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Life Cycle Assessment of Diesel and Electric Public Transportation Buses

Author

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  • Greg Cooney
  • Troy R. Hawkins
  • Joe Marriott

Abstract

The Clean Air Act in the United States identifies diesel‐powered motor vehicles, including transit buses, as significant sources of several criteria pollutants that contribute to ground‐level ozone formation or smog. The effects of air pollution in urban areas are often more significant due to congestion and can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular health impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been utilized in the literature to compare conventional gasoline‐powered passenger cars with various types of electric and hybrid‐powered alternatives, however, no similarly detailed studies exist for mass transit buses. LCA results from this study indicate that the use phase, consisting of diesel production/combustion for the conventional bus and electricity generation for the electric bus, dominates most impact categories; however, the effects of battery production are significant for global warming, carcinogens, ozone depletion, and eco‐toxicity. There is a clear connection between the mix of power‐generation technologies and the preference for the diesel or electric bus. With the existing U.S. average grid, there is a strong preference for the conventional diesel bus over the electric bus when considering global warming impacts alone. Policy makers must consider regional variations in the electricity grid prior to recommending the use of battery electric buses to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This study found that the electric bus was preferable in only eight states, including Washington and Oregon. Improvements in battery technology reduce the life cycle impacts from the electric bus, but the electricity grid makeup is the dominant variable.

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Cooney & Troy R. Hawkins & Joe Marriott, 2013. "Life Cycle Assessment of Diesel and Electric Public Transportation Buses," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 17(5), pages 689-699, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:17:y:2013:i:5:p:689-699
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12024
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiong, Siqin & Wang, Yunshi & Bai, Bo & Ma, Xiaoming, 2021. "A hybrid life cycle assessment of the large-scale application of electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Oscar Lagnelöv & Gunnar Larsson & Anders Larsolle & Per-Anders Hansson, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Autonomous Electric Field Tractors in Swedish Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Eckard Helmers & Johannes Dietz & Martin Weiss, 2020. "Sensitivity Analysis in the Life-Cycle Assessment of Electric vs. Combustion Engine Cars under Approximate Real-World Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-31, February.
    4. Li, Xiangyi & Castellanos, Sebastian & Maassen, Anne, 2018. "Emerging trends and innovations for electric bus adoption—a comparative case study of contracting and financing of 22 cities in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 470-481.
    5. Manzolli, Jônatas Augusto & Trovão, João Pedro & Antunes, Carlos Henggeler, 2022. "A review of electric bus vehicles research topics – Methods and trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    6. Zhao, Li & Ke, Hanchen & Li, Yuqi & Chen, Yong, 2023. "Research on personalized charging strategy of electric bus under time-varying constraints," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    7. Harris, Andrew & Soban, Danielle & Smyth, Beatrice M. & Best, Robert, 2018. "Assessing life cycle impacts and the risk and uncertainty of alternative bus technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 569-579.
    8. Harris, Andrew & Soban, Danielle & Smyth, Beatrice M. & Best, Robert, 2020. "A probabilistic fleet analysis for energy consumption, life cycle cost and greenhouse gas emissions modelling of bus technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    9. Rupp, Matthias & Handschuh, Nils & Rieke, Christian & Kuperjans, Isabel, 2019. "Contribution of country-specific electricity mix and charging time to environmental impact of battery electric vehicles: A case study of electric buses in Germany," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 618-634.
    10. Mustafa Hamurcu & Tamer Eren, 2020. "Electric Bus Selection with Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Green Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Ercan, Tolga & Zhao, Yang & Tatari, Omer & Pazour, Jennifer A., 2015. "Optimization of transit bus fleet's life cycle assessment impacts with alternative fuel options," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 323-334.
    12. Anna Brdulak & Grażyna Chaberek & Jacek Jagodziński, 2020. "Development Forecasts for the Zero-Emission Bus Fleet in Servicing Public Transport in Chosen EU Member Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    13. Xinkuo Xu & Liyan Han, 2020. "Operational Lifecycle Carbon Value of Bus Electrification in Macau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    14. Kinnon, Michael Mac & Zhu, Shupeng & Carreras-Sospedra, Marc & Soukup, James V. & Dabdub, Donald & Samuelsen, G.S. & Brouwer, Jacob, 2019. "Considering future regional air quality impacts of the transportation sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 63-80.
    15. Le Quyen Luu & Eleonora Riva Sanseverino & Maurizio Cellura & Hoai-Nam Nguyen & Hoai-Phuong Tran & Hong Anh Nguyen, 2022. "Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Air Emissions Comparison of Alternative and Conventional Bus Fleets in Vietnam," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-15, September.
    16. Bi, Zicheng & Keoleian, Gregory A. & Ersal, Tulga, 2018. "Wireless charger deployment for an electric bus network: A multi-objective life cycle optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 1090-1101.
    17. Mahmoud, Moataz & Garnett, Ryan & Ferguson, Mark & Kanaroglou, Pavlos, 2016. "Electric buses: A review of alternative powertrains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 673-684.
    18. Bi, Zicheng & Song, Lingjun & De Kleine, Robert & Mi, Chunting Chris & Keoleian, Gregory A., 2015. "Plug-in vs. wireless charging: Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions for an electric bus system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 11-19.
    19. Say, Kelvin & Csereklyei, Zsuzsanna & Brown, Felix Gabriel & Wang, Changlong, 2023. "The economics of public transport electrification: A case study from Victoria, Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Kristoffer W. Lie & Trym A. Synnevåg & Jacob J. Lamb & Kristian M. Lien, 2021. "The Carbon Footprint of Electrified City Buses: A Case Study in Trondheim, Norway," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-21, February.
    21. Christian Spreafico & Davide Russo, 2020. "Exploiting the Scientific Literature for Performing Life Cycle Assessment about Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    22. Cai, Yanpeng & Applegate, Scott & Yue, Wencong & Cai, Jianying & Wang, Xuan & Liu, Gengyuan & Li, Chunhui, 2017. "A hybrid life cycle and multi-criteria decision analysis approach for identifying sustainable development strategies of Beijing's taxi fleet," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 314-325.
    23. Xu, Yanzhi & Gbologah, Franklin E. & Lee, Dong-Yeon & Liu, Haobing & Rodgers, Michael O. & Guensler, Randall L., 2015. "Assessment of alternative fuel and powertrain transit bus options using real-world operations data: Life-cycle fuel and emissions modeling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 143-159.
    24. Tolga Ercan & Mehdi Noori & Yang Zhao & Omer Tatari, 2016. "On the Front Lines of a Sustainable Transportation Fleet: Applications of Vehicle-to-Grid Technology for Transit and School Buses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-22, March.
    25. Onat, Nuri Cihat & Kucukvar, Murat & Tatari, Omer, 2015. "Conventional, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles? State-based comparative carbon and energy footprint analysis in the United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 36-49.

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