Lifecycle assessment and environmental impacts of hybrid electric vehicles fuelled by bioethanol and biogas

Abstract

This work presents an assessment of the environmental impacts of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by integrating cradle-to-grave (C2G) and well-to-wheel (WTW) evaluations. GREET, GASEQ and SimaPro software were applied to assess HEV and PHEV production models available in the UK, Spain, and Brazil, fuelled by 100 % sugarcane bioethanol, blends of gasoline with bioethanol concentrations of 5 % (E5), 10 % (E10), and 27 % (E27), and dual-fuel operation of those fuels with 50 % and 80 % biogas. In comparison with conventional vehicles, the results reveal that PHEVs and HEVs reduce WTW carbon dioxide emissions from 59 to 68 % and 23–54 %, respectively, for all countries and fuels evaluated. The use of PHEVs in Brazil, where renewable sources account for 83 % of the electricity matrix, demonstrated lower overall environmental impacts than their operation in the UK and Spain. The findings conclude that HEVs and PHEVs operating with the biofuels are instrumental to reduce the carbon footprint of the transportation sector as transitionary or complementary technology to battery electric vehicles (BEVs).