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Title: Life-cycle implications of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology for medium- and heavy-duty trucks

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive and up-to-date life-cycle comparison of hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) and their conventional diesel counterparts in terms of energy use and air emissions, based on the ensemble of well-established methods, high-fidelity vehicle dynamic simulations, and real-world vehicle test data. For the centralized steam methane reforming (SMR) pathway, hydrogen FCETs reduce life-cycle or well-to-wheel (WTW) petroleum energy use by more than 98% compared to their diesel counterparts. The reduction in WTW air emissions for gaseous hydrogen (G.H2) FCETs ranges from 20 to 45% for greenhouse gases, 37-65% for VOC, 49-77% for CO, 62-83% for NOx, 19-43% for PM10, and 27-44% for PM2.5, depending on vehicle weight classes and truck types. With the current U.S. average electricity generation mix, FCETs tend to create more WTW SOx emissions than their diesel counterparts, mainly because of the upstream emissions related to electricity use for hydrogen compression/liquefaction. Compared to G.H2, liquid hydrogen (L.H2) FCETs generally provide smaller WTW emissions reductions. For both G.H2 and L.H2 pathways for FCETs, because of electricity consumption for compression and liquefaction, spatio-temporal variations of electricity generation can affect the WTW results. In conclusion, FCETs retain the WTW emission reduction benefits, even when considering aggressivemore » diesel engine efficiency improvement.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Dept. of Energy, Washington, D.C. (United States). Fuel Cell Technologies Office
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1455116
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1496314
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5400-71762
Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Power Sources
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 393; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; medium- and heavy-duty trucks; hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle; zero emission vehicle; life-cycle analysis; fuel economy; air emissions

Citation Formats

Lee, Dong -Yeon, Elgowainy, Amgad, Kotz, Andrew, Vijayagopal, Ram, and Marcinkoski, Jason. Life-cycle implications of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.012.
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Lee, Dong -Yeon, Elgowainy, Amgad, Kotz, Andrew, Vijayagopal, Ram, & Marcinkoski, Jason. Life-cycle implications of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.012
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Lee, Dong -Yeon, Elgowainy, Amgad, Kotz, Andrew, Vijayagopal, Ram, and Marcinkoski, Jason. Sat . "Life-cycle implications of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology for medium- and heavy-duty trucks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.012. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1455116.
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@article{osti_1455116,
title = {Life-cycle implications of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technology for medium- and heavy-duty trucks},
author = {Lee, Dong -Yeon and Elgowainy, Amgad and Kotz, Andrew and Vijayagopal, Ram and Marcinkoski, Jason},
abstractNote = {This study provides a comprehensive and up-to-date life-cycle comparison of hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) and their conventional diesel counterparts in terms of energy use and air emissions, based on the ensemble of well-established methods, high-fidelity vehicle dynamic simulations, and real-world vehicle test data. For the centralized steam methane reforming (SMR) pathway, hydrogen FCETs reduce life-cycle or well-to-wheel (WTW) petroleum energy use by more than 98% compared to their diesel counterparts. The reduction in WTW air emissions for gaseous hydrogen (G.H2) FCETs ranges from 20 to 45% for greenhouse gases, 37-65% for VOC, 49-77% for CO, 62-83% for NOx, 19-43% for PM10, and 27-44% for PM2.5, depending on vehicle weight classes and truck types. With the current U.S. average electricity generation mix, FCETs tend to create more WTW SOx emissions than their diesel counterparts, mainly because of the upstream emissions related to electricity use for hydrogen compression/liquefaction. Compared to G.H2, liquid hydrogen (L.H2) FCETs generally provide smaller WTW emissions reductions. For both G.H2 and L.H2 pathways for FCETs, because of electricity consumption for compression and liquefaction, spatio-temporal variations of electricity generation can affect the WTW results. In conclusion, FCETs retain the WTW emission reduction benefits, even when considering aggressive diesel engine efficiency improvement.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.012},
journal = {Journal of Power Sources},
number = C,
volume = 393,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Sat May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.05.012
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Cited by: 89 works
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Figures / Tables:

Table 1 Table 1: List of MHD trucks evaluated, basic parameters, idle fuel rate, and fuel economy ratio
All figures and tables (8 total)
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Works referenced in this record:

Impacts and mitigation of excess diesel-related NOx emissions in 11 major vehicle markets
journal, May 2017

  • Anenberg, Susan C.; Miller, Joshua; Minjares, Ray
  • Nature, Vol. 545, Issue 7655
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature22086

Design Space Assessment of Hydrogen Storage Onboard Medium and Heavy Duty Fuel Cell Electric Trucks
journal, May 2017

  • Gangloff, John J.; Kast, James; Morrison, Geoffrey
  • Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Vol. 14, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1115/1.4036508

Comparing real-world fuel consumption for diesel- and hydrogen-fueled transit buses and implication for emissions
journal, June 2007

  • Frey, H. Christopher; Rouphail, Nagui M.; Zhai, Haibo
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 12, Issue 4
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Parametric modeling approach for economic and environmental life cycle assessment of medium-duty truck electrification
journal, January 2017

Life cycle GHG emissions and lifetime costs of medium-duty diesel and battery electric trucks in Toronto, Canada
journal, August 2017

  • Zhou, Taylor; Roorda, Matthew J.; MacLean, Heather L.
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 55
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2017.06.019

Clean commercial transportation: Medium and heavy duty fuel cell electric trucks
journal, February 2017

The evaluation of developing vehicle technologies on the fuel economy of long-haul trucks
journal, December 2015

Reducing the energy consumption of heavy goods vehicles through the application of lightweight trailers: Fleet case studies
journal, December 2015

  • Galos, Joel; Sutcliffe, Michael; Cebon, David
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 41
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2015.09.010

Fuel savings on a heavy vehicle via aerodynamic drag reduction
journal, July 2010

  • Mohamed-Kassim, Zulfaa; Filippone, Antonio
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 15, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2010.02.010

Thermal analysis and simulation of a Li-ion battery pack for a lightweight commercial EV
journal, April 2017

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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Global Transportation Demand Development with Impacts on the Energy Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a Climate-Constrained World
    journal, October 2019

    • Khalili, Siavash; Rantanen, Eetu; Bogdanov, Dmitrii
    • Energies, Vol. 12, Issue 20
    • DOI: 10.3390/en12203870
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      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      Table 1 (p. 8)table
      Figure 1 (p. 9)figure
      Figure 2 (p. 12)figure
      Figure 3 (p. 15)figure
      Figure 4 (p. 16)figure
      Figure 5 (p. 17)figure
      Figure 6 (p. 19)figure
      Figure 7 (p. 23)figure
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