The complete lifecycle of a vehicle tells the true story of its carbon footprint. A recent study shows that vehicle production, including materials manufacturing, accounts for approximately 25 percent of the lifecycle emissions on a vehicle. The study, “Preparing for a Life Cycle CO2 Measure,” by the UK firm Ricardo, looks at the embedded emissions that occur before a vehicle hits the road.
The study explores hidden emissions in electric vehicles (EVs). Battery-powered cars reduce carbon output in use, but they may increase emissions in the manufacturing process and in recycling. The study estimates that embedded emissions will grow to 57 percent of the total lifecycle in EVs. The study calls on car makers to take into account the embedded emissions as they design vehicles for low emission output.
The steel industry has touted the study as an argument that steel may provide lower overall emissions than alternative materials. The auto industry is flirting with new and lighter materials to cut down on fuel consumption. The Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) argues that you have to take more into consideration than simply the impact of vehicle use. “There are three factors that matter,” Ron Krupitzer, vice president of automotive markets at the SMDI, told Design News. “There’s the lifecycle of the materials in the car, how they affect the driving, and finally, the end-of-life in the recycling.” Steel manufacturing requires “one fifth to one twentieth the emissions of alternative materials.”
Another factor the SMDI stresses is that new high-strength light steel can provide the same collision protection as traditional steel. “One of the big factors in high-strength steel is that it does the same job as the steel it replaces, but it’s thinner and much more efficient in its structure,” said Krupitzer. “You have steel that is 25 percent less in weight while still having the same concussion strength.”
The SMDI also cites the Ricardo study findings regarding end-of-life savings from steel. “Steel is fully recyclable, so you don’t have to go back to iron ore,” said Krupitzer. “Steel is a very sustainable material. We’re trying to educate people on this, including the EPA, so they understand that emissions are divided up into these different components.”
To further drive home the argument regarding steel, WorldAutoSteel, the automotive arm of the World Steel Association, has called for a shift from measuring tailpipe emissions to total lifecycle assessment. In a statement directed to US, European, and Asian regulators, WorldAutoSteel director Cees ten Broek said the manufacture of materials such as aluminum, magnesium, and carbon fiber produce far more emissions than steel.
The United States is examining fuel economy and emissions requirements for 2017-2025. The European Union’s midterm review of legislation on emission standards for new cars is expected next year. Efficiency standards are also being assessed in many Asia/Pacific countries. In light of these developments, the steel industry is pushing hard to shift from measuring emissions during vehicle use and shifting to assessments based on the vehicle’s entire lifecycle.
As someone who has spent his entire adult life earning a living in the steel stamping industry, I am thrilled to see designers rediscovering the versatility of steel. However, I must admit some of the more exotic alloys have required a complete re-education concerning things I have done for years. This is not your father's steel we are using today. Innovation is cool.
To me the exciting part is to see how steel and different alloys can be combined with plastics and other materials to really optimize the final product. i often think of cars and how it basically has 4 wheels and goes. And yet their is innovation in so many areas to make it go farther, run cheaper, and cost less. It's neat to see how steel can be used where it is needed but other materials can be used in other areas to allow their properities to help the overall function of the machine.
William, the EPA actually does employ a fair number of scientists and, yes, even engineers. As a matter of fact, the EPA developed a number of life cycle analysis tools which can be used to perform exactly the kind of analysis described in this article.
@Dave Palmer Yes. The EPA employs fantasticlly talented scientists and engineers. It is a matter of purpose. The purpose of Science is to discover the truth. The purpose of Engineering is to integrate these discoveries into useful tools. The useful tools are then used by Scientists to discover additional truth. It is a symbiotic relationship.
The purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency is, as stated in its name, to Protect the Environment. Since its formation in 1970 its charge has been the protection of human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.[EPA Website]
The EPA Mission Statement does not contain any language that states the EPA will work "with" Scientists and Engineers. The EPA will Protect, Reduce Risk, Enforce Laws, Manage Risk, Increase Diversity, and Protect the Global Environment. It is an adversarial relationship that is formed around Enforcement and Compliance.
As a Government entity, the EPA is concerned with the distribution of Political Power. In the United States, Political Power is derived by the consent of the governed. Scientist and Engineers have an obligation as citizens to dissent when government agencies overstep their bounds.
There is no reason why the relationship between the EPA and industry needs to be adversarial - and as a matter of fact, it often isn't. A good example is the collaboration between the EPA and the American Foundry Society on foundry sand recycling. This collaboration has been going on for many years, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, and has helped foundries save money while protecting the environment and creating new economic opportunities. This is just one example of collaboration between EPA scientists and engineers and scientists and engineers in private industry.
The cartoonish representation of technically illiterate government bureaucrats cackling evilly as they squeltch private enterprise and innovation might contain a grain of truth sometimes, but for the most part, it's an ideological fantasy promoted by extremists. It's no more accurate than the cartoonish representation of corporate executives cackling evilly as they willfully destroy the environment, which is the fantasy which extremists on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum would have us believe. In reality, all of us have an interest in both environmental protection and economic prosperity. Scientists and engineers in government and industry can work together to guarantee both.
@Dave Bravo! Your concluding paragraph about stereotypes should be mandatory reading for everybody. My personal difficulty is not with the EPA, per se, but with the "writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress."
Too often the Representatives in Congress are responding to demands from their constituents that are based on the cartoonish representations -- or at least those representations that emerge from short talking points and themes in the popular culture.
Your "...all of us have an interest in both environmental protection and economic prosperity. Scientists and engineers in government and industry can work together to guarantee both." is beautifully said. My hope is that scientists and engineers in both government and industry can continue to provide the honest feedback to Congress that is required of all amplification systems. =]
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