Analysis on carbon emission reduction intensity of fuel cell vehicles from a life-cycle perspective

Abstract

The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is rapidly developing in China for carbon reduction and neutrality. This paper evaluated the life-cycle cost and carbon emission of hydrogen energy via lots of field surveys, including hydrogen production and packing in chlor-alkali plants, transport by tube trailers, storage and refueling in hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs), and application for use in two different cities. It also conducted a comparative study for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The result indicates that hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) has the best environmental performance but the highest energy cost. However, a sufficient hydrogen supply can significantly reduce the carbon intensity and FCV energy cost of the current system. The carbon emission for FCV application has the potential to decrease by 73.1% in City A and 43.8% in City B. It only takes 11.0%–20.1% of the BEV emission and 8.2%–9.8% of the ICEV emission. The cost of FCV driving can be reduced by 39.1% in City A. Further improvement can be obtained with an economical and “greener” hydrogen production pathway.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

hydrogen energy / life-cycle assessment (LCA) / fuel cell vehicle / carbon emission / energy cost

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Consulting Research Project of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (Grant No. 2019-XZ-51).

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0909-1 and is accessible for authorized users.

Notations

ANL	Argonne National Laboratory
AP	Alpha plant
BEV	Battery electric vehicle
CCUS	Carbon capture utilization and storage
ETS	Emissions trading system
FCB	Fuel cell bus
FCV	Fuel cell vehicle
GHG	Greenhouse gas
HRS	Hydrogen refueling station
ICEV	Internal combustion engine vehicle
IEA	International Energy Agency
LCA	Life-cycle assessment
NEV	New energy vehicle
NG	Nature gas
OEM	Original equipment manufacturer
WTW	Well-to-wheel
C	Energy cost
CO2	CO2 emission
E	Energy consumption
F	CO2 emission factor of energy
M	Mass
N	Vehicle number
p	Pressure
P	Energy price
Pe	Electricity power
Q	Flow rate
S	Hydrogen delivery distance
ρ	Density
boos	Booster
comp	Compressor
diesel	Diesel
driv	Driving
elec	Electricity
E	Energy
LC	Life cycle
Oper	Operation
Pack	Packing
Prod	Production
Refu	Refueling
Sale	Sale
Stor	Storage
Tank	On-board hydrogen tank
Tran	Transport
u	Unit

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