Fuel cycle emissions and life cycle costs of alternative fuel vehicle policy options for the City of Houston municipal fleet

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dc.citation.firstpage160
dc.citation.journalTitleTransportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
dc.citation.lastpage171
dc.citation.volumeNumber54
dc.contributor.authorSengupta, Shayak
dc.contributor.authorCohan, Daniel S.
dc.date.accessioned2017-11-15T14:12:33Z
dc.date.available2017-11-15T14:12:33Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractMunicipal fleet vehicle purchase decisions provide a direct opportunity for cities to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and air pollutants. However, cities typically lack comprehensive data on total life cycle impacts of various conventional and alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) considered for fleet purchase. The City of Houston, Texas, has been a leader in incorporating hybrid electric (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV), and battery electric (BEV) vehicles into its fleet, but has yet to adopt any natural gas-powered light-duty vehicles. The City is considering additional AFV purchases but lacks systematic analysis of emissions and costs. Using City of Houston data, we calculate total fuel cycle GHG and air pollutant emissions of additional conventional gasoline vehicles, HEVs, PHEVs, BEVs, and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to the City's fleet. Analyses are conducted with the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model. Levelized cost per kilometer is calculated for each vehicle option, incorporating initial purchase price minus residual value, plus fuel and maintenance costs. Results show that HEVs can achieve 36% lower GHG emissions with a levelized cost nearly equal to a conventional sedan. BEVs and PHEVs provide further emissions reductions, but at levelized costs 32% and 50% higher than HEVs, respectively. CNG sedans and trucks provide 11% emissions reductions, but at 25% and 63% higher levelized costs, respectively. While the results presented here are specific to conditions and vehicle options currently faced by one city, the methods deployed here are broadly applicable to informing fleet purchase decisions.
dc.identifier.citationSengupta, Shayak and Cohan, Daniel S.. "Fuel cycle emissions and life cycle costs of alternative fuel vehicle policy options for the City of Houston municipal fleet." <i>Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment,</i> 54, (2017) Elsevier: 160-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2017.04.039.
dc.identifier.digitalrevision_2_TRD-D-14-00369R2
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2017.04.039
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/98822
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rightsThis is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier.
dc.subject.keywordFuel cycle emissions
dc.subject.keywordCarbon footprint
dc.subject.keywordAlternative fuel vehicle
dc.subject.keywordMunicipal fleet
dc.subject.keywordLife cycle costs
dc.titleFuel cycle emissions and life cycle costs of alternative fuel vehicle policy options for the City of Houston municipal fleet
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpost-print
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