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Introducing a new fuel alternative to gasoline is a very complex task. According to their short to mid term economical feasibility selected processes are modeled. Selected emissions and the primary energy demand of the production and the utilization of hydrogen and methanol as fuels for fuel cell powered buses are compared to conventional diesel powered buses. Different production routes for the alternative fuels are considered. Ecological and economical numbers are given and interpreted.

One of the most promising battery types under development for use in both pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles is lithium ion. These batteries are well on their way to meeting the challenging technical goals that have been set for vehicle batteries. However, they are still far from being able to meet the cost goals. The Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) undertook a project for the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) to estimate costs of lithium ion batteries and to project how these costs might change over time, with the aid of research and development. Cost reductions could be expected as the result of material substitution, economies of scale in production, design improvements, or development of new supplies.

The rapid growth of population and industry in India during the last two decades has resulted the need for adequate mass transport facilities for quick movement and materials. The diesel engine has always been a preferred prime mover for haulage of heavy loads due to its superior fuel economy. In the last 15 years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of diesel vehicles. A majority of automotive diesel engine are rated at about 100 BHP and are almost exclusively used in city, buses and trucks. With the increasing number of diesel vehicles, the diesel smoke has come under severe criticism in India also, especially in the large cities.

This paper discuss draft final results of a European research project (1998-2000) concerning the assessment of life cycle impacts on man and the environment and external costs of a wide variety of transportation technologies. The methodology is based on the ExternE (Externalities of Energy) Accounting framework. It allows to quantify and monetise impacts on public health, agriculture and materials, but ecological impacts could not be monetised. It results in external cost data that are site, trajectory and vehicle specific but on this basis more aggregated and generic data have been used. This also allows calculating external costs related to the supply of fuels, vehicles and infrastructure. Overall, it shows that external environmental costs of transport are significant. For Belgium, notwithstanding stricter standards for new vehicles, overall external costs of passenger car traffic have hardly been reduced.

The choice of system boundaries, allocation methods and data sources in a life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) depends on basic, ethical views. From the viewpoint of teleological situation ethics, an effect-oriented LCI - with system expansions and marginal data - provides relevant information. From the viewpoint of rule ethics, the methodological choices depend on what rules are considered to be good. In an effect-oriented LCI, the starting point for an assessment of the environmental consequences of actions should be the specific action at hand or the foreground system. A radically effect-oriented LCI probably requires the co-operation between economists and engineers.

Car features several peculiarities distinguishing it from other commodities on consumer's market. At first, a car is anintegral component of local environment of human being and has a great ecological influence on him and the environment during its production, service life and recycling. Besides, it historically turned out that car manufacturing has an important political status, being the face of the country, reflecting its scientific, technical and technological achievements [1]. AVTOVAZ Inc. is the biggest in Russia passenger car manufacturer. It produces about 75 % of all national passenger cars. For 3 decades of its history the factory has made more than 19 million passenger cars, 1/3 of them has been exported, mainly to European countries. Nowadays LADA cars fleet have more than 11 million items. There are 8 million of them only in Russia.

Mercedes-Benz at DaimlerChrysler has been developing and applying Life-Cycle-Engineering (LCE) and Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) since almost 10 years. Extensive experience and know-how has been gained by two complete car LCAs and more than 100 LCAs for parts. According to our experience LCA/LCE is most effectively and efficiently used to support the development of new products. One of DaimlerChrysler's Environmental Guidelines includes a statement, that our approach to environmentally acceptable design covers the entire product spectrum of the DaimlerChrysler Group, taking into account the product life cycle from design through disposal or recycling. The organisation of environmental management at DaimlerChrysler has a distinct structure of tasks: the central Environmental Protection Division coordinates all organisation/ plant related aspects, while all product related aspects are the responsibility of the divisonal business units.

A pilot model using Simulink™ of three interlinked industrial sectors leading to painted automotive bodies was constructed for the purpose of observing time based effects on an Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Current LCA neglects time under an implicit assumption that material inventory data is steady state. In this study, process models were built which included time as a parameter in addition to LCA material inventory data. The results show that time is a critical factor in the overall material inventory. If the transient behavior due to demand or regulatory control results in an industry instability, material supplies may be interrupted or overproduced depending on the timing and strength of the control. Furthermore, potentially greater inventories of undesirable materials could occur. These effects are not currently captured by LCA Inventory Analysis procedures. However, this paper shows that use of dynamic modeling can correct this situation.

Life cycle assessments (LCA) require extensive quantities of data on processes as well as on material and energy flows. Therefore, simplifying methods that reduce the effort in modeling the product system do have the most potential to make reliable LCAs of complex products like automobiles more efficient. Methodological approaches allowing the LCA practitioner to conduct the scope definition and life cycle inventory (LCI) with minimal effort through “smart” software based support are introduced. The suggested methodology has been validated with a case study on material options for a front subframe system of a Ford passenger car.

Substituting alternative materials for conventional materials in automotive applications is an important strategy for reducing environmental burdens over the entire life cycle through weight reduction. Strong, light carbon composites and lightweight metals can potentially be used for components such as body structure, chassis parts, brakes, tie rods, or instrument panel structural beams. There are also proposed uses in conventional and alternative powered vehicles for other advanced materials, including synthetic graphite, titanium, and metals coated with graphite composite, that have special strength, hardness, corrosion resistance, or conductivity properties. The approach used in this paper was to compare the environmental life cycle inventory of parts made from carbon fiber-thermoplastic composites, synthetic graphite, titanium, and graphite coated aluminum, with parts made from conventional steel or aluminum.

Many automotive manufacturers have announced their intention to launch fuel cell powered cars in the next few years. This has led to large research budgets aimed at new or emerging technologies. The emergence of a new automotive power and drive system allows a new beginning in designing the components of these systems with environmental impact in mind. That is, the whole car, from the ground up, can be built from “design for the environment” principles with an appreciation of “well to wheels” impact of its fuel. Using this approach, vehicles can be designed for minimum resource and energy use during manufacture and for low cost, low impact disassembly, leading not only to improved environmental performance but also to reduced manufacturing costs.

In recent years alternative automobile power technologies have received increased attention from OEM's, special interest groups, and the public. Plausible power technologies now include internal combustion engines, batteries, fuel cells, and a variety of hybrid technologies. The merits of each of these technologies as a means to move personal and fleet transportation into the next century have been highly debated. One technology that has emerged as a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine is the fuel cell. Considering arguments on all sides of the debate, the authors describe the results of a systematic, focused examination of the sustainability of fuel cells for transportation and discuss strategies for sustainable technology design. Sustainable technologies are those that contribute to preserving or improving societal quality, the environment, and the economy for future generations.

The use of a soy-based diesel fuel (biodiesel) has potential advantages over the use of a conventional petroleum diesel fuel including: Reduced dependence on foreign petroleum Lowering of greenhouse gas emissions Less air pollution and related public health risks in urban areas A life cycle study performed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Energy and Ecobalance (completed in May 1998) helped to quantify the environmental benefits of the “cradle-to-grave” production and use of biodiesel. The study showed, for example, that substituting 100% biodiesel for petroleum diesel in urban buses reduced the life cycle emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 78%. The study also pointed out some trade-offs of using biodiesel including increased life cycle hydrocarbon and NOx emissions.

An increase in engine and vehicle efficiency usually requires an increase in the severity of contact at the interfaces of many critical components. Examples of such components include piston rings and cylinder liners in the engine, gears in the transmission and axle, bearings, etc. These components are oil-lubricated and require enhancement of their tribological performance. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) recently developed a carbon-based coating with very low friction and wear properties. These near-frictionless-carbon (NFC) coatings have potential for application in various engine components for performance enhancement. This paper presents our study of the tribological performance of NFC-coated steel surfaces when lubricated with fully formulated and basestock synthetic oils. The NFC coatings reduced both the friction and wear of lubricated steel surfaces. The effect of the coating was much more pronounced in tests with basestock oil.

The sulfur content in diesel fuel has a significant effect on diesel engine emissions, which are currently subject to environmental regulations. It has been observed that engine particulate and gaseous emissions are directly proportional to fuel sulfur content. With the introduction of low- sulfur fuels, significant reductions in emissions are expected. The process of sulfur reduction in petroleum-based diesel fuels also reduces the lubricity of the fuel, resulting in premature failure of fuel injectors. Thus, another means of preventing injector failures is needed for engines operating with low- sulfur diesel fuels. In this study, we evaluated a near-frictionless carbon (NFC) coating (developed at Argonne National Laboratory) as a possible solution to the problems associated with fuel injector failures in low-lubricity fuels.

During the past years advances in fuel efficiency of car engines did not result in the expected reduction in overall fuel consumption of new car generations. One reason is the increasing vehicle weight. In an overall–weight analysis of an automobile the engine and as part of it, the crankcase represents a single component with a high weight reduction potential. This paper discusses weight reduction strategies using lightweight materials and modern design approaches. The application of lightweight materials for new crankcase concepts implies comprehensive design considerations to achieve weight reductions as close as possible to the potential of the selected material. A specific approach for inline and V–engine crankcase concepts is discussed in detail. Engine weight reduction can also be achieved through substituting large and therefore heavy engines with small high performance engines.

The ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts Program is focused on the development of steel applications for vehicles to be produced beginning in the year 2004. A “holistic” total vehicle development approach will be applied, including styling, package, closures, suspension, etc. The understanding of the interactions of all vehicle subsystems, their optimization in respect to size, mass, and performance, will lead the program to an optimized steel intensive vehicle concept. Benchmarking will provide the data for building the basis of the target setting, after which the program target will be established and guidelines for the design will be created. The ULSAB-AVC Program concentrates on the design of two size lightweight vehicles: One size fitting in the most popular European C-class (so-called Golf class); and the second size similar to the North American PNGV class (Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles*).

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV's) offer additional flexibility to enhance the fuel economy and emissions of vehicles. The Real-Time Control Strategy (RTCS) presented here optimizes efficiency and emissions of a parallel configuration HEV. In order to determine the ideal operating point of the vehicle's engine and motor, the control strategy considers all possible engine-motor torque pairs. For a given operating point, the strategy predicts the possible energy consumption and the emissions emitted by the vehicle. The strategy calculates the “replacement energy” that would restore the battery's state of charge (SOC) to its initial level. This replacement energy accounts for inefficiencies in the energy storage system conversion process. User- and standards-based weightings of time-averaged fuel economy and emissions performance determine an overall impact function. The strategy continuously selects the operating point that is the minimum of this cost function.

There is a growing awareness of the business value of sustainable practices. Life cycle tools can be used to design and continually improve future vehicles as well as provide bottom line cost savings, increase the recycled content and recyclability of products, and reduce the hazardous substance content in products. Data collection and management procedures as well as advanced life cycle technologies and tools have been developed and implemented at some corporations to meet the global market demands to increase the recycled content and recyclability of automobiles and to reduce the hazardous substance content in automobiles. Voluntary take-back legislation in Europe, as well as strict domestic and international labeling and reporting requirements for plastics and hazardous substances have prompted automotive manufacturers to aggressively evaluate (1) the regulated substances contained in their automobiles and (2) the recyclability of their automobiles.

A Ford Explorer has been totally powered by internal combustion engine (ICE).fueled by hydrogen (H2) gas. H2 gas was generated on-board by a patented H2 generation technology - a safe, ambient temperature chemical reaction with a water based solution. The novel feature of this system is that H2 gas is safely generated on-board the vehicle as needed without resorting to bulky, pressurized cylinders. The entire H2 generation system easily fits within the engine compartment and beneath the floor of the vehicle making this one of the few practical zero emission vehicles that has room for 5 passengers and cargo while offering competitive performance and driving range to current SUVs.