Analysis of the impacts of fuel cell vehicles on energy systems in the transportation sector in Japan

摘要

This research examines the changes of energy system in the transportation sector having the fuel cell vehicles (FCV) in Japan. The concern with the FCV as an advanced transportation technology has been growing. The FCV is planed to be introduced in the transportation market in 2003 by the year around through automobile manufactures in Japan. The advantage of the FCV could be summarized as follows; (1) reduction of energy consumption with the high efficiency of fuel cells. (2) drastic reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector, (3) possibility of energy shift from petroleum to the other energy sources, such as natural gas and renewables. In order to the transitional introduction of the FCV, both fuel economy and energy choice need to be examined in terms of changes in energy systems and environmental concerns. We have developed eight patterns of FCV models and analyzed them by using an energy-economic model. We have found that the FCV is efficient in saving energy consumption and reducing carbon dioxide emission. In particular, when the fuel is supplied directly at onsite hydrogen station and the hydrogen is reformed from natural gas, the FCV shows most efficient performance with higher efficiency and lower costs.