuel use. This equates to 30.0 gallons/year per vehicle or 23.5 grams CO2 per mile (g/mi) for an average U.S. light-duty vehicle. A/C is a significant contributor to national fuel use; therefore, technologies that reduce A/C loads have an opportunity to reduce fuel consumption, reduce imported oil, and improve energy security. Implementing solar control glass reduced the CO2 emissions by 2.0 g/mi and the reduction due to solar reflective paint was 0.8 g/mi. The active and passive ventilation strategies as defined in this analysis only reduced emissions by 0.1 and 0.2 g/mi, respectively. This analysis shows the potential to reduce operational costs, A/C fuel use, and CO2 emissions by implementing advanced vehicle climate control technologies including the solar/thermal technologies.},

  doi          = {10.4271/06-12-01-0002},

  journal      = {SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars. Mechanical Systems (Online)},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 12,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2018},

  month        = {Tue Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2018}

}

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