Well-to-wheel Analysis of the Energy Efficiency
of Passenger Car Drivetrains
of Passenger Car Drivetrains
About OPTIRESOURCE
The OPTIRESOURCE tool allows the creation of various expedient combinations of energy sources, fuels and powertrains. Based on studies for life cycle assessment from the energy source to the powered wheel, you can determine the expected fuel consumption and the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in grams of CO2-equivalent. The result of the calculation is presented as a comparison between a current gasoline-fuelled compact car and the accomplished selection.
Start the tool in several runs with different combinations of energy sources, fuels and vehicle powertrains to learn more about the impact on the corresponding equivalent fuel consumption and the CO2-emissions.
Scientific background of this software is the “Well-to-Wheels analysis of future automotive fuels and powertrains in the European context, version 2a”, published by CONCAWE, EUCAR and JRC in December 2005.
Energy source
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Selection of primary energy source:
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Fossil energy source: coal, natural gas, oil
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Renewable energy source: sun, wind, water
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Biomass: sun flower, rape seed, wheat, sugar beet, wood waste, sugar cane, dry manure, liquid manure, municipal waste (organic), wheat straw and farmed wood
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Nuclear energy
Electricity in the EU is produced via a large number of routes including coal, gas, nuclear, hydro etc. The combination, the so-called EU-mix, is a value representing the typical electricity supply in Europe.
Farmed wood is wood from short-rotation forestry (SRF). SRF means the cultivation of fast-growing trees like poplar and willow. Once planted, the trees are harvested in ascertained rotations at ground level.
Fuels
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Selection of liquid or gaseous fuels: Different fuel types are available in pure form or as a mixture – the mixing ratio is shown in percentages. By selecting the energy source the user decides whether the fuel should be a fossil fuel or an alternative fuel.
“Electricity” as a further possibility is the necessary energy source for electric vehicles.
Vehicles
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Selection of various powertrains und vehicle concepts:
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Conventional combustion engines
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Electric drives (with different types of batteries: NiMH-batteries, Li-Ion-batteries and NaNiCl-batteries)
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Hybrid drive systems (with different engine types)
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Fuel cell drives
Processes
Selection of different processes and processing steps used for the production of fuels respectively energy sources:
The whole process chain - from well to fuel or energy source available at the filling station or the power outlet - is taken into account (well-to-tank).
Be careful: Different transportation distances are indicated for some processes (1000 km, 4000 km or 7000 km) - with identical process steps, these transportation distances have decisive influence on the total result.
Results
All calculations and results are based on industrial scale operations for the production of the appropriate fuel and for the availability of the respective propulsion principles, which are projected on the year 2010. Therefore you can find the reference “results 2010” on the result page - this does not guarantee that in 2010 all fuels and powertrains will be industrially manufactured respectively available in appropriate quantities.
All results are shown in comparison to the data of a conventional gasoline-fuelled compact car model - the values for the compact car are visualized as grey bars. The result shows the data in litres gasoline equivalent (l eq gasoline) first (in orange) and furthermore in g CO2-equivalent (g CO2 eq/km) (in green).
In both cases, the result of the whole chain, from well to the powered wheel (well-to-wheel) and from vehicle tank to the wheel (tank-to-wheel) are indicated.
