July 18, 2022
A Different Perspective on Clean Energy
Industry · 3 min read · By Buzznerd Team
A cradle-to-grave look at the real CO2 impact of ICE, battery-electric, and fuel-cell trucks.
How green are zero-emission trucks? While electricity generation produces fewer emissions than burning diesel — especially from renewable sources — that's just part of the truck's lifecycle. Building alternative-drivetrain trucks is energy- and resource-intensive, and they have practical limitations in use. The American Transportation Research Institute studied the cradle-to-grave impact of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Class 8 trucks in its report, “Understanding the CO2 Impacts of Zero-Emission Trucks.” The future of truck powertrains, it turns out, is more complicated than for passenger cars.
Manufacturing emissions and cargo
The resources needed to build a truck vary drastically by powertrain. Building an ICE truck generates about 75,000 lbs of CO2, an FCEV about 116,000 lbs, and a BEV a whopping 478,000 lbs. On the road, the batteries required for long-distance travel put BEVs at a major disadvantage: a Class 8 ICE truck averages about 18,000 lbs, while long-range BEVs tip the scales around 32,000 lbs — leaving significantly less weight for cargo and increasing the number of trips required to move freight. FCEVs weigh only about 3,000 lbs more than an ICE truck, making cargo-capacity differences almost negligible.
What it means for emissions
Using current technology, a BEV produces 30% less CO2 over its life than an ICE truck on mineral diesel, while FCEVs produce 45% lower emissions. With upcoming technology, a 2050 BEV could produce 49% lower emissions than today's ICE trucks, and an FCEV using solar-generated hydrogen could lower emissions by up to 91%. Notably, simply replacing mineral diesel with renewable diesel could cut emissions 67% — with no infrastructure changes and only minor modifications to current trucks.
All three technologies have potential. Switching to biodiesel is the easiest emissions reduction if fuel supply can meet demand. Hydrogen has the potential to be the lowest-impact technology but requires significant infrastructure investment. Battery-powered long-haul trucks are less promising, but may come out ahead on local routes, since most of their emissions come from the size of the battery pack.