Highlights Gas or electricity can greatly reduce climate impact of vehicles compared to diesel. WTW climate performance of electricity depends on the energy sources. Climate impact of vehicle gas decreases linearly the more biomethane it contains. WTW perspective on biomethane can give lower climate impact than TTW perspective. For electricity, the WTW climate impact is always higher than the TTW impact.

    Abstract Focusing on tailpipe emissions, current EU policies do not favor the use of biofuels in transports. This paper analyzes the well-to-wheel climate performance of gas and electric vehicles in Europe, taking into account the share of biomethane in vehicle gas as well as the production systems for biomethane and electricity in different countries. The results show that both gas and electric vehicles can significantly reduce the climate change impact of transports compared to diesel. In an average European electricity system, electricity has around 30% lower climate impact than diesel for a heavy truck, and 65–70% lower for a passenger car or city bus. Average European vehicle gas reduces the climate impact by up to 28% compared to diesel, or 11% compared to fossil natural gas, and in some countries vehicle gas has lower climate impact than electricity. This demonstrates the importance of not limiting analysis and policy to tailpipe emissions.


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    Title :

    Well-to-wheel climate performance of gas and electric vehicles in Europe




    Publication date :

    2021-01-01




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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