Comparative life cycle assessment of hydrogen, methanol and electric vehicles from well to wheel

A comparative life cycle assessment of methanol, hydrogen and electric vehicles is conducted to investigate the impacts of alternative vehicles on the environment and human health. For each case, the processes are analyzed from extraction of raw materials for hydrogen, methanol and electricity to disposal of the vehicles. Three different environmental impact categories are selected in order to understand the diverse effects of vehicles, namely: global warming, human toxicity and ozone layer depletion. As an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines, hydrogen and methanol, are directly utilized in internal combustion engine vehicles. The results of this study show that electric vehicles yield higher human toxicity values due to the respective manufacturing and maintenance stages. Since the energy density of hydrogen is quite higher than methanol, hydrogen driven vehicles result in a more environmentally-benign option with respect to global warming and ozone layer depletion potentials.