The impact of hybrid engines on fuel consumption and emissions of heavy-duty trucks
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Abstract
Overland transport of goods mainly goes by road. Road freight transport, trucking in particular, has a large share in the energy consumption, CO2-emissions and air pollution by human activities. This will become an even bigger issue with the expected massive growth of road freight transport.
Climate change mitigation asks for a major reduction of CO2-emissions from human origin. Improvement of air quality is a second reason why trucking companies have to look for alternative engine-fuel configurations: Biodiesel, gas and electricity. The paper answers two research questions:
1.New truck technologies are under way, what impact could these have on fuel consumption and emissions related with the fuel consumption of trucks?
2.How realistic is large-scale introduction of these new technologies before the year 2030?
A model was used to estimate the emissions of CO2, NOx and PM10 of a truck transporting goods along a pre-defined route consisting of city roads and highways. The volumes and composition of the emissions vary depending on the data entered by the user: Route/distance, fuel efficiency/consumption, emission factors and engine-fuel configuration. The model was used for a micro-simulation, but an extension towards a macro-simulation model is feasible. This would allow to estimate the impact on fuel consumption and emissions for a fleet of trucks. The model indicates that the main benefit of an alternative like biodiesel lies in the reduction of PM10-emissions. Electric trucking is necessary to drastically reduce CO2-emissions and air pollution.
In a few years from now hybrid diesel-electric trucks will become common. Full-electric trucks energized by internal (hydrogen in fuel cells) and/or external (trolley-like, high density batteries) sources are feasible well before the year 2030. Electric trucking means a drastic change in the use of fuels with implications for the electricity grid as well.
Keywords: Energy consumption, emissions, heavy-duty trucks, environment, conditions.