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Comment 3 for Technology and Fuels Assessment Report comments (techfuel-report-ws) - 1st Workshop.
First Name: Patrik
Last Name: Akerman
Email Address: patrik.akerman@siemens.com
Affiliation: Siemens AG
Subject: Comments to TechFuel draft: WTW analysis
Comment:
Ladies and gentlemen, Concerned that the forecasted growth in road freight (i.e. heavy duty truck) emissions +64% (CARB Sustainable Freight, p13), Recognizing the challenge of reducing California’s GHG emissions (including power generation and transportation): -40% by 2030 and -80% by 2050 (compared with 1990 baseline), Sharing the recognition of CARB that it is important to aim for solutions that satisfy all of the air quality goals in order to provide the certainty business need for long term planning. (CARB Sustainable Freight, p24), Noting the concerns raised by CARB about insufficient supply of renewable bio-fuels. (CARB Technology and Fuels Assessment, p17), Supporting the use of WTW analysis of how to make the most efficient use of the renewable energy sources available, Siemens submits the following considerations on the options for using renewable electricity in road freight. The options being: 1) Battery on-board storage 2) Transforming electrical energy into chemical form (e.g. electrolysis or methanation) 3) Direct supply to moving truck, i.e. Electric Road Systems (e.g. catenary hybrid) 1. Batteries. For long haul road freight, the energy demand is substantial, e.g. with current technology a 40ton truck going 600 miles would need 20tons of battery. This is not practical. Battery technology is progressing, and although a reduction in weight of a factor 5-20 would be a huge boon to energy users and society, it is not being forecast in the coming decades. It therefore seems imprudent to solely rely on improvements in battery technology to overcome the challenge caused by road freight GHG emissions. 2. Power-to-Gas. Converting zero- or low-carbon electricity into chemical energy is associated with significant energy losses. Studies in Europe have estimated well-to-wheel efficiency for hydrogen fuels cells at around 27%, while using methanation to make renewable natural gas for combustion engines has only around 19% efficiency. Given that the transport sector is a significant energy user such inefficiencies will require quite some power generation capacity. Furthermore, such inefficiencies will impact the cost of fuel and therefore the economics of operations. 3. Electric Road Systems. When supplying the electricity directly to the trucks the WTW efficiency is around 76%, which could translate into operating costs that are 1/3 or even ¼ that of Power-to-Gas trucks. If the electricity is not fully renewable, but low-carbon, then that same differential also applies to the GHG emissions. Electric Road Systems (ERS) is similar to rail electrification in that it is aimed at those routes where the high volume of traffic justifies the investment. Prime candidates for ERS are those roads that are intensely used by trucks, such as connections between ports and rail yards. Looking further into the future there are also larger trucking corridors that could benefit from ERS, such as the I-5 or Highway 99, identified by US DOT as the two largest road freight corridors in California with ADT above 10.000 in 2007 and significantly more in the coming decades. The International Energy Agency (IEA) analyzed how catenary hybrid technology could impact road freight and found that in countries such as France a half of all truck transport (ton-km) occur on just 2.5% of the roads. IEA also found that including catenary hybrids in their scenario reduced both CO2 emissions (due to replacing diesel) and reduced energy demand (due to replacing hydrogen, which was previously the only consideration). California could also benefit from a similar scenario. Best regards Patrik Akerman Siemens AG Sources: 1. Zoerner, T. (25. 03 2013). Entwicklung der Netzverluste in Deutschland . Accessible online on May 05 2014 at https://www.proteus-solutions.de/~Unternehmen/News-PermaLink:tM.F04!sM.NI41!Article.955326.asp 2. BMUB. (2014). Erneuerbar mobil. Berlin: BMUB. 3. Hessisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz. (November 2013). H2BZ. Accessible online on May 3 2014 at http://www.h2bzhessen. de/mm/Wind-Wasserstoff_geschuetzt.pdf 4. IVECO. (18. 01 2010). Stralis-CNG. Accessible online on May 3 2014 at http://lehrerfortbildungbw.de/bs/berufsbezogen/fahrzeugtechnik/material/2009_02_sympnutzfzg/doc/iveco/STRALIS-CNG_ES_2010-01-18_deutsch.pdf 5. California Air Resources Board - Sustainable Freight, pathways to zero and near-zero emissions. April 2015 6. IEA (International Energy Agency) (2014): Energy Technology Perspectives 2014, OECD/IEA, Paris. ISBN 9789264208001.
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2015-05-07 07:04:31
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