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Impact of Updated Material Production Data in GREET Life Cycle Model

CSS Publication Number
CSS14-18
Full Publication Date
June 12, 2014
Abstract

The Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model developed by Argonne National Laboratory quantifies the life cycle energy consumption and air emissions resulting from the production and use of light-duty vehicles in the United States. GREET is comprised of two components: GREET 1 represents the fuel cycle of various energy carriers, including automotive fuels, and GREET 2 represents the vehicle cycle, which accounts for the production of vehicles and their constituent materials. The GREET model was updated in 2012 and now includes higher-resolution material processing and transformation data. This study evaluated how model updates influence material and vehicle life cycle results. First, new primary energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions results from GREET 2 for steel, aluminum, and plastics resins are compared herein with those from the previous version of the model as well as industrial results. A part of the comparison is a discussion about causes of differences between results. Included in this discussion is an assessment of the impact of the new material production data on vehicle life cycle results for conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by comparing the energy and GHG emission values in the updated and previous versions of GREET 2. Finally, results from a sensitivity analysis are presented for identifying life cycle parameters that most affect vehicle life cycle estimates.

Co-Author(s)
Andrew Burnham
Research Areas
Materials
Urban Systems and Built Environment
Keywords
automotive fuels, automotive industry, fuel cycle, Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET), industrial ecology, life cycle assessment (LCA)
Publication Type
Journal Article
Digital Object Identifier
DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12132
Full Citation
De Kleine, Robert D., Gregory A. Keoleian, Shelie A. Miller, Andrew Burnham and John L. Sullivan. (2014) “Impact of Updated Material Production Data in GREET Life Cycle Model.” Journal of Industrial Ecology. 18(3): 356 – 365.