Comparison of GREEN-MAC-LCCP© based Indirect CO2-eq. Emissions from MACs and Vehicle Measured Data 2010-01-1208

The European f-Gas Directive phases out HFC-134a from Mobile Air Conditioning systems (MACs) in new vehicles by 2017. In the US pending California and USEPA regulations have incentives to phase out HFC-134a earlier than 2017. As a result industry is striving to transform all global markets to a single new refrigerant in order to simplify global marketing. One of the global tools to help evaluate alternatives during this transition is the global LCCP (Life Cycle Climate Performance) and the development of the GREENMAC- LCCP© model. This model has become the global standard to measure the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) greenhouse emissions of any proposed alternative refrigerant for MACs starting from bench test results and supporting the car manufacturer choice of the best suitable alternative refrigerant from an environmental perspective.

The increasing interest for indirect emissions optimization is affecting not only the new refrigerant selection and also the choice of MACs control in the vehicle. To evaluate system controls, a prototype vehicle equipped with a new MACs, featuring an increased efficiency, must be tested and the results evaluated. This can be done more effectively in a vehicle-level test.

Fiat Group Automobiles [FGA] has developed a life cycle model similar to GREEN-MAC-LCCP© over the last five years. This model uses vehicle tests of fuel consumed by the MACs as the major input for indirect impact. The LCCP results are under continuous review and one of the areas of active debate is how the GREEN-MAC-LCCP© estimated Indirect CO₂-eq. emissions compare with vehicle-based test results. In this paper we provide a detailed analysis and comparison of the Indirect LCCP CO₂-eq emissions obtained by running the GREEN-MAC-LCCP© model with bench test input data and those obtained by running the FGA tool implemented with vehicle test results.