Automotive Engineering - February 2023 - 22

Quicker pathways to
reduce transportation's
CLIMATE
IMPACT
Reducing U.S. vehicle emissions will require policies that support a
variety of alternatives to fossil-fuel-burning, non-hybrid vehicles.
'Perfect' should not be the enemy of 'good.'
by Dave Foster, John Koszewnik, Wallace Wade and Ward Winer
C
urrent U.S. energy policies are laser-focused on addressing
climate change - as they should be. Meanwhile, 2022's
soaring gasoline prices showed that U.S. dependence on
foreign oil continues to be a significant vulnerability for the
economy and national security. Policy options that tackle both issues
- reducing climate-warming carbon emissions as well as oil dependence
- currently center on encouraging the manufacture and purchase
of battery electric vehicles (BEV).
Fully deployed, BEVs could reduce transportation-related emissions
to the lowest possible level. But this strategy alone does not
recognize some of the limitations of BEVs, nor the advantages of
other climate-friendly technologies. Expanding current policies beyond
their focus on BEVs would engage more of the U.S. in the transition
to lower emissions on a quicker timetable.
As engineers who have worked in academia and the auto industry, we
see policy opportunities that could make transportation cleaner and
cheaper more quickly. These opportunities can and should be taken during
the transition to a fully sustainable zero-carbon energy system.
Government policies directed at lowering carbon emissions balance
multiple tradeoffs involving fuels, infrastructure and vehicles.
Sorting through these tradeoffs involves considering not only the
carbon emitted by a transportation technology, but also emissions
involved in the vehicle's manufacture and disposal, as well as the production
of the fuel or electricity it uses. Such lifecycle analyses (LCA)
provide a more accurate picture of the environmental impact of alternative
technologies. They can play a crucial role in helping choose
transition technologies that minimize total carbon emissions during
the nation's transition to a sustainable future.
The LCA prepared by the International Council on Clean
Transportation (ICCT), an independent nonprofit environmental advocacy
group, offers useful insights. The ICCT's data compare today's
baseline level of carbon emissions from vehicles solely powered by
22 February 2023
gasoline-fueled IC engines, which constitute 90% of
new-vehicle sales in the U.S., to other combinations of
power systems and fuels. BEVs using renewable energy
clearly are the most environmentally friendly alternative,
even though they are not truly zero-emission
when all factors are considered.
The current approach to addressing climate change
focuses primarily on the endgame: taking steps to
maximize the number of BEVs on the road as quickly
as possible. However, an alternative approach is to focus
on more rapidly replacing fossil-fuel-burning, nonhybrid
vehicles on the road with multiple vehicle and
fuel alternatives that reduce emissions. We believe
that such policy options are worth exploring as they
could reduce CO2 emissions on a quicker timetable.
The power of " second-best "
Although BEVs work extremely well for some vehicle
owners and applications, they don't work for everyone.
For a homeowner with solar panels on the roof, a 240volt
Level 2 charger in the garage, a backup battery
system for sunless days and a second family vehicle
that can be used for vacation trips, BEV ownership is
ideal, saving time and money through home recharging.
But for people who live in apartments, who have
only one vehicle, or who live in a cold climate - which
can reduce driving range by as much as 40% in the
winter - BEVs are not an easy substitution for an ICengine-powered
vehicle. The fact that BEVs cost more
than IC-engine vehicles further raises the barrier to
adoption. In fact, a recent study of EV owners in
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Automotive Engineering - February 2023

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