Biogas cars outperform electric ones on emissions: NGVA
Vehicles running on bio-methane produce less combined well-to-wheel and manufacturing-related emissions than electric ones, the Natural Gas Vehicle Association (NGVA) Europe said on July 8, calling for the EU to recognise the value of biogas in decarbonising road transport and provide appropriate support.
The European Commission is due to publish its Fit for 55 package of legislative proposals later this year, aimed at aligning bloc policies on climate, energy and other areas with its recently adopted target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, versus a 1990 baseline.
Current EU policy focuses on tailpipe emissions, and by this logic electrical vehicles are the best option for decarbonising transport, producing zero grams of CO2. But NGVA Europe argues this approach fails to take into account the emissions produced when generating electricity. Renewables only accounted for 38% of power generation in the EU last year, while the rest comes from gas, coal and other sources that emit CO2.
When the entire supply chain is considered, from well to wheel, passenger vehicles running on a mix of biomethane and natural gas produce similar amounts of emissions to electric cars, NGVA Europe said, citing a study it commissioned from Frontier Economies earlier this year. When only bio-methane is used, gas-fuelled vehicles outperform electric ones when considering combined emissions from the well-to-wheel chain and from the vehicle's manufacture, it said.
NGVA Europe also noted that while electric cars were an option in urban areas, heavy-duty road transport needs fuels that can support longer distances and are available across Europe.
"The game changing potential of biomethane and synthetic natural gas to produce negative emissions while driving personal vehicles has not been considered in the regulation," Timm Kehler, president of NGVA Europe and CEO of German gas association Zukunft Gas said in a statement. "With the amendment of the CO2 emissions performance standards for cars and vans this summer, the EU has the chance to initiate a major overhaul of trends in CO2 emissions: the chance to apply a WtW approach, to assess the real impact of all engines and to avoid path dependency on one limited technology."
NGVA Europe earlier this month warned the European Commission in a letter not to "hamper" the energy transition by focusing only on electric transport and disregarding the contribution of biofuels. It said focusing only on tailpipe emissions was a "de-facto technology ban on the internal combustion engine that would be not just unjustifiable, but actively detrimental."