Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Hydrogen Engine for Automotive Application through Life-Cycle Assessment

Antonella Accardo (), Trentalessandro Costantino, Gianfranco Malagrinò, Michele Pensato and Ezio Spessa ()
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Antonella Accardo: Department of Energy, Interdepartmental Center for Automotive Research and Sustainable Mobility—CARS@PoliTO, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
Trentalessandro Costantino: Department of Energy, Interdepartmental Center for Automotive Research and Sustainable Mobility—CARS@PoliTO, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
Gianfranco Malagrinò: DUMAREY Automotive Italia S.p.A., Corso Castelfidardo, 36, 10129 Turin, Italy
Michele Pensato: DUMAREY Automotive Italia S.p.A., Corso Castelfidardo, 36, 10129 Turin, Italy
Ezio Spessa: Department of Energy, Interdepartmental Center for Automotive Research and Sustainable Mobility—CARS@PoliTO, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Hydrogen combustion engine vehicles have the potential to rapidly enter the market and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to conventional engines. The ability to provide a rapid market deployment is linked to the fact that the industry would take advantage of the existing internal combustion engine production chain. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to develop a methodology for applying life-cycle assessment (LCA) to internal combustion engines to estimate their life-cycle GHG emissions. Also, it aims to investigate the decarbonization potential of hydrogen engines produced by exploiting existing diesel engine technology and assuming diverse hydrogen production routes. The boundary of the LCA is cradle-to-grave, and the assessment is entirely based on primary data. The products under study are two monofuel engines: a hydrogen engine and a diesel engine. The hydrogen engine has been redesigned using the diesel engine as a base. The engines being studied are versatile and can be used for a wide range of uses such as automotive, cogeneration, maritime, off-road, and railway; however, this study focuses on their application in pickup trucks. As part of the redesign process, certain subsystems (e.g., combustion, injection, ignition, exhaust gas recirculation, and exhaust gas aftertreatment) have been modified to make the engine run on hydrogen. Results revealed that employing a hydrogen engine using green hydrogen (i.e., generated from water electrolysis using wind-based electricity) might reduce GHG emission by over 90% compared to the diesel engine This study showed that the benefits of the new hydrogen engine solution outweigh the increase of emissions related to the redesign process, making it a potentially beneficial solution also for reconditioning current and used internal combustion engines.

Keywords: internal combustion engine; hydrogen engine; LCA; life-cycle assessment; sustainable transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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