IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v75y2014icp194-203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Well-to-wheel analysis of direct and indirect use of natural gas in passenger vehicles

Author

Listed:
  • Curran, Scott J.
  • Wagner, Robert M.
  • Graves, Ronald L.
  • Keller, Martin
  • Green, Johney B.

Abstract

The abundance of natural gas in the United States because of the number of existing natural gas reserves and the recent advances in extracting unconventional reserves has been one of the main drivers for low natural gas prices. A question arises of what is the optimal use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Is it more efficient to use natural gas in a stationary power application to generate electricity to charge electric vehicles, compress natural gas for onboard combustion in vehicles, or re-form natural gas into a denser transportation fuel? This study investigates the well-to-wheels energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from various natural gas to transportation fuel pathways and compares the results to conventional gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles using the US electrical generation mix. Specifically, natural gas vehicles running on compressed natural gas are compared against electric vehicles charged with electricity produced solely from natural gas combustion in stationary power plants. The results of the study show that the dependency on the combustion efficiency of natural gas in stationary power can outweigh the inherent efficiency of electric vehicles, thus highlighting the importance of examining energy use on a well-to-wheels basis.

Suggested Citation

  • Curran, Scott J. & Wagner, Robert M. & Graves, Ronald L. & Keller, Martin & Green, Johney B., 2014. "Well-to-wheel analysis of direct and indirect use of natural gas in passenger vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 194-203.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:75:y:2014:i:c:p:194-203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.07.035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214008573
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2014.07.035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Torchio, Marco F. & Santarelli, Massimo G., 2010. "Energy, environmental and economic comparison of different powertrain/fuel options using well-to-wheels assessment, energy and external costs – European market analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4156-4171.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ji, Shaobo & Chen, Qiulin & Shu, Minglei & Tian, Guohong & Liao, Baoliang & Lv, Chengju & Li, Meng & Lan, Xin & Cheng, Yong, 2020. "Influence of operation management on fuel consumption of coach fleet," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    2. Dmitriy Grushevenko & Ekaterina Grushevenko & Vyacheslav Kulagin, 2018. "Energy Consumption of the Russian Road Transportation Sector: Prospects for Inter-Fuel Competition in Terms of Technological Innovation," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 35-44.
    3. Saldarriaga-C., Carlos A. & Salazar, Harold, 2016. "Security of the Colombian energy supply: The need for liquefied natural gas regasification terminals for power and natural gas sectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 349-362.
    4. Khan, Muhammad Imran & Shahrestani, Mehdi & Hayat, Tasawar & Shakoor, Abdul & Vahdati, Maria, 2019. "Life cycle (well-to-wheel) energy and environmental assessment of natural gas as transportation fuel in Pakistan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1738-1752.
    5. Deng, Yelin & Li, Jianyang & Li, Tonghui & Zhang, Jingyi & Yang, Fan & Yuan, Chris, 2017. "Life cycle assessment of high capacity molybdenum disulfide lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 77-88.
    6. Patil, V. & Shastry, V. & Himabindu, M. & Ravikrishna, R.V., 2016. "Life-cycle analysis of energy and greenhouse gas emissions of automotive fuels in India: Part 2 – Well-to-wheels analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 699-712.
    7. Krystian Pietrzak & Oliwia Pietrzak, 2020. "Environmental Effects of Electromobility in a Sustainable Urban Public Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Jang, Won-Jun & Jeong, Dae-Woon & Shim, Jae-Oh & Kim, Hak-Min & Roh, Hyun-Seog & Son, In Hyuk & Lee, Seung Jae, 2016. "Combined steam and carbon dioxide reforming of methane and side reactions: Thermodynamic equilibrium analysis and experimental application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 80-91.
    9. Seungho Jeon & Minyoung Roh & Almas Heshmati & Suduk Kim, 2020. "An Assessment of Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Cars in South Korea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-13, September.
    10. Yuan, Zhiyi & Ou, Xunmin & Peng, Tianduo & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2019. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of multi-pathways natural gas vehicles in china considering methane leakage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Girma T. Chala & Abd Rashid Abd Aziz & Ftwi Y. Hagos, 2018. "Natural Gas Engine Technologies: Challenges and Energy Sustainability Issue," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-44, October.
    12. Li, Mengyu & Zhang, Xiongwen & Li, Guojun, 2016. "A comparative assessment of battery and fuel cell electric vehicles using a well-to-wheel analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 693-704.
    13. Arminda Almeida & Nuno Sousa & João Coutinho-Rodrigues, 2019. "Quest for Sustainability: Life-Cycle Emissions Assessment of Electric Vehicles Considering Newer Li-Ion Batteries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    14. Song, Hongqing & Ou, Xunmin & Yuan, Jiehui & Yu, Mingxu & Wang, Cheng, 2017. "Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of diesel/LNG heavy-duty vehicle fleets in China based on a bottom-up model analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 966-978.
    15. Hao, Han & Liu, Zongwei & Zhao, Fuquan & Li, Weiqi, 2016. "Natural gas as vehicle fuel in China: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 521-533.
    16. Goulding, D. & Fitzpatrick, D. & O'Connor, R. & Browne, J.D. & Power, N.M., 2017. "Supplying bio-compressed natural gas to the transport industry in Ireland: Is the current regulatory framework facilitating or hindering development?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 80-89.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pérez-Martínez, P.J. & Vassallo-Magro, J.M., 2013. "Changes in the external costs of freight surface transport In Spain," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 61-76.
    2. Oreggioni, G.D. & Luberti, M. & Tassou, S.A., 2019. "Agricultural greenhouse CO2 utilization in anaerobic-digestion-based biomethane production plants: A techno-economic and environmental assessment and comparison with CO2 geological storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1753-1766.
    3. Jochem, Patrick & Doll, Claus & Fichtner, Wolf, 2016. "External costs of electric vehicles," MPRA Paper 91602, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Orsi, Francesco & Muratori, Matteo & Rocco, Matteo & Colombo, Emanuela & Rizzoni, Giorgio, 2016. "A multi-dimensional well-to-wheels analysis of passenger vehicles in different regions: Primary energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic cost," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 197-209.
    5. Rusich, Andrea & Danielis, Romeo, 2013. "The private and social monetary costs and the energy consumption of a car. An estimate for seven cars with different vehicle technologies on sale in Italy," Working Papers 1301, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica, revised 2013.
    6. Jörg Firnkorn & Martin Müller, 2012. "Selling Mobility instead of Cars: New Business Strategies of Automakers and the Impact on Private Vehicle Holding," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 264-280, May.
    7. Jan Polaszczyk & Maria Kubacka, 2021. "Comparison Analysis of Energy Markets‘ Aspects in the Visegrad Group Countries," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4B), pages 808-823.
    8. Anam Nadeem & Mosè Rossi & Erica Corradi & Lingkang Jin & Gabriele Comodi & Nadeem Ahmed Sheikh, 2022. "Energy-Environmental Planning of Electric Vehicles (EVs): A Case Study of the National Energy System of Pakistan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Mayyas, Ahmad T. & Qattawi, Ala & Mayyas, Abdel Raouf & Omar, Mohammed A., 2012. "Life cycle assessment-based selection for a sustainable lightweight body-in-white design," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 412-425.
    10. Correa, G. & Muñoz, P.M. & Rodriguez, C.R., 2019. "A comparative energy and environmental analysis of a diesel, hybrid, hydrogen and electric urban bus," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Raslavičius, Laurencas & Starevičius, Martynas & Keršys, Artūras & Pilkauskas, Kęstutis & Vilkauskas, Andrius, 2013. "Performance of an all-electric vehicle under UN ECE R101 test conditions: A feasibility study for the city of Kaunas, Lithuania," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 436-448.
    12. Rusich, Andrea & Danielis, Romeo, 2015. "Total cost of ownership, social lifecycle cost and energy consumption of various automotive technologies in Italy," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 3-16.
    13. Khan, Muhammad Imran & Shahrestani, Mehdi & Hayat, Tasawar & Shakoor, Abdul & Vahdati, Maria, 2019. "Life cycle (well-to-wheel) energy and environmental assessment of natural gas as transportation fuel in Pakistan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1738-1752.
    14. Yang, Siyu & Yang, Qingchun & Qian, Yu, 2013. "A composite efficiency metrics for evaluation of resource and energy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 455-462.
    15. Lazzeroni, Paolo & Cirimele, Vincenzo & Canova, Aldo, 2021. "Economic and environmental sustainability of Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer for electric vehicles supporting reduction of local air pollutant emissions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Lim, Steven & Lee, Keat Teong, 2012. "Implementation of biofuels in Malaysian transportation sector towards sustainable development: A case study of international cooperation between Malaysia and Japan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 1790-1800.
    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. Danielis, Romeo & Giansoldati, Marco & Scorrano, Mariangela, 2019. "Consumer- and society-oriented cost of ownership of electric and conventional cars in Italy," Working Papers 19_3, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    19. Correa, G. & Muñoz, P. & Falaguerra, T. & Rodriguez, C.R., 2017. "Performance comparison of conventional, hybrid, hydrogen and electric urban buses using well to wheel analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 537-549.
    20. Rusich, Andrea & Danielis, Romeo, 2013. "The private and social monetary costs and the energy consumption of a car. An estimate for seven cars with different vehicle technologies on sale in Italy," Working Papers 13_1, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica, revised 2013.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:75:y:2014:i:c:p:194-203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.