Life cycle cost analysis of alternative vehicles and fuels in Thailand

High crude oil prices and pollution problems have drawn attention to alternative vehicle technologies and fuels for the transportation sector. The question is: What are the benefits/costs of these technologies for society? To answer this question in a quantitative way, a web-based model (http://vehiclesandfuels.memebot.com) has been developed to calculate the societal life cycle costs, the consumer life cycle costs and the tax for different vehicle technologies. By comparing these costs it is possible to draw conclusions about the social benefit and the related tax structure. The model should help to guide decisions toward optimality, which refers to maximum social benefit. The model was applied to the case of Thailand. The life cycle cost of 13 different alternative vehicle technologies in Thailand have been calculated and the tax structure analyzed.     

Life cycle cost analysis of HPVT air collector under different Indian climatic conditions

In this communication, a study is carried out to evaluate an annual thermal and exergy efficiency of a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (HPVT) air collector for different Indian climate conditions, of Srinagar, Mumbai, Jodhpur, New Delhi and Banglore. The study has been based on electrical, thermal and exergy output of the HPVT air collector. Further, the life cycle analysis in terms of cost/kWh has been carried out. The main focus of the study is to see the effect of interest rate, life of the HPVT air collector, subsidy, etc. on the cost/kWh HPVT air collector. A comparison is made keeping in view the energy matrices. The study reveals that (i) annual thermal and electrical efficiency decreases with increase in solar radiation and (ii) the cost/kWh is higher in case of exergy when compared with cost/kWh on the basis of thermal energy for all climate conditions. The cost/kWh for climate conditions of Jodhpur is most economical.     

The cost analysis of hydrogen life cycle in China

Currently, the increasing price of oil and the possibility of global energy crisis demand for substitutive energy to replace fossil energy. Many kinds of renewable energy have been considered, such as hydrogen, solar energy, and wind energy. Many countries including China have their own plan to support the research of hydrogen, because of its premier features. But, at present, the cost of hydrogen energy production, storage and transportation process is higher than that of fossil energy and its commercialization progress is slow. Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) was used in this paper to evaluate the cost of hydrogen energy throughout the life cycle focused on the stratagem selection, to demonstrate the costs of every step and to discuss their relationship. Finally, the minimum cost program is as follows: natural gas steam reforming – high-pressure hydrogen bottles transported by car to hydrogen filling stations – hydrogen internal-combustion engines.     

Life cycle analysis and cost of a molten carbonate fuel cell prototype

The LCA is a method enabling the performance of a complete study on the environmental impacts of the product, taking into consideration all its life cycle (“from the cradle to the tomb” or, better “from the cradle to the cradle” when also the maximum recycling/reusing of the materials is provided. There are many procedures to perform an LCA of the consumers’ products. In particular, the SUMMA method (Sustainability Multi-criteria Multi-scale Assessment) allows obtaining a number of indices of efficiency and environmental sustainability which make the LCA assessment much more complete and significant. LCA method often represents the basis for an additional assessment of industrial products and processes, the LCC (Life Cycle Costing) which, allowing the association of economic variables to any phase of the life cycle, represents a useful tool for financial planning and management. The case study analysed in the present work concerns an LCA analysis, using the SUMMA method and the LCC of one small size molten carbonate fuel cell, 2.5 kW, assembled in the Fuel Cells Laboratory within the Educational Pole of Terni at the Università degli Studi di Perugia. For sake of completeness of the results, the methods Ecoindicator99 and Impact2002 + were used in the analysis, as implemented in the used calculation software, the SimaPro 7.1 by PRè Consultants. From the registered results, it emerges that the environmental energy sustainability of the analysed element enables its widespread and in-depth employment in the phase subsequent to the optimisation of the connected economic frame; the scenarios opened by the present work envisage great margins of improvements of said aspects in the future experiments.     

Life cycle costing of diesel,natural gas,hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell bus systems: An Australian case study

The transit authority in Perth, Western Australia, has put several alternative fuel buses, including diesel-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell buses, into revenue service over the years alongside conventional diesel and natural gas buses. Primary data from this fleet is used to construct a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) model, providing an empirical LCC result. The model is then used to forecast possible scenarios using cost estimates for next generation technologies. The methodology follows the Australian/New Zealand Standard for Life Cycle Costing, AS/NZS 4536:1999. The model outputs a dollar value in real terms that represents the LCC of each bus transportation technology. The study finds that Diesel buses deliver the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The diesel-electric hybrid bus was found to have a TCO that is about 10% higher than conventional diesel. The premium to implement and operate a hydrogen bus, even if industry targets are attained, is still substantially greater than the TCO of a conventional diesel bus, unless a very large increase in the diesel fuel price occurs. However, the hybrid and hydrogen technologies are still very young in comparison to diesel and economies of scale are yet to be realised.     

Life cycle cost analysis of energy efficiency design options for refrigerators in Brazil

The purpose of this paper was to present the results of a life cycle cost analysis concerning the purchase and operation of a more efficient popular refrigerator model compared with a baseline design in Brazil. The summarized results may be useful for organizations working to promote sustainable energy development. This paper specifically focuses on refrigerators, since their energy consumption is predicted to constitute over 30% of the total average domestic electricity bill in Brazilian households. If all new Brazilian refrigerators had an energy efficiency at the level consistent with the least life cycle cost of ownership, it would result in an annual savings of 2.8 billion dollars (US$) in electricity bills, 45 TWh of electricity demand, and 18 Mt of CO₂ emissions, with a respective payback period of 7 years which is less than half the average estimated lifetime of a refrigerator. The analysis was conducted following the guidelines of similar analyses available from the US Department of Energy and the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program.

Life cycle cost analysis to examine the economical feasibility of hydrogen as an alternative fuel

This study uses a life cycle costing (LCC) methodology to identify when hydrogen can become economically feasible compared to the conventional fuels and which energy policy is the most effective at fostering the penetration of hydrogen in the competitive fuel market. The target hydrogen pathways in this study are H₂ via natural gas steam reforming (NG SR), H₂ via naphtha steam reforming (Naphtha SR), H₂ via liquefied petroleum gas steam reforming (LPG SR), and H₂ via water electrolysis (WE). In addition, the conventional fuels (gasoline, diesel) are also included for the comparison with the H₂ pathways.     

Life cycle cost analysis of a multi-storey residential Net Zero Energy Building in Denmark

It is well recognized that in the long run, the implementation of energy efficiency measures is a more cost-optimal solution in contrast to taking no action. However, the Net ZEB concept raises a new issue: how far should we go with energy efficiency measures and when should we start to apply renewable energy technologies? This analysis adopts the LCC methodology and uses a multi-family Net ZEB to find the answer to this question. Moreover, it looks at the issue from the building owner’s perspective, hence it should be seen as a private economy analysis. The study includes three levels of energy demand and three alternatives of energy supply systems: (1) photovoltaic installation with photovoltaic/solar thermal collectors and an ambient air/solar source heat pump; (2) photovoltaic installation with a ground-source heat pump; (3) photovoltaic installation with district heating grid. The results indicate that in order to build a cost-effective Net ZEB, the energy use should be reduced to a minimum leaving just a small amount of left energy use to be covered by renewable energy generation. Moreover, from the user perspective in the Danish context, the district heating grid is a more expensive source of heat than a heat pump for the Net ZEB.     

Environmental life cycle assessment of alternative fuels for city buses: A case study in Oujda city,Morocco

The road transport sector, particularly public transport, generates significant greenhouse gas emissions due to the excessive use of petroleum-based fuels. The use of alternative fuels with lower environmental impacts is therefore a major challenge to move towards a more sustainable public transport sector. In this context, the current study presents an environmental life cycle assessment of alternative buses, including hybrid (diesel-electricity), electric, and fuel cell buses at a city level in Oujda, Morocco. This study is perfromed according to three main outputs: total energy use by fuel type, GHG emissions, and criteria air pollutants. It is concluded that electric and fuel cell buses represent efficient and sustainable alternatives to public transport during the operational phase and their deployment in Oujda city can potentially offer significant environmental savings in terms of GHG emissions and air pollutants during both the WTT and TTW phases.     

Life cycle cost analysis of single slope hybrid (PV/T) active solar still

This paper presents the life cycle cost analysis of the single slope passive and hybrid photovoltaic (PV/T) active solar stills, based on the annual performance at 0.05 m water depth. Effects of various parameters, namely interest rate, life of the system and the maintenance cost have been taken into account. The comparative cost of distilled water produced from passive solar still (Rs. 0.70/kg) is found to be less than hybrid (PV/T) active solar still (Rs. 1.93/kg) for 30 years life time of the systems. The payback periods of the passive and hybrid (PV/T) active solar still are estimated to be in the range of 1.1–6.2 years and 3.3–23.9 years, respectively, based on selling price of distilled water in the range of Rs. 10/kg to Rs. 2/kg. The energy payback time (EPBT) has been estimated as 2.9 and 4.7 years, respectively.     

Life cycle cost analysis: A case study of hydrogen energy application on the Orkney Islands

Hydrogen can compensate for the intermittent nature of some renewable energy sources and encompass the options of supplying renewables to offset the use of fossil fuels. The integrating of hydrogen application into the energy system will change the current energy market. Therefore, this paper deploys the life cycle cost analysis of hydrogen production by polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis and applications for electricity and mobility purposes. The hydrogen production process includes electricity generated from wind turbines, PEM electrolyser, hydrogen compression, storage, and distribution by H₂ truck and tube trailer. The hydrogen application process includes PEM fuel cell stacks generating electricity, a H₂ refuelling station supplying hydrogen, and range extender fuel cell electric vehicles (RE-FCEVs). The cost analysis is conducted from a demonstration project of green hydrogen on a remote archipelago. The methodology of life cycle cost is employed to conduct the cost of hydrogen production and application. Five scenarios are developed to compare the cost of hydrogen applications with the conventional energy sources considering CO₂ emission cost. The comparisons show the cost of using hydrogen for energy purposes is still higher than the cost of using fossil fuels. The largest contributor of the cost is the electricity consumption. In the sensitivity analysis, policy supports such as feed-in tariff (FITs) could bring completive of hydrogen with fossil fuels in current energy market.     

Life cycle assessment of power generation alternatives for a stand-alone mobile house

This paper presents comparative life cycle assessment of nine different hybrid power generation solutions that meet the energy demand of a prototypical mobile home. In these nine solutions, photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine are used as the main energy source. Fuel cell and diesel generator are utilized as backup systems. Batteries, compressed H₂, and H₂ in metal hydrides are employed as backup energy storage. The findings of the study shows that renewable energy sources, although they are carbon-free, are not as environmentally friendly as may generally be thought. The comparative findings of this study indicate that a hybrid system with a wind turbine as a main power source and a diesel engine as backup power system is the most environmentally sound solution among the alternatives.     

Life cycle cost of conventional,battery electric,and fuel cell electric vehicles considering traffic and environmental policies in China

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered a promising alternative to conventional vehicles (CVs) to alleviate the oil crisis and reduce urban air pollution and carbon emissions. Consumers usually focus on the tangible cost when choosing an EV or CV but overlook the time cost for restricting purchase or driving and the environmental cost from gas emissions, falling to have a comprehensive understanding of the economic competitiveness of CVs and EVs. In this study, a life cycle cost model for vehicles is conducted to express traffic and environmental policies in monetary terms, which are called intangible cost and external cost, respectively. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), and CVs are compared in four first-tier, four new first-tier, and 4 s-tier and below cities in China. The comparison shows that BEVs and FCEVs in most cities are incomparable with CVs in terms of tangible cost. However, the prominent traffic and environmental policies in first-tier cities, especially in Beijing and Shanghai, greatly increase the intangible and external costs of CVs, making consumers more inclined to purchase BEVs and FCEVs. The main policy benefits of BEVs and FCEVs come from three aspects: government subsidies, purchase and driving restrictions, and environmental taxes. With the predictable reduction in government subsidies, traffic and environmental policies present important factors influencing the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs. In first-tier cities, BEVs and FCEVs already have a competitive foundation for large-scale promotion. In new first-tier and second-tier and below cities, stricter traffic and environmental policies need to be formulated to offset the negative impact of the reduction in government subsidies on the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis reveals that increasing the mileage and reducing fuel prices can significantly improve the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs, respectively.     

Life cycle analysis of processes for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is considered to be an ideal energy carrier in the foreseeable future and can play a very important role in the energy system. A variety of technologies can be used to produce hydrogen. One of the most remarkable methods for large-scale hydrogen production is thermo-chemical water decomposition using heat energy from nuclear, solar and other sources. Detailed simulations of the two most promising water splitting thermo-chemical cycles (the Westinghouse cycle and the Sulphur-Iodine cycle) were performed in Aspen Plus code and obtained results were used for life cycle analysis. They were compared with two different processes for hydrogen production (coal gasification and coal pyrolysis). Some of the results obtained from LCA are also reported in the paper.     

Life cycle assessment and environmental life cycle costing analysis of lignocellulosic bioethanol as an alternative transportation fuel

The objective of this paper is to conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Life Cycle Costing (ELCC) studies for lignocellulosic bioethanol blends [E10 and E85 (10% and 85% by volume of bioethanol with gasoline, respectively)] and conventional gasoline (CG). To compare the environmental performance and economic advantage of the selected fuel blends, the impact potentials and the cost of fuel applications per kilometer by a middle size car was evaluated. According the LCA results, one kilometer driven by E10 and E85 fueled vehicles could reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4.3% and 47% and ozone layer depletion emissions by 3% and 66%, respectively, relative to CG. However, shifting from gasoline to bioethanol increases the emissions that contribute to eutrophication and photochemical ozone depletion. In terms of acidification potential, E85 shows a more favorable result relative to E10 and CG. According to the ELCC analysis, E85 fuel use provides a 23% lower driving cost relative to CG based on a-1 km driving distance. The results showed that E85 seems to be the best alternative in terms of both GHG emission and fuel production cost reduction compare to CG.     

Influence of driving patterns on life cycle cost and emissions of hybrid and plug-in electric vehicle powertrains

We compare the potential of hybrid, extended-range plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles to reduce lifetime cost and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions under various scenarios and simulated driving conditions. We find that driving conditions affect economic and environmental benefits of electrified vehicles substantially: Under the urban NYC driving cycle, hybrid and plug-in vehicles can cut life cycle emissions by 60% and reduce costs up to 20% relative to conventional vehicles (CVs). In contrast, under highway test conditions (HWFET) electrified vehicles offer marginal emissions reductions at higher costs. NYC conditions with frequent stops triple life cycle emissions and increase costs of conventional vehicles by 30%, while aggressive driving (US06) reduces the all-electric range of plug-in vehicles by up to 45% compared to milder test cycles (like HWFET). Vehicle window stickers, fuel economy standards, and life cycle studies using average lab-test vehicle efficiency estimates are therefore incomplete: (1) driver heterogeneity matters, and efforts to encourage adoption of hybrid and plug-in vehicles will have greater impact if targeted to urban drivers vs. highway drivers; and (2) electrified vehicles perform better on some drive cycles than others, so non-representative tests can bias consumer perception and regulation of alternative technologies. We discuss policy implications.     

Life cycle analysis for bioethanol production from sugar beet crops in Greece

The main aim of this study is to evaluate whether the potential transformation of the existing sugar plants of Northern Greece to modern bioethanol plants, using the existing cultivations of sugar beet, would be an environmentally sustainable decision. Using Life Cycle Inventory and Impact Assessment, all processes for bioethanol production from sugar beets were analyzed, quantitative data were collected and the environmental loads of the final product (bioethanol) and of each process were estimated. The final results of the environmental impact assessment are encouraging since bioethanol production gives better results than sugar production for the use of the same quantity of sugar beets. If the old sugar plants were transformed into modern bioethanol plants, the total reduction of the environmental load would be, at least, 32.6% and a reduction of more than 2 tons of CO₂e/sugar beet of ha cultivation could be reached. Moreover bioethanol production was compared to conventional fuel (gasoline), as well as to other types of biofuels (biodiesel from Greek cultivations).     

Optimum energy evaluation and life cycle cost assessment of a hydrogen liquefaction system assisted by geothermal energy

In this study, analyses of the thermodynamic performance and life cycle cost of a geothermal energy-assisted hydrogen liquefaction system were performed in a computer environment. Geothermal water at a temperature of 200 °C and a flow rate of 100 kg/s was used to produce electricity. The produced electricity was used as a work input to liquefy the hydrogen in the advanced liquefaction cycle. The net work requirement for the liquefaction cycle was calculated as 8.6 kWh/kg LH₂. The geothermal power plant was considered as the work input in the liquefaction cycle. The hydrogen could be liquefied at a mass flow rate of 0.2334 kg/s as the produced electricity was used directly to produce liquid hydrogen in the liquefaction cycle. The unit costs of electricity and liquefied hydrogen were calculated as 0.012 $/kWh and 1.44 $/kg LH₂. As a result of the life cycle cost analysis of the system, the net present value (NPV) and levelized annual cost (LAC) were calculated as 123,100,000 and 14,450,000 $/yr. The simple payback period (N_spp) and discount payback period (N_dpp) of the system were calculated as 2.9 and 3.6 years, respectively.     

Life cycle assessment of stand-alone photovoltaic (SAPV) system under on-field conditions of New Delhi,India

In this paper, life cycle analysis has been carried out to evaluate overall performance of given rated stand-alone solar photovoltaic (SAPV) in terms of basic energy matrices, life cycle cost analysis, and earned carbon credit. Further, the experimentally calculated actual on-field life cycle performance results of existing outdoor SAPV system (i.e. almost 20 years old) have been represented with respect to the potential (max.) performance of same SAPV system estimated under same environmental conditions of solar intensity, ambient temperature, PV operating temperature as obtained during actual on-field performance evaluation. This new approach of overall performance evaluation by considering the on-field SAPV system installation as new (i.e. with potential/max. performance) and old (i.e. with actual performance) under same environmental conditions provides an inclusive comparative life cycle assessment of on-field PV system.