According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), mitigation actions are essential to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Limiting global warming and greenhouse gases emissions reduction require a worldwide transformation and transition that will involve various side of society, economy. Several methods, mainly based on Production-Based Accounting approach (PBA), are already in place or have been proposed for allocating emissions responsibility. Nevertheless, a Consumption-Based Accounting approach (CBA) would promote people direct commitment by shedding more light on the effects their choices have on greenhouse gas emissions. As IEA has estimated in its “Net Zero by 2050” report, around 55% of the cumulative emissions reductions are linked to consumer choices, this work will focus on the emission reduction impact that citizens and people can have by changing some of their habits. In particular, the focus of this work will be on the less carbon-intensive alternatives in the Italian automotive sector. Thus, to make this change financially advantageous and economically and socially acceptable, a blockchain managed system could be adopted to encourage consumers to choose a product whose carbon footprint is lower by conceding an economic incentive, proportional to the avoided emissions. When assessing the emissions impact of the automotive sector alternatives, referring in particular to passenger car personally owned and used to transport people present in the 2019 market fleet, it will be necessary to perform an analysis of the emissions originated during the product life cycle (LCA). The results obtained from the product LCA will be collected in an inventory able to store and to manage all the emissions data for 2019 passenger car Italian fleet. The vehicle type alternatives compared are internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), electric vehicle (EV) and fuel cell vehicle (FCV). For each category, the emissions impact will be displayed as tonCO2eq, value that has been calculated for production phase and operational phase, assuming a vehicle lifetime of 100000 km. From the inventory analysis it is possible to conclude that the electric vehicle shows lower lifetime emissions than comparable ICEV, HEV and FCV. Although production related CO2eq emissions are higher for EV type, with respect to ICEV and HEV, the benefit provided by EV during operational phase compensates and overcomes this negative aspect. When comparing EV with respect to ICEV (that can be regarded as the benchmark product, owning the 94.13% of the 2019 passenger car type purchased share), EV reaches the emission parity target in Italy in between 17000 and 24’000 km, meaning that, after an estimated period of 1.5-2 years, the use of an electric vehicle contributes to the CO2eq reduction target, saving tonCO2eq emissions otherwise emitted by using other options.
Secondo l'Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), le azioni di mitigazione sono indispensabili per limitare il riscaldamento globale a 1.5°C sopra i livelli preindustriali. La limitazione del riscaldamento globale e la riduzione delle emissioni di gas a effetto serra richiedono una trasformazione e una transizione a livello mondiale che coinvolgerà vari aspetti della società e dell'economia. Diversi metodi, principalmente basati su un approccio Production Based (PBA), sono già in utilizzo o sono stati proposti per l’attribuzione della responsabilità delle emissioni. Tuttavia, un approccio di tipo Consumption Based (CBA) potrebbe promuoverebbe l'impegno diretto dei consumatori, mettendo maggiormente in luce gli effetti che le loro scelte hanno in termini di emissioni di gas a effetto serra. Poiché l’International Energy Agency (IEA) ha stimato nel suo report “Net Zero by 2050” che circa il 55% delle riduzioni di emissioni di gas a effetto serra sono legate alle scelte dei consumatori, questo lavoro si concentrerà sull'impatto, in termini di riduzione delle emissioni di gas a effetto serra, che i cittadini possono avere cambiando alcune delle loro abitudini. In particolare, il focus sarà sulle alternative presenti nel settore automobilistico italiano. Al fine di rendere questo cambiamento finanziariamente vantaggioso ed economicamente e socialmente accettato, può essere adottato un sistema basato su blockchain che incoraggia i consumatori a scegliere un prodotto la cui impronta ecologica è bassa concedendo un incentivo economico, proporzionale alle emissioni di gas a effetto serra evitate. Nel valutare l'impatto ecologico delle diverse possibili autovetture di proprietà personale e utilizzate per il trasporto di persone presenti nel parco auto italiano nel 2019, sarà necessario eseguire una analisi delle emissioni originate durante il ciclo di vita del prodotto (LCA). I risultati ottenuti dall’analisi del ciclo di vita del prodotto saranno collezionati in un inventario in grado di raccogliere e gestire tutti i dati relativi alle emissioni di gas a effetto serra del parco auto italiano del 2019. Le alternative automobilistiche confrontate sono: auto a combustione interna (ICEV), auto ibride (HEV), auto elettriche (EV) e le auto ad idrogeno (FCV). Per ogni categoria, l'impatto delle emissioni, espresso in tonCO2eq, sarà ripartito nei contributi derivanti dalla fase di produzione e dalla fase operativa assumendo una vita del veicolo di 100'000 km. Dall’analisi dell’inventario sarà possibile concludere che il veicolo elettrico mostra emissioni di gas a effetto serra minori nel corso della vita rispetto alle alternative ICEV, HEV e FCV. Difatti, sebbene le emissioni di CO2eq legate alla produzione del veicolo elettrico siano maggiori rispetto alle medesime relative alle tipologie ICEV e HEV, il beneficio fornito dai veicoli elettrici durante la fase operativa compensa e supera il negativo divario emissivo. Infine, confrontando i veicoli elettrici rispetto all’opzione a combustione interna (prodotto di riferimento, in quanto acquistato nel 94.13% dei casi in Italia nel 2019), i veicoli elettrici raggiungono l'obiettivo di parità di emissioni in Italia tra i 17000 e 24000 km: ciò permette di concludere che, dopo un intervallo di tempo stimato tra 1,5 e 2 anni, utilizzando un veicolo elettrico è possibile contribuire all'obiettivo di riduzione di CO2eq, risparmiando tonCO2eq altrimenti emesse adoperando le differenti opzioni.
Applying a consumption-based carbon allocation mechanism rooted on life cycle thinking to the Italian vehicle fleet
Brecciaroli, Arianna
2020/2021
Abstract
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), mitigation actions are essential to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Limiting global warming and greenhouse gases emissions reduction require a worldwide transformation and transition that will involve various side of society, economy. Several methods, mainly based on Production-Based Accounting approach (PBA), are already in place or have been proposed for allocating emissions responsibility. Nevertheless, a Consumption-Based Accounting approach (CBA) would promote people direct commitment by shedding more light on the effects their choices have on greenhouse gas emissions. As IEA has estimated in its “Net Zero by 2050” report, around 55% of the cumulative emissions reductions are linked to consumer choices, this work will focus on the emission reduction impact that citizens and people can have by changing some of their habits. In particular, the focus of this work will be on the less carbon-intensive alternatives in the Italian automotive sector. Thus, to make this change financially advantageous and economically and socially acceptable, a blockchain managed system could be adopted to encourage consumers to choose a product whose carbon footprint is lower by conceding an economic incentive, proportional to the avoided emissions. When assessing the emissions impact of the automotive sector alternatives, referring in particular to passenger car personally owned and used to transport people present in the 2019 market fleet, it will be necessary to perform an analysis of the emissions originated during the product life cycle (LCA). The results obtained from the product LCA will be collected in an inventory able to store and to manage all the emissions data for 2019 passenger car Italian fleet. The vehicle type alternatives compared are internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), electric vehicle (EV) and fuel cell vehicle (FCV). For each category, the emissions impact will be displayed as tonCO2eq, value that has been calculated for production phase and operational phase, assuming a vehicle lifetime of 100000 km. From the inventory analysis it is possible to conclude that the electric vehicle shows lower lifetime emissions than comparable ICEV, HEV and FCV. Although production related CO2eq emissions are higher for EV type, with respect to ICEV and HEV, the benefit provided by EV during operational phase compensates and overcomes this negative aspect. When comparing EV with respect to ICEV (that can be regarded as the benchmark product, owning the 94.13% of the 2019 passenger car type purchased share), EV reaches the emission parity target in Italy in between 17000 and 24’000 km, meaning that, after an estimated period of 1.5-2 years, the use of an electric vehicle contributes to the CO2eq reduction target, saving tonCO2eq emissions otherwise emitted by using other options.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/179628