Low Carbon Transportation

Thomas Cheney

ENSC 302

TRANSPORATION OPTIONS FOR A LOW-CARBON FUTURE

• Currently several electric railways in Greater Vancouver

• 1 Tramway (used intermittently)

• Large Trolleybus fleet in Vancouver \ Burnaby

• Hydrogen fleet at Whistler

• Private electric cars

• Electric Bikes

• Plug in Hybrids

ZERO CARBON TRANSPORTATION IN B.C SOUTH WEST

http://www.nowpublic.com

• Used in Vancouver: Tested in 1950s in Nelson and Victoria

• Ridership increase 10%+

• 10% Faster acceleration

• Visual intrusion of wires

• Cost of initial purchase higher

TROLLEYBUSES

• 60% reduction in primary energy use

• Visible infrastructure, can anchor development like streetcar

• About $1-2 Million per one-way kilometer

• Can act as a low cost tram alternative

• Quito, Ecuador

MORE TROLLEY BUSES

T-bus

• I don’t think so

• But Bombardier Primovecity uses inductive to bring charging under the road –inductive dynamic and stationary charging

• Safe for Heart Pacemakers

• Can recharge on the go, Need less infrastructure

• Used in Ausburg,Germany for trams

• Energy recovery by onboard batteries

• Can be used for trams\bus\cars

BUT WIRES ARE UGLY!

Photo: Bombarier

• Proterra

• Used in California

• Fuel Cell Auxiliary Power Unit

• Opbrid system

• Tested in Umea, Sweden (Cold winters)

• 5-7 minutes charging

• 10-15 KM range

• Diesel APU

OFF THE WIRE BUS OPTIONS

• Light rail\tram more cost effective than light metro such as Skytrain

• Cost substantially dependent on depth of excavation of underground utilities

• $12 Million per Mile in Portland

• Rail for the Valley proposal connects Surrey with Abbotsford CMA and Chilliwack

• Interurban Right of Way is incredibly cost-effective ($6 million per km compared to Skytrain $100-140 million per km)

TRAMS

Light Rail going through water feature in Houston, Texas

• Important to allow for development of economies of scale in manufacturing \ recycling

• Modern standard of living depends on having ability to ship goods. No such thing as local television manufacturing

• Low-Carbon freight transport is needed

• Trolleytruck

• Efficiency

• Electric Fuel Cell Rail

• Biofuels (gasp!)

CARGO

Photo: Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum Electric trains that once ran to Tumbler Ridge Coal Mines

• Very High Fuel Tax on Trucks not running on electricity ($2-3 dollars per liter)

• Long term phase-in of tax

• Nationalization of railroad infrastructure to facilitate electrification and competition

• Biofuel use should be discouraged

• Cap on consumption

• Strict sustainability criteria legislation

• Road tax for non-essential biofuel use (Highway Journeys over 200 KM)

• Hydrogen fuel for most cases

POLICIES

bccommunitynews.com

• Dual-mode Vehicles with caternary

• Hybrid Engine

TROLLEY TRUCKS

In German. Sorry

Photos: http://trolleytruck.eu/

TROLLEYTRUCKS

Photos: lLw Tech Magazine

• Pipeline to transport EuroPallets

• 36 Km\h (~35 hours Lower Mainland to Alberta Heartland)

• Good for Metropolitan Regional Transport

• Electrically driven

• Proposed for Ruhr Valley, Germany

• Getting trucks out of central cities.

• Not a replacement for intercity

• Minimal disturbance during construction

CARGOCAP

• Fuel Efficiency of Trucks could be doubled to 12.5 mpg assuming no fuel switching.

HYPERTRUCKS

• Used in Los Angeles to avoid pollution at port

• UPS delivery truck smaller though

• Can replace vast majority of trucking where direct grid connection and batteries aren’t viable

• Hydrogen has lower energy efficiency

FUEL CELL BIG RIGS

CLEAN CARS

Highly efficient, light but safe cars are imperative to achieve a medium-term sustainable energy future. Making cars light makes renewably fuels such as electricity increasingly viable..

• Light-weight but strong carbon fiber construction

• Carbon fibre expensive material, cheap to make into cars

• RMI modelled a Revolution SUV comparable to 2004 Audi Allroad

• 58% fuel use reduction

• 1.6% price increase over Audi Allroad

HYPERCAR -LIGHTWIEGHTING EFFECTS

THE HYPERCAR CONCEPT

nexusilluminati.blogspot.com

• As VW notes, low-cost carbon-composite automotive structures could cut the weight of a car by 40% (most firms say 50–65%) and body parts by 70%, making this approach “cost effective even if the manufacturing costs per part are still expected to be higher” (Page 56, Winning the Oil Endgame)

• Making cars lightweight and efficient makes greener fuels such as hydrogen more economically and technically viable

LIGHT WEIGHTING AND COST

• 66 MPG \ 107 MPG

• 72% \ 83% reduction in fuel use for hybrid/ fuel cell hybrid

• Light-weighting 2.4X improvement for 1.6% cost increase

• 7.4% / 31.9% cost increase

HYBRID / FUEL-CELL HYPERCAR

• Bottom of car is source of most resistance!

• Low-resistance, but high traction tires

• Take home: cars can heat less air and pavement to fry the planet less

RESISTANCE

VEHICLE EFFICIENCY – HYPERCAR

• Earliest Auto Technology

• Limited Range

• Recharging Times

• Cost of storage high

• Batteries

• Supercapacitors

ELECTRIC CARS

Tea Anyone? In the Electric Horseless Carriage, perhaps… GM photo

• Key economic driver: cheap available “fuel”

• Night-time charging

• Allows for carbon capture and storage

• Combination of options for electric vehicles best

• Hydrogen

• Batteries

• Direct connection to grid (inductive charging)

MORE ELECTRIC CARS

greencar.com

HYDROGEN CARS

Hydrogen is a carbon-free energy carrier allowing a fuel infrastructure that is easily converted to renewable energy sources

• Can be used to drive Cars, Buses, Ferries, Planes, Boats, Bikes, Airships

• Fuel cell round trip efficiency at best 45%

• But storable

• Good for many applications except small planes

HYDROGEN OPTIONS

• Capital replacement cycles for long- lived assets limits adoption rate

• Initial hydrogen source from reformed natural gas

• Hydrogen might be cost up to the efficiency equivalent of $1.28 per liter

CHALLENGES

nanopedia.case.edu

• 2/3rd reduction in pricey platinum use

• Current cost of $225 per KW of fuel cell ‘engine’ system

• Hydrogen Fuel Cells 2.5 times more efficient than Internal Combustion Engine

• 2015 Target • h2carblog

WILL HYDROGEN EVER BE AFFORDABLE?

Photo: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

126 Kwh/ 100 miVs.30 Kwh/ 100 mi

If wind electricity is Primary electricity, overall efficiency is 63%

Assumes Carnot Law – Combined Cycle Gas Turbines 50% better\

Not comparable due to the use of wind resources

70% more reasonable

• High efficiency

• Limited Range

• Long recharging times compared to fossil fuel

• Battery swap might be a solution

• Cheap Fuel

• Low efficiency

• 1.26 Kwh per mile

• Very fast Recharging 3MW

• 70% electrolysis efficiency

• Storage solvable

• High cost

• 10 cents per KWh electricity * 56 KWH of electricity per KG H2 = 5.60 per KWH for power alone

• $8-10 for wind hydrogen per KG

NO IDEAL ANSWER

FUEL CELL BATTERY

• Replace Internal Combustion Engine with Fuel Cell 400-500 KM range for hydrogen storage.

• Ford Edge Hyseries Hybrids

• Can drive 40 kilometers of electricity alone

• When battery depletes to 40% hydrogen takes over an recharges

• Total range 360 kilometers (Full hydrogen and charge),

• 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen

• ZERO CARBON is POSSIBLE

THE GOAL: CHEVY VOLT + FUEL CELL

http://www.greencar.com/

• Rocky Mountain Institute notes that hydrogen can be produced from natural gas in decentralized fashion

• Halving of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of hydrogen produced from natural gas

• Decentralized reformation is the most cost effective.

• In longer-term converting natural gas pipelines could be an option

• Hydrogen could be used to power fuel cells to drive resistance heaters and heat pumps when there is insufficient wind and high heat demand

WHAT ABOUT HYDROGEN STATIONS AND PIPELINES?

Photo: Ecofriend

• Generally considered to be carbon-neutral… but complex accounting due to increasing carbon storage at advanced ages

• Opportunity of not storing in carbon

• Biomass CCS (Azar et al, 2008)

• BC Forest 12 Mt(dry).yr

20% of fossil fuel could be displaced by forest residuals

191 PJ/year in BC from forest waste

• Cellulosic Biomass potential in Alberta– 380 to 420 petajoules

BIOENERGY

Photo: ESAGOR flickr’s photostream

Lots of issues with biofuels

Focus on BTL

• Diesel

• Kerosene

• DME

FUEL OPTIONS

DME FOR LOGGING \ SOME MARINE

http://www.me.umn.edu/centers/cdr/reports/E3_Kittelson.pdf

Energy - Industry 0.55Transport - Cars 0.25Transport - Trucks 1.5Transport - Marine 0.1Transport - Aviation 0.08

DME BEST LAND USE EFFICIENCY

• Wood is gasified, cooled, cleaned to remove tars, chlorine and other contaminants

• Syngas conversion to SNG with catalysts (Large-Scale)

• Total efficiency of Wood to Methane Energy is around 50-75%

BIO-METHANE FROM WOOD

Photo: ECN

• Drop-in Fuel (works with existing equipment)

• Kerosene \ SunDiesel

• Some electricity cogeneration

• 40-50 efficien t% (SNG higher at up to 70%)

FT DIESEL FUELS

• Not enough bioenergy to meet all of BCs and Alberta’s needs need

• Bioenergy does have large production potential 100-200 EJ per year

• Limited in Canada due to cold climate

• We should remember that trees and in particular functioning forest ecosystems have a variety of values

• Deadwood is extremely important for biodiversity

• REMBEMBER THE WOOD DUCKS!

BIOENERGY: LIMITED RESOURCE

rivermud.blogspot.com

• Painfully slow

• No electric intercity rail

• Slow due to track quality and regulatory environment requiring heavy railcar. Unbalanced superelevation

• Private ownership of railbed

• Europe generally has public track ownership

• Banedanmark in Denmark

• public investment

INTERCITY RAIL

• Advance control systems to allow safe operation at higher speeds to encourage modal shift

• Electric Caternary on mainlines

• Hydrogen hybrids on remainder of network

TRAINS

http://en.wikipedia.org/

DEUTSCH BAHN DMU (DIESEL MULTIPLE UNIT)

• 25% less CO2 than flying

• Low load factor + outdated safety regulations

• 90% of the time in idle

• But better than trucks

• Greyhound is better energy wise

DIESEL TRAINS

en.wikipedia.com

• Great Power

• Great Speed

• 75% Breaking energy recovery on equipped trains

• A wonderfully efficient and pleasant way to get around

• On the right the Pagatag my favourite thing in the world when I was 4.

ELECTRIC TRAINS

Photo: Anders Lagerås

• 70% fuel intensity reduction

• Double-bubble

• Hydrogen long-term

• Biofuels may be an option

• FT fuels from cellulose

• Gasification + bioreactors

• FT fuels drop-in

• Perhaps 80% CO2 reduction

• Lower cruising altitudes to reduce Non-CO2 forces

AVIATION

en.wikipedia.org