Considering the air pollution problems in the area, the towns are looking into getting more electric...

 

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Considering the air pollution problems in the area, the towns are looking into getting more electric vehicles on the roads. However, the low temperatures mean that many batteries don't last as long and the fuel powering the electric grid has some contributions from coal fired power plants. The town wants to carry out an LCA on electric vehicles vs. diesel vehicles for their food delivery workers to help figure out the best path forward. (a) The committee writes the following goal statement: "A comparative LCA between electric trucks and diesel trucks for city vehicles in Fairbanks Alaska will be conducted and shared with the town." According to the standard LCA methodology, which of the required elements for a goal statement are present and which are missing? (b) The committee came up with the following functional units for the study: kg of battery 25 km driven Which functional unit is most appropriate for the given study and why? (c) Assume that the average distance driven is 25 km per day. For a diesel truck, the efficiency is 0.093 km/MJ and the life cycle GHG emissions are 0.12 kgCO2eq/MJ. For an electric truck, the efficiency is 0.357 km/MJ, but that power comes from the grid. In the US, the MJ of oil equivalent (OE) used per kW.hr of delivered electricity is 7.1 MJ OE/kW.hr and the kgCO2eq released per kW.hr of delivered electricity is 0.54. Remember that 1 kW.hr (kilowatt hour) is equivalent to 3.6 MJ. Calculate the kg CO2eq emissions per day between the two types of trucks. dered pay (d) List one other life cycle stage (in addition to use) and one other life cycle impact category (in addition to global warming potential) that were not covered in part (c) and that would be relevant to this problem. Briefly explain why they are relevant to this LCA. (e) The committee members pushing for electric vehicles note that this will also help with the air pollution problems in the town because it will cut back on emissions of NOx, VOCs, and ozone from the vehicles driving to deliver food. What is the flaw in this argument for the use of electric vehicles? Considering the air pollution problems in the area, the towns are looking into getting more electric vehicles on the roads. However, the low temperatures mean that many batteries don't last as long and the fuel powering the electric grid has some contributions from coal fired power plants. The town wants to carry out an LCA on electric vehicles vs. diesel vehicles for their food delivery workers to help figure out the best path forward. (a) The committee writes the following goal statement: "A comparative LCA between electric trucks and diesel trucks for city vehicles in Fairbanks Alaska will be conducted and shared with the town." According to the standard LCA methodology, which of the required elements for a goal statement are present and which are missing? (b) The committee came up with the following functional units for the study: kg of battery 25 km driven Which functional unit is most appropriate for the given study and why? (c) Assume that the average distance driven is 25 km per day. For a diesel truck, the efficiency is 0.093 km/MJ and the life cycle GHG emissions are 0.12 kgCO2eq/MJ. For an electric truck, the efficiency is 0.357 km/MJ, but that power comes from the grid. In the US, the MJ of oil equivalent (OE) used per kW.hr of delivered electricity is 7.1 MJ OE/kW.hr and the kgCO2eq released per kW.hr of delivered electricity is 0.54. Remember that 1 kW.hr (kilowatt hour) is equivalent to 3.6 MJ. Calculate the kg CO2eq emissions per day between the two types of trucks. dered pay (d) List one other life cycle stage (in addition to use) and one other life cycle impact category (in addition to global warming potential) that were not covered in part (c) and that would be relevant to this problem. Briefly explain why they are relevant to this LCA. (e) The committee members pushing for electric vehicles note that this will also help with the air pollution problems in the town because it will cut back on emissions of NOx, VOCs, and ozone from the vehicles driving to deliver food. What is the flaw in this argument for the use of electric vehicles?