IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i14p5565-d382790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Energy Sources for the Western Australian Transport Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Najmul Hoque

    (School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia)

  • Wahidul Biswas

    (Sustainability Engineering Group, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia)

  • Ilyas Mazhar

    (School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia)

  • Ian Howard

    (School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia)

Abstract

Environmental obligation, fuel security, and human health issues have fuelled the search for locally produced sustainable transport fuels as an alternative to liquid petroleum. This study evaluates the sustainability performance of various alternative energy sources, namely, ethanol, electricity, electricity-gasoline hybrid, and hydrogen, for Western Australian road transport using a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework. The framework employs 11 triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability indicators and uses threshold values for benchmarking sustainability practices. A number of improvement strategies were devised based on the hotspots once the alternative energy sources failed to meet the sustainability threshold for the determined indicators. The proposed framework effectively addresses the issue of interdependencies between the three pillars of sustainability, which was an inherent weakness of previous frameworks. The results show that the environment-friendly and socially sustainable energy options, namely, ethanol-gasoline blend E55, electricity, electricity-E10 hybrid, and hydrogen, would need around 0.02, 0.14, 0.10, and 0.71 AUD/VKT of financial support, respectively, to be comparable to gasoline. Among the four assessed options, hydrogen shows the best performance for the environmental and social bottom line when renewable electricity is employed for hydrogen production. The economic sustainability of hydrogen fuel is, however, uncertain at this stage due to the high cost of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs). The robustness of the proposed framework warrants its application in a wide range of alternative fuel assessment scenarios locally as well as globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Najmul Hoque & Wahidul Biswas & Ilyas Mazhar & Ian Howard, 2020. "Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Energy Sources for the Western Australian Transport Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-33, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5565-:d:382790
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5565/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5565/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heidi Garrett-Peltier, 2012. "The Employment Impacts of a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard for Minnesota," Published Studies mncleanfuels_peri_sept14_, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    2. Chye Ing Lim & Wahidul Biswas, 2019. "Sustainability assessment for crude palm oil production in Malaysia using the palm oil sustainability assessment framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 253-269, May.
    3. Harto, Christopher & Meyers, Robert & Williams, Eric, 2010. "Life cycle water use of low-carbon transport fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4933-4944, September.
    4. Akber, Muhammad Zeshan & Thaheem, Muhammad Jamaluddin & Arshad, Husnain, 2017. "Life cycle sustainability assessment of electricity generation in Pakistan: Policy regime for a sustainable energy mix," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 111-126.
    5. Kato, Takeyoshi & Kubota, Mitsuhiro & Kobayashi, Noriyuki & Suzuoki, Yasuo, 2005. "Effective utilization of by-product oxygen from electrolysis hydrogen production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(14), pages 2580-2595.
    6. Sharma, Ashish & Strezov, Vladimir, 2017. "Life cycle environmental and economic impact assessment of alternative transport fuels and power-train technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1132-1141.
    7. Karl Widerquist, 2018. "The Bottom Line," Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee, in: A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, chapter 0, pages 93-98, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Nuri Cihat Onat & Murat Kucukvar & Omer Tatari, 2014. "Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Passenger Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-38, December.
    9. Ekener-Petersen, Elisabeth & Höglund, Jonas & Finnveden, Göran, 2014. "Screening potential social impacts of fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 416-426.
    10. Lu, Bin & Blakers, Andrew & Stocks, Matthew, 2017. "90–100% renewable electricity for the South West Interconnected System of Western Australia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 663-674.
    11. Luo, Lin & van der Voet, Ester & Huppes, Gjalt, 2009. "Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of bioethanol from sugarcane in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1613-1619, August.
    12. Lingxi Kong & Chuan Li & Jiuchun Jiang & Michael G. Pecht, 2018. "Li-Ion Battery Fire Hazards and Safety Strategies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-11, August.
    13. Osorio-Tejada, Jose Luis & Llera-Sastresa, Eva & Scarpellini, Sabina, 2017. "Liquefied natural gas: Could it be a reliable option for road freight transport in the EU?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 785-795.
    14. Wei, Haiqiao & Zhu, Tianyu & Shu, Gequn & Tan, Linlin & Wang, Yuesen, 2012. "Gasoline engine exhaust gas recirculation – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 534-544.
    15. Laslett, Dean & Carter, Craig & Creagh, Chris & Jennings, Philip, 2017. "A large-scale renewable electricity supply system by 2030: Solar, wind, energy efficiency, storage and inertia for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) in Western Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 713-731.
    16. Blakers, Andrew & Lu, Bin & Stocks, Matthew, 2017. "100% renewable electricity in Australia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 471-482.
    17. Man Yu & Anthony Halog, 2015. "Solar Photovoltaic Development in Australia—A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-35, January.
    18. Arslan, RIdvan & Ulusoy, Yahya & Tekin, Yücel & Sürmen, Ali, 2010. "An evaluation of the alternative transport fuel policies for Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 3030-3037, June.
    19. Anders Skonhoft & Bjart Holtsmark, 2014. "The Norwegian support and subsidy of electric cars. Should it be adopted by other countries?," Working Paper Series 15814, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    20. Daylan, B. & Ciliz, N., 2016. "Life cycle assessment and environmental life cycle costing analysis of lignocellulosic bioethanol as an alternative transportation fuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 578-587.
    21. Troy R. Hawkins & Bhawna Singh & Guillaume Majeau‐Bettez & Anders Hammer Strømman, 2013. "Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 17(1), pages 53-64, February.
    22. Keller, Heiko & Rettenmaier, Nils & Reinhardt, Guido Andreas, 2015. "Integrated life cycle sustainability assessment – A practical approach applied to biorefineries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1072-1081.
    23. Chye Ing Lim & Wahidul Biswas, 2015. "An Evaluation of Holistic Sustainability Assessment Framework for Palm Oil Production in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-27, December.
    24. Karol Tucki & Olga Orynycz & Remigiusz Mruk & Antoni Świć & Katarzyna Botwińska, 2019. "Modeling of Biofuel’s Emissivity for Fuel Choice Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-22, December.
    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. T.E.T Dantas & S.R Soares, 2022. "Systematic literature review on the application of life cycle sustainability assessment in the energy sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1583-1615, February.

    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. Christina Wulf & Jasmin Werker & Christopher Ball & Petra Zapp & Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs, 2019. "Review of Sustainability Assessment Approaches Based on Life Cycles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-43, October.
    2. Nuri Cihat Onat & Murat Kucukvar & Anthony Halog & Scott Cloutier, 2017. "Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-25, April.
    3. T.E.T Dantas & S.R Soares, 2022. "Systematic literature review on the application of life cycle sustainability assessment in the energy sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1583-1615, February.
    4. Hansen, Kenneth & Breyer, Christian & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Status and perspectives on 100% renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 471-480.
    5. Peter Tarne & Marzia Traverso & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2017. "Review of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Potential for Its Adoption at an Automotive Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-23, April.
    6. Martin Kügemann & Heracles Polatidis, 2022. "Methodological Framework to Select Evaluation Criteria for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Road Transportation Fuels and Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Emodi, Nnaemeka Vincent & Chaiechi, Taha & Alam Beg, A.B.M. Rabiul, 2019. "Are emission reduction policies effective under climate change conditions? A backcasting and exploratory scenario approach using the LEAP-OSeMOSYS Model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1183-1217.
    8. Tino Aboumahboub & Robert J. Brecha & Himalaya Bir Shrestha & Ursula Fuentes & Andreas Geiges & William Hare & Michiel Schaeffer & Lara Welder & Matthew J. Gidden, 2020. "Decarbonization of Australia’s Energy System: Integrated Modeling of the Transformation of Electricity, Transportation, and Industrial Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-39, July.
    9. Henning Meschede & Paul Bertheau & Siavash Khalili & Christian Breyer, 2022. "A review of 100% renewable energy scenarios on islands," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(6), November.
    10. Pasquale Marcello Falcone & Sara González García & Enrica Imbert & Lucía Lijó & María Teresa Moreira & Almona Tani & Valentina Elena Tartiu & Piergiuseppe Morone, 2019. "Transitioning towards the bio‐economy: Assessing the social dimension through a stakeholder lens," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1135-1153, September.
    11. Baruah, Debendra Chandra & Enweremadu, Christopher Chintua, 2019. "Prospects of decentralized renewable energy to improve energy access: A resource-inventory-based analysis of South Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 328-341.
    12. 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.
    13. Nzotcha, Urbain & Kenfack, Joseph & Blanche Manjia, Marceline, 2019. "Integrated multi-criteria decision making methodology for pumped hydro-energy storage plant site selection from a sustainable development perspective with an application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 930-947.
    14. Kiwan, Suhil & Al-Gharibeh, Elyasa, 2020. "Jordan toward a 100% renewable electricity system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 423-436.
    15. Matsuo, Yuhji & Endo, Seiya & Nagatomi, Yu & Shibata, Yoshiaki & Komiyama, Ryoichi & Fujii, Yasumasa, 2018. "A quantitative analysis of Japan's optimal power generation mix in 2050 and the role of CO2-free hydrogen," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1200-1219.
    16. Yunesky Masip Macía & Pablo Rodríguez Machuca & Angel Alexander Rodríguez Soto & Roberto Carmona Campos, 2021. "Green Hydrogen Value Chain in the Sustainability for Port Operations: Case Study in the Region of Valparaiso, Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Ahmed Zainul Abideen & Veera Pandiyan Kaliani Sundram & Shahryar Sorooshian, 2023. "Scope for Sustainable Development of Small Holder Farmers in the Palm Oil Supply Chain—A Systematic Literature Review and Thematic Scientific Mapping," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Colbertaldo, Paolo & Guandalini, Giulio & Campanari, Stefano, 2018. "Modelling the integrated power and transport energy system: The role of power-to-gas and hydrogen in long-term scenarios for Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 592-601.
    19. Collotta, M. & Champagne, P. & Tomasoni, G. & Alberti, M. & Busi, L. & Mabee, W., 2019. "Critical indicators of sustainability for biofuels: An analysis through a life cycle sustainabilty assessment perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    20. Obara, Shin'ya & Ito, Yuji & Okada, Masaki, 2018. "Optimization algorithm for power-source arrangement that levels the fluctuations in wide-area networks of renewable energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 447-461.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5565-:d:382790. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.