Since the early 2010s, China has been accelerating methanol vehicle development to secure energy supply and reduce environmental pollution. Although completed pilot projects have demonstrated the economic and technological maturity of methanol vehicles, their overall emissions are still high, as methanol is predominantly produced from coal in China. To combat this, two green methanol routes (CO2-to-methanol and biomass-to-methanol) have been proposed as vehicle fuels. Before further deployment, comprehensively comparing green methanol vehicles with other vehicles is crucial; therefore, based on life-cycle assessments and cost analyses, this study compared green methanol vehicles with coal-to-methanol, conventional gasoline, and electric vehicles considering energy-focused, environmental, and economic perspectives. Combined with these results, we developed a comprehensive evaluation model to prioritize green methanol vehicles among the different vehicles in China. The evaluation results show that biomethanol vehicle ranks first; the potential of CO2-to-methanol vehicle is limited because of its high fuel cost and high energy consumption: 2.6 and 13.9 times of biomethanol, respectively. Based on the designed scenarios, the government should develop a dynamic policy scheme consisting of scaling up the deployment of biomethanol vehicles according to local conditions and developing CO2-to-methanol vehicles if fuel technology advances considerably after carbon neutrality.
History
Publication title
Energy
Volume
263
Issue
Part E
Article number
125967
Number
125967
Pagination
1-14
ISSN
0360-5442
Department/School
School of Engineering
Publisher
Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd
Place of publication
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England, Ox5 1Gb