DOE technology assessments evaluate use of ethanol as a vehicle fuel Alternative fuels offer the advantages of reduced emissions and petroleum use, but how do you choose among the different fuels? DOE’s David Rodgers finds full-energy-cycle assessments useful. A recent study showed that using ethanol made from corn reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 16-28% and petroleum use by 73-75% as compar...

China’s fuel quality standards and fuel supply management have long been an impediment to improved air quality by hindering the progress of vehicle emission control. This paper summarizes the status of China’s fuel quality standards, fuel supply and vehicle emission standards focusing on the major problems of fuel quality management. The mechanism that China uses to establish its fuel quality s...

Hybrid electric vehicles are seen as a solution to improving fuel economy and reducing pollution emissions from automobiles. By recovering kinetic energy during braking and optimizing the engine operation to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, a hybrid vehicle can outperform a traditional vehicle. In designing a hybrid vehicle, the task of finding optimal component sizes and an appropriate c...

Electric and hybrid-electric vehicles have long been seen as the answer to the economic and environmental problems created by traditional fossil fuel vehicles. In addition to the ability to reduce carbon emissions and reduce negative environmental externalities, they have the potential to end the current dependence on limited fossil fuel reserves and thus enhance energy security. However, the f...

This paper addresses the critical need to incorporate realistic models of the air supply sub-system in fuel cell system performance analysis. The paper first presents the dominant performance issues involved with the air supply operation in the fuel cell system. The report then goes on to propose a methodology for an air supply model that addresses many of the performance issues. Most important...

This paper introduces an online and intelligent energy management controller to improve the fuel economy of a power-split plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Based on analytic analysis between fuelrate and battery current at different driveline power and vehicle speed, quadratic equations are applied to simulate the relationship between battery current and vehicle fuel-rate. The power thres...

To improve the drivability and reduce fuel consumption and emissions of an existing sport utility vehicle (SUV), simulation-based vehicle refinement was conducted in this study. A simulation model of the SUV was first established and validated. Both simulation and test results confirm that due to low reserve power both at low and high speed bands, the drivability, fuel economy and emissions of ...

This life cycle assessment (LCA) presents initial findings of potential environmental and human health impacts from fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEV). The LCA is significant because it is based on the ecoinvent database of emissions and background processes, and it assesses a broad range of emission pathways. Although the paper highlights key areas in the life cycle of FCHEV, including...