Life Cycle Assessments – Controversial, but without Alternative

摘要

You can describe Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) as relatively environmentally friendly or as climate killers and you will find plenty of studies to back you up whatever your view. Over recent years, numerous research projects have investigated the life cycle of BEVs and vehicles with combustion engines and in some cases have produced very different results. This leads us to the conclusion that life cycle assessment studies are interest-based. The automotive industry would like to continue selling combustion engines, while climate activists are attempting to prevent them from doing just that. But the situation is actually not as simple as it seems, because Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are paradoxical. Two studies on the climate impact of combustion engines and electric powertrains will hardly ever produce identical results, even if the authors are following all the scientific principles. The reason for this is both simple and sobering. At the start of every LCA study, the framework for the investigation has to be determined so that different cars can be compared. How many kilometers will the car in question cover during its service life? Where was it manufactured? What is the capacity of the battery in the BEV? The answers to questions like these already present the authors of the study with a dilemma, because while these initial assumptions will lead to a study that is coherent in itself, it will not be possible to compare the results with those of other studies which have slightly different input parameters without further work.