Abstract
This study presents a comparison of three electric vehicle types to propose the best choice to implement the electric mobility in Brazil, considering the Tank-to-Wheel (TTW) emissions of the internal combustion engine in single-fuel mode (ICE-SF) fueled with biogas, bioethanol, gasoline A, or Brazilian gasoline (27% bioethanol + 73% gasoline A), and of the internal combustion engine in dual-fuel mode (ICE-DF) fueled with 50% biogas + 50% bioethanol. The emissions related to the Brazilian electricity mix were analyzed to calculate the impacts of the electric mode. Moreover, the energy-ecological efficiency of the internal combustion engine was measured to analyze the negative impacts on human and environmental health when fueled with different fuels, in single-fuel and dual-fuel modes. The findings show that bioethanol has the lowest energy-ecological efficiency (27%) due to its performance regarding the human toxicity and pollution factor indicators. On the other hand, biogas in the ICE-SF achieved the highest energy-ecological efficiency (64%), followed by 50% biogas and 50% bioethanol in the ICE-DF (49%). Considering the Brazilian scenario, the plug-in electric vehicle appears as the best choice due to its lower TTW emissions. However, considering the Brazilian infrastructure and its potential to produce biofuels, the hybrid electric vehicle was better than the other electric vehicle types analyzed when it is fueled with bioethanol in single-fuel mode or bioethanol and biogas in dual-fuel mode. The relevance of this paper remains in the fact that the findings might help in the achievement of zero carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector.
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Abbreviations
- \(\% e\) :
-
Percentage of ethanol
- \(\% g\) :
-
Percentage of gasoline A
- 1.4-DCBeq :
-
1.4-Dichlorobenzene, substance used to calculate the level of human toxicity
- \({A}_{\mathrm{electric}}\) :
-
Electric autonomy
- \({\mathrm{BTE}}_{\mathrm{bioethanol}}\) :
-
Brake thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine when fueled with bioethanol
- \({\mathrm{BTE}}_{\mathrm{gasoline}}\) :
-
Brake thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine when fueled with gasoline A
- C2H5OH:
-
Gasoline
- \({C}_{b}\) :
-
Battery capacity
- CH4 :
-
Methane
- CO2 :
-
Carbon dioxide
- CO2 eq :
-
Equivalent carbon dioxide
- \({E}_{\mathrm{Brazilian}\;\mathrm{mix}}\) :
-
Emission related to the Brazilian electricity mix
- \({E}_{\mathrm{consump}}\) :
-
Energy consumption needed in the internal combustion engine
- \({E}_{\mathrm{electric}\;\mathrm{mode}}\) :
-
Emission related to the electricity consumption
- \({\mathrm{FC}}_{\mathrm{bioethanol}}\) :
-
Bioethanol consumption
- \({\mathrm{FC}}_{\mathrm{biogas}}\) :
-
Biogas consumption
- \({\mathrm{FC}}_{\mathrm{fuel}}\) :
-
Fuel consumption
- \({\mathrm{FC}}_{\mathrm{gasoline}\;A}\) :
-
Gasoline A consumption
- \({f}_{\mathrm{1,4DCBeq}}\) :
-
Equivalent 1.4-dichlorobenzene emission factor
- \({f}_{\mathrm{CO}2\mathrm{ eq\;bioethanol}}\) :
-
Equivalent carbon dioxide emission factor resulted from the bioethanol combustion
- \({f}_{\mathrm{CO}2\mathrm{ eq\;biogas}}\) :
-
Equivalent carbon dioxide emission factor resulted from the biogas combustion
- \({f}_{\mathrm{CO}2\mathrm{ eq\;fuel}}\) :
-
Equivalent carbon dioxide emission factor
- \({f}_{\mathrm{CO}2\mathrm{ eq\;gasoline}\;A}\) :
-
Equivalent carbon dioxide emission factor resulted from the gasoline A combustion
- \({f}_{\mathrm{specie}}\) :
-
Specie emission factor
- H2O:
-
Water steam
- \({\mathrm{LHV}}_{\mathrm{fuel}}\) :
-
Low heating power of the fuel
- \({\mathrm{LHV}}_{\mathrm{gasoline}\;A}\) :
-
Low heating value of the gasoline A
- N2 :
-
Nitrogen
- NOx :
-
Nitric oxides
- \({n}_{\mathrm{fuel}}\) :
-
Number of mols of the fuel
- \({n}_{\mathrm{specie}}\) :
-
Number of mols of the specie
- O2 :
-
Oxygen
- \({\mathrm{TTW}}_{\mathrm{BR\;gasoline}}\) :
-
Tank-to-Wheel for the Brazilian gasoline
- \({\mathrm{TTW}}_{\mathrm{ICE}-\mathrm{DF}}\) :
-
Tank-to-Wheel for the internal combustion engine in dual-fuel mode
- \({\mathrm{TTW}}_{\mathrm{ICE}-\mathrm{SF}}\) :
-
Tank-to-Wheel for the internal combustion engine in single-fuel mode
- \({W}_{\mathrm{fuel}}\) :
-
Molecular weight of the fuel
- \({W}_{\mathrm{specie}}\) :
-
Molecular weight of the specie
- z:
-
Proportion of biogas in the mixture
- y:
-
Proportion of bioethanol in the mixture
- \(\varepsilon\) :
-
Energy-ecological efficiency
- \(\eta\) :
-
Brake thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine
- \(\Pi\) :
-
Pollution indicator
- \({\Pi }_{\mathrm{GW}}\) :
-
Pollution factor that considers the emissions that contribute to the global warming
- \({\Pi }_{\mathrm{HT}}\) :
-
Pollution factor that considers the emissions that contribute to human toxicity
- \({\rho }_{\mathrm{bioethanol}}\) :
-
Bioethanol density
- \({\rho }_{\mathrm{biogas}}\) :
-
Biogas density
- \({\rho }_{\mathrm{fuel}}\) :
-
Fuel density
- \({\rho }_{\mathrm{gasoline} A}\) :
-
Gasoline A density
- BEV:
-
Battery electric vehicle
- EA:
-
Electric autonomy
- EM:
-
Electric motor
- EV:
-
Electric vehicle
- FC:
-
Fuel consumption
- GHGs:
-
Greenhouse gases
- HC:
-
Hydrocarbons
- HEV:
-
Hybrid electric vehicle
- ICE:
-
Internal combustion engine
- ICE-DF:
-
Internal combustion engine in dual-fuel mode
- ICE-SF:
-
Internal combustion engine in single-fuel mode
- LPG:
-
Liquefied petroleum gas
- PHEV:
-
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
- PM:
-
Particulate matter
- TTW:
-
Thank-to-Wheel
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Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful to the financial support provided by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) with the project, title in Portuguese “Misturas Biogás-Biodiesel utilizadas em sistemas de injeção dual-fuel dos Motores de Combustão Interna a Compressão” [406789/2018-5]; and was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.
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Soares, L.O., de Almeida Guimarães, V. & Boloy, R.A.M. Comparison of electric vehicle types considering the emissions and energy-ecological efficiency. Clean Techn Environ Policy 24, 2851–2863 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-02365-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-022-02365-3