Abstract:

As part of the European Green Deal’s target of a climate neutral European Union by2050, the transport sector is called on to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by90% compared to 1990, and ICCT’s projections show that a large part of this reduction needs to come from passenger cars. It is therefore important for policymakers to understand which power train and fuel technologies are most capable of shrinking the carbon footprint of cars—and not only the emissions from the tail pipes, but also from fuel and electricity production and vehicle manufacturing. A life-cycle assessment (LCA) of the GHG emissions of passenger cars in Europe was carried out. It considers the most relevant power train types—internal combustionengine vehicles (ICEVs), including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); battery electric vehicles (BEVs); and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs)—and a variety of fuel types and power sources including fossil gasoline, diesel,and natural gas (each of these with the current and future biofuels or biomethane blend rate), e-fuels, hydrogen, and electricity. The assessment is part of a global LCAstudy that also covers India, China, and the United States.