Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of lightweighting on greenhouse gas emissions and life cycle energy for automotive composite parts

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Lightweighting is considered as one of the solutions for reducing transportation emissions. Automobile manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers are seeking novel ways to meet this objective. One of the options for emission reduction would be the use of natural and/or recycled fiber-reinforced composites as these materials are lighter and have low energy demand compared to the currently being used materials. In this study, we tried to examine the impact of the use of hybrid bio-based composites as an alternative to the current materials. Four different under-the-hood parts (battery tray, engine beauty shield, cam cover, and oil pan) were manufactured using hybrid bio-based (carbon/cellulose fiber) composites and compared their environmental emission in terms of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as well as the cumulative energy demand. The GHG was calculated in accordance with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth Assessment Report, whereas cumulative energy demand was calculated based on the International Organization for Standardization life cycle assessment method. The results of this study indicated a noticeable GHG and energy savings and a promising future for these types of hybrid materials.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Akhshik M, Panthapulakkal S, Tjong J, Sain M (2017) Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of hybrid fiber-reinforced engine beauty cover in comparison with glass fiber-reinforced counterpart. Environ Impact Assess Rev 65:111–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Oqla FM, Sapuan SM, Ishak MR, Nuraini AA (2015) Predicting the potential of agro waste fibers for sustainable automotive industry using a decision making model. Comput Electron Agric 113:116–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Salem SM, Evangelisti S, Lettieri P (2014) Life cycle assessment of alternative technologies for municipal solid waste and plastic solid waste management in the Greater London area. Chem Eng J 244:391–402

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alves C, Ferrão PMC, Silva AJ, Reis LG, Freitas M, Rodrigues LB, Alves DE (2010) Ecodesign of automotive components making use of natural jute fiber composites. J Clean Prod 18(4):313–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.10.022

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balaji A, Karthikeyan B, Sundar Raj C (2015) Bagasse fiber—the future biocomposite material: a review. Int J ChemTech Res 7(1):223–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Bare J, Young D, Qam S, Hopton M, Chief S (2012) Tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI). US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Batouli SM, Zhu Y, Nar M, D’Souza NA (2014) Environmental performance of kenaf-fiber reinforced polyurethane: a life cycle assessment approach. J Clean Prod 66:164–173

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bogner JE, Spokas KA, Burton EA (1999) Temporal variations in greenhouse gas emissions at a midlatitude landfill. J Environ Qual 28(1):278–288

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boland C, Dekleine R, Moorthy A, Keoleian G, Kim HC, Lee E, Wallington TJ (2014) A life cycle assessment of natural fiber reinforced composites in automotive applications. SAE technical paper 2014-01-1959

  • Boland CS, De Kleine R, Keoleian GA, Lee EC, Kim HC, Wallington TJ (2015) Life cycle impacts of natural fiber composites for automotive applications: effects of renewable energy content and lightweighting. J Ind Ecol 20(1):179–189. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson E, Nelson K (1996) Nylon under the hood: a history of innovation. SAE Automot Eng 104:84–89

    Google Scholar 

  • CELA (2011) Canadian environmental law association. Improving the management of end-of-life vehicles in Canada. CELA Publication, 784

  • CSA (2014) SPE-14040-14-life cycle assessment of auto parts—guidelines and requirements for conducting LCA of auto parts incorporating weight changes due to material composition, manufacturing technology, or part geometry

  • Das S (2010) Recycling and life cycle issues for lightweight vehicles. In: Materials, design and manufacturing for lightweight vehicle. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, pp 309–331.

  • Das S (2011) Life cycle assessment of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Int J Life Cycle Assess 16(3):268–282

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • EPA (2014) www.epa.gov. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/warm/pdfs/Plastics.pdf

  • EPA (2018) Fast facts, US Transportation sector greenhouse gas emission 1990–2016. Retrieved January 18, 2019, from https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P100USI5.pdf

  • EU (2014) EU vote on cars CO2: 95 g/km in 2020, 68-78 g/km in 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2019, from https://www.theicct.org/blogs/staff/eu-vote-cars-co2

  • European Commission (2016) Reducing CO2 emissions from passenger cars—European Commission. EC Climate Policy

  • Joshi S, Drzal L, Mohanty A, Arora S (2004) Are natural fiber composites environmentally superior to glass fiber reinforced composites? Compos Part A Appl Sci Manuf 35(3):371–376

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kellenberger D, Althaus HJ, Jungbluth N, Künniger T, Lehmann M, Thalmann P (2007) Life cycle inventories of building products. Final report, Ecoinvent data v2.0, no. 7. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf

  • Khabiri M (2014) Management of automobile end of life. Trends Life Sci 3(3):370–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim S, Dale BE, Drzal LT, Misra M (2014) Life cycle assessment of kenaf fiber reinforced biocomposite. J Biobased Mater Bioenergy 2(1):2–3

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis AM, Kelly JC, Keoleian GA (2014) Vehicle lightweighting vs. electrification: life cycle energy and GHG emissions results for diverse powertrain vehicles. Appl Energy 126:13–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luz SM, Caldeira-Pires A, Ferrão PMC (2010) Environmental benefits of substituting talc by sugarcane bagasse fibers as reinforcement in polypropylene composites: ecodesign and LCA as strategy for automotive components. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(12):1135–1144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.03.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansor MR, Sapuan SM, Zainudin ES, Nuraini AA, Hambali A (2014) Conceptual design of kenaf fiber polymer composite automotive parking brake lever using integrated TRIZ—Morphological Chart-Analytic Hierarchy Process method. Mater Des 1980–2015(54):473–482

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller L, Soulliere K, Sawyer-Beaulieu S, Tseng S, Tam E (2014) Challenges and alternatives to plastics recycling in the automotive sector. Materials 7(8):5883–5902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NHTSA (2006) Vehicle survivability and travel mileage schedules, national highway traffic safety administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, January 2006, p 1

  • Pervaiz M, Sain M (2003) Carbon storage potential in natural fiber composites. Resources Conserv Recycl 39(4):325–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pervaiz M, Panthapulakkal S, Birat KC, Sain M, Tjong J (2016) Emerging trends in automotive lightweighting through novel composite materials. Sci Res Publ 7(01):26–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Protocol K (1997) United Nations framework convention on climate change. Kyoto Protocol, Kyoto, 19

  • Rinne J, Pihlatie M, Lohila A, Thum T, Aurela M, Tuovinen JP, Vesala T (2005) Nitrous oxide emissions from a municipal landfill. Environ Sci Technol 39(20):7790–7793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosa AD, La Recca G, Summerscales J, Latteri A, Cozzo G, Cicala G (2014) Bio-based versus traditional polymer composites. A life cycle assessment perspective. J Clean Prod 74:135–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stagner JA, Tam EKL (2012) Polymeric composites and end-of-life vehicles: recycling and sustainability issues. In: SPE Automotive and Composites Divisions—12th annual automotive composites conference and exhibition 2012, ACCE 2012: unleashing the power of design, pp 242–249. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84879445798&partnerID=40&md5=01a6720c025015273d1151538239a018

  • Stagner JA, Sagan B, Tam EK (2013) Using sieving and pretreatment to separate plastics during end-of-life vehicle recycling. Waste Manag Res J Int Solid Wastes Public Clean Assoc ISWA 31(9):920–924

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stans J, Bos H (2007) CO2 reductions from passenger cars. The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment. Public Health and Food Safety (IP/A/ENVI/FWC/2006-172/Lot 1/C2/SC1)

  • Statista (2018) Vehicle sales worldwide 2017|Statistic. Statista GmbH. Germany, Retrieved 10 Dec 2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/265859/vehicle-sales-worldwide/

  • Toth RT, Oprean A, Saplontai V, Samuila A, Dascalescu L, Gheorghe M, Cojocaru I (2014) Electrostatic separation of plastic materials recycled from end of life vehicles. Materiale Plastice 51(1):81–85

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database (2012) National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2012. https://www.lcacommons.gov/nrel/search. Accessed 19 Nov 2012

  • Van den Brink R, Van Wee B (2001) Why has car-fleet specific fuel consumption not shown any decrease since 1990? Quantitative analysis of Dutch passenger car-fleet specific fuel consumption. Transp Res Part D Transp Environ 6(2):75–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weidema BP, Wesnaes MS (1996) Data quality management for life cycle inventories-an example pf using data quality indicators. J Clean Prod 4(3):167–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wötzel K, Wirth R, Flake M (1999) Life cycle studies on hemp fibre reinforced components and ABS for automotive parts. Die Angewandte Makromolekulare Chemie 272(1):121–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Jayaraman K, Morin C, Pecqueux N (2008) Life cycle assessment of wood-fibre-reinforced polypropylene composites. J Mater Process Technol 198(1–3):168–177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from NSERC-Automotive Partnership Canada Program (APCPJ 433821 – 12); MITACS Accelerate Program (IT04834) and ONTARIO RESEARCH FUND – RESEARCH EXCELLENCE (ORFRE07-041). We would like to thank Ford Motor Company of Canada for providing the in-kind support for this project, and the authors also want to thank Dr. Birat KC and Dr. Omar Faruk and McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada, Ltd. for their kind supports and guidance and their valuable inputs. We also express our deep gratitude for the industry insiders who helped us with the primary data collection and the survey and want their name to remain unknown.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3B3, Canada

    Masoud Akhshik, Suhara Panthapulakkal, Jimi Tjong & Mohini Sain

  2. School of the Environment, University of Toronto, 1016V-33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E8, Canada

    Masoud Akhshik

Authors
  1. Masoud Akhshik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Suhara Panthapulakkal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jimi Tjong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mohini Sain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masoud Akhshik.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Akhshik, M., Panthapulakkal, S., Tjong, J. et al. The effect of lightweighting on greenhouse gas emissions and life cycle energy for automotive composite parts. Clean Techn Environ Policy 21, 625–636 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-01662-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-01662-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation