Energy, economic, and environmental impacts assessment of co-optimized on-road heavy-duty engines and bio-blendstocks

Doris Oke, Lauren Sittler, Hao Cai, Andre Avelino, Emily Newes, George G. Zaimes, Yimin Zhang, Longwen Ou, Avantika Singh, Jennifer B. Dunn, Troy R. Hawkins*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abundant domestic biomass and waste resources can be converted to a number of liquid transportation fuels, including those for aviation, marine, and diesel-fueled vehicles. For example, diesel-range renewable blendstocks with favorable properties such as high-cetane number, low sulfur, and oxygenation can be produced for heavy-duty (HD), mixing controlled compression ignition (MCCI) engine vehicles. Renewable MCCI fuels and a ducted fuel injection technology could reduce engine-out soot and nitrogen oxide emissions, leading to reduced total cost of vehicle ownership and a potential to penetrate the market at scale. We employed a suite of integrated models to evaluate different MCCI fuels (polyoxymethylene dimethyl ether from forest residues; alkoxy alkanoate ester ether from corn stover; renewable diesel from fats, oils, and greases (FOG), wastewater sludge, and swine manure) that are potentially technically viable, and scalable. We assessed how MCCI fuels could be produced and deployed over time in potential deployment scenarios, considering their impact on consumer vehicle choices, market availability and build-out of biomass- or waste-derived MCCI fuels and biorefineries, and the effects of a hypothetical U.S. carbon tax. In the absence of a carbon tax, co-optimized MCCI vehicles account for 9-325 thousand TJ per yr of renewable fuels to supply 4-9% of heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) stock in 2050 across all scenarios. Consequently, we estimated that the life-cycle petroleum consumption would decrease by 2-15%, life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would decrease by 2-11%, and net jobs would increase by 4600-25 400, compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario defined by energy information administration projections. With a carbon tax, co-optimized MCCI vehicles account for 175-338 thousand TJ per yr of renewable fuels to supply 7-35% of HDV vehicle stock in 2050. Consequently, we estimated that the life-cycle petroleum consumption would decrease by 8-16%, the life-cycle GHG emissions would decrease by 7-11%, and net jobs would increase by 3000-29 000. With a carbon tax and a nationwide renewable diesel policy framework, even greater benefits would be expected when additional renewable diesel fuels are produced and used by co-optimized MCCI vehicles. Ultimately, we put forward a framework to evaluate the energy, environmental and economic impacts associated with deployments of co-optimized MCCI fuels and engines in class 8 long-haul trucks.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4580-4601
Number of pages22
JournalSustainable Energy and Fuels
Volume7
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 16 2023

Funding

The research reported in this paper was sponsored, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) under the DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Consortium. The submitted manuscript has been created by Argonne National Laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and direction of Trevor Smith at BETO, Kevin Stork at VTO, and the Co-Optima leadership team. Furthermore, the authors acknowledge helpful discussions with Aaron Brooker for his input on ADOPT modeling. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan. https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan . The research reported in this paper was sponsored, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) under the DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Consortium. The submitted manuscript has been created by Argonne National Laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and direction of Trevor Smith at BETO, Kevin Stork at VTO, and the Co-Optima leadership team. Furthermore, the authors acknowledge helpful discussions with Aaron Brooker for his input on ADOPT modeling. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan. https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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