Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of alternative and conventional fuel vehicles in India

Abstract

India is the third largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world after US and China. The transportation sector currently constitutes 18% of total India GHG emissions. Electrifying the current fleet and future transportation could hold the potential to reduce emissions and its associated damages. In this work, we provide a holistic cradle to grave life cycle approach to estimate GHG emissions for representative passenger vehicles driven in Indian states/union territories (UTs). We use publicly available Government of India data and review previously conducted life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for various life cycle stages to present the first state-specific LCA study associated with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Subsequently, we draw policy implications for large-scale electric vehicle implementation in these states/UTs based on the grid mix in the different regions of the country. Our results show that besides the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jharkhand which have higher use phase emissions, life-cycle GHG emissions associated with BEVs are lowest compared to all other conventional and alternative vehicles.