Options for Using China’s Coal in Cars: A Life-Cycle Assessment

*Total cost of base case is estimated at $40,000. Options for Using China’s Coal in Cars: A Life-Cycle Assessment Using Optical Fibers to Monitor the Health of Concrete Structures Special Reports News Items, Publications and References, New and Renewed Projects I N T H I S I S S U E China is the world’s largest coal producer. Yet in recent years this coalrich nation has had to import petroleum, largely to fuel its rapidly growing transportation sector. Concerned about energy security, Chinese policymakers are now considering ways to use coal in place of petroleum, particularly as an automotive fuel. Processes exist for converting coal into gasoline, methanol, and electricity, any of which can run a car. The challenge is to identify the option that best meets the policymakers’ three main goals: to minimize costs to the consumer, to minimize environmental damage, and to use the nation’s domestic resources most efficiently. Unfortunately, no single option is the obvious winner on all fronts. In 1996, the Chinese government initiated a study to clarify and evaluate the costs and benefits associated with the various options. Collaborating in the study were more than forty technical experts from MIT, Ford Motor Company, Tsinghua University, and several agencies of the government of the Peoples Republic of China. MIT’s part of the work was coordinated by the Energy Laboratory and led by Malcolm A. Weiss, senior research staff member at the Laboratory. The Ford team was led by Walter M. Kreucher, manager, Advanced Environmental and Fuels Engineering, and the Chinese team by Qiming Zhu, professor at Tsinghua University. The goal of the study was not to make specific recommendations but to provide Chinese leaders with sound scientific information on the potential consequences of different approaches to using coal as an automotive fuel. The approach ultimately adopted by Chinese policymakers will, of course, take into account other societal concerns not examined in the study. July–September 1997 Energy Laboratory research and related activities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology