Abstract
With the objective to collect and establish a comprehensive set of scientific and shared informations about Fuels and Powertrains, the European Commission (JRC), the Concawe ( European Association of the Oil Industry for Research ) and Eucar ( European Association of the Car Industry for Research ) have combined their efforts and expertise to extend and up-date a WtW study about energy use and GHG emissions over the complete chain : starting from the raw material, covering the fuel production and distribution and finally ending with the use of the fuel on the vehicles. The GHG emissions include CO2, CH4 and N2O as well. The fuels evaluated cover the extended range of available and foreseen liquid or gaseous energetic vectors ranging from conventional fossil based fuels, conventional and advanced bio-fuels to finally Hydrogen generated via various production pathways. On the TtW side, the evaluation was based on simulations carried out on passenger car vehicles using many types of powertrains ranging from the conventional and advanced thermal SI or CI engines, CNG, LPG or H2 internal combustion engines, hybrids to also Fuel Cells with and without on-board fuel reformer. All the Fuel / Powertrain combinations were finally ranked and compared with regard to WtW Energy use and GHG emissions in order to allow for an enlarged multi-criteria assessment. Additionally, some cost informations were also provided to address the cost/efficiency issue when dealing with GHG avoidance.
Keywords: Well to wheel analysis, greenhouse gases, fuels, powertrain, energy