What is the world’s greenest car?
You could be forgiven for thinking that would be a simple enough question to answer; that there should be a list somewhere. After all, what comes out of the tailpipe is used as a basis for legislation.
Much more important, however, and ignored by legislation, are the cradle-to-grave CO2 emissions generated during a car’s lifetime.
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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed by most manufacturers, scientific bodies and engineering consultants such as Ricardo. The results can be revealing and sometimes contradict the simplistic yardstick of tailpipe emissions used today.
Ricardo breaks LCA into four main blocks: creation and distribution of fuel; vehicle production; vehicle use; and vehicle disposal. Each one of these categories generates CO2 and yet only the tailpipe emissions of the vehicle use phase are accounted for in legislation.
1. Creation and distribution of fuel
The first thing analysts consider is the primary energy source – where the fuel comes from. It’s obvious that petrol and diesel, derived from crude oil, create tailpipe emissions, but factor in the energy used to extract and refine them and the CO2 burden goes even higher. Biofuels still produce CO2 emissions at the tailpipe but it’s compensated for by the absorption of CO2 when the crops used to make it were growing.
Any CO2 liberated during their production and distribution should be included in establishing green credentials. The CO2 emissions from battery EVs during use depends on the sustainability of the electricity used to charge them.
2. Vehicle production
The CO2 burden of any car starts even before the idea has been signed off. The design and development process – testing and movement of thousands of people, together with heat and light for offices – contribute to small amounts of embedded CO2. The production phase is the bigger villain, taking into account the supply chain, from raw materials to finished product. The choice of materials, powertrain, size, weight and the number of components all affect the car’s carbon footprint.
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And this is the key point....
"The CO2 emissions from battery EVs during use depends on the sustainability of the electricity used to charge them."
So we can greatly improve EV CO2 production just by changing the grid supply. Or adding solar panels to your house. You cannot ever affect the CO2 performance of the ICE fleet this way by changing upstream supply effects. It's embedded in the Parc whilst a BEV is fuel agnostic at the point of generation, it's only the electricity they care about, not how it was generated.
The sooner everyone understands this, the better the future will look and we can get rid of these crazy greenwash arguments being put about by ICE supporters about sustainability of EVs when ICE powered cars are so much more demonstrably worse. As the Ricardo repot used as the source for this article so clearly demonstrates. Well worth a read.
missing information
based on the mileage you do, the reduced exhaust emissions of the new car, and the production emissions created by the manufacture of a new car; how long do you need to have the new car for it to have only "offset" it's creation, and not actually yet improved the environment? and then, how does that compare to the average age of cars on the roads? has anyone else noticed that when Gordon Murray was talking about this and creating iStream, everyone said he was being silly, but now it's becoming a valid point?
And all this depends on Honesty
Ash overall cradle to grave assessment is what is required, but the opportunities for manufacturers to cook the books for financial gain are enormous.
I think a good start would be for all involved to be open and honest. Those who served should feel the wrath of consumers, the press and the law. Immoral manufacturers should be recognised as pariahs of society.
We will never resolve such issues as global warming and pollution whilst these organisations are above the law.