Comparison of different vehicle power trains

Four different alternatives of mobile power train developments (hybrid dies el, fuel cell operating with hydrogen produced on a petrochemical basis, me thanol reformer-fuel cell system, gasoline reformer-fuel cell system), are compared with the gasoline internal combustion engine (ICE), for well-to-wh eel efficiencies, CO2 emissions, and investment costs. Although the ICE req uires the lowest investment cost, it is not competitive in well-to-wheel ef ficiencies and less favourable than the above alternatives for CO2 emission s. The hybrid diesel power train has the highest well-to-wheel efficiency ( 30%), but its well-to-wheel carbon dioxide emission is similar to that of t he fuel cell power train operated with compressed hydrogen produced on a ce ntralised petrochemical basis. This latter case, however, has the advantage over the hybrid diesel power train that the carbon dioxide emission is con centrated and easier to control than the several point-like sources of emis sions. Among the five cases studied only the on-board reforming of methanol offers the possibility of using a renewable energy source (biomass). (C) 2 001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.