Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector
Alternative fuels for the transport sector are being emphasized due to energy security and environmental issues. Possible alternative fuel options need to be assessed to realize their potential to alleviate environmental burdens before policy formulations. Western Australia (WA) is dominated by priv...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80590 |
| _version_ | 1848764240635101184 |
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| author | Hoque, Najmul Biswas, Wahidul Mazhar, Ilyas Howard, Ian |
| author_facet | Hoque, Najmul Biswas, Wahidul Mazhar, Ilyas Howard, Ian |
| author_sort | Hoque, Najmul |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Alternative fuels for the transport sector are being emphasized due to energy security and environmental issues. Possible alternative fuel options need to be assessed to realize their potential to alleviate environmental burdens before policy formulations. Western Australia (WA) is dominated by private cars, accounting for around 72% vehicles with 87% of those using imported gasoline, and resulting in approximately 14% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector. There is an urgent need for WA to consider alternative transport fuels not only to reduce the environmental burden but also to avoid future energy security consequences. This study assesses the environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) of transport fuel options suitable for WA. The study revealed that ethanol (E65), electric (EV) and plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) options can decrease global warming potential (GWP) by 40%, 29% and 14%, respectively, when compared to gasoline. The EV and PHEV also performed better than gasoline in the fossil fuel depletion (FFD) and water consumption (WC) impact categories. Gasoline, however, demonstrated better environmental performance in all the impact categories compared to hydrogen and that was mainly due to the high electricity requirement during the production of hydrogen. The use of platinum in hydrogen fuel cells and carbon fibre in the hydrogen tank for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV) and Li-ion battery for EVs are the most important sources of environmental impacts. The findings of the study would aid the energy planners and decision makers in carrying out a comparative environmental assessment of the locally-sourced alternative fuels for WA. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80590 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:13Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-805902021-01-07T07:46:47Z Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector Hoque, Najmul Biswas, Wahidul Mazhar, Ilyas Howard, Ian Science & Technology Physical Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences alternative transport fuel passenger vehicle life cycle assessment Western Australia environmental performance SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION WHEAT PRODUCTION ENERGY VEHICLES FEASIBILITY EFFICIENCY Alternative fuels for the transport sector are being emphasized due to energy security and environmental issues. Possible alternative fuel options need to be assessed to realize their potential to alleviate environmental burdens before policy formulations. Western Australia (WA) is dominated by private cars, accounting for around 72% vehicles with 87% of those using imported gasoline, and resulting in approximately 14% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector. There is an urgent need for WA to consider alternative transport fuels not only to reduce the environmental burden but also to avoid future energy security consequences. This study assesses the environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) of transport fuel options suitable for WA. The study revealed that ethanol (E65), electric (EV) and plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) options can decrease global warming potential (GWP) by 40%, 29% and 14%, respectively, when compared to gasoline. The EV and PHEV also performed better than gasoline in the fossil fuel depletion (FFD) and water consumption (WC) impact categories. Gasoline, however, demonstrated better environmental performance in all the impact categories compared to hydrogen and that was mainly due to the high electricity requirement during the production of hydrogen. The use of platinum in hydrogen fuel cells and carbon fibre in the hydrogen tank for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCV) and Li-ion battery for EVs are the most important sources of environmental impacts. The findings of the study would aid the energy planners and decision makers in carrying out a comparative environmental assessment of the locally-sourced alternative fuels for WA. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80590 10.3390/atmos10070398 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences alternative transport fuel passenger vehicle life cycle assessment Western Australia environmental performance SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION WHEAT PRODUCTION ENERGY VEHICLES FEASIBILITY EFFICIENCY Hoque, Najmul Biswas, Wahidul Mazhar, Ilyas Howard, Ian Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title_full | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title_fullStr | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title_short | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Alternative Fuels for Western Australia’s Transport Sector |
| title_sort | environmental life cycle assessment of alternative fuels for western australia’s transport sector |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences alternative transport fuel passenger vehicle life cycle assessment Western Australia environmental performance SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION WHEAT PRODUCTION ENERGY VEHICLES FEASIBILITY EFFICIENCY |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80590 |