Life-cycle greenhouse gas analysis of LNG as a heavy vehicle fuel in Europe

The aim of the present study was to compare the life cycle, in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, of diesel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) used as fuels for heavy-duty vehicles in the European market (EU-15). A literature review revealed that the numerous studies conducted have reported different results when the authors departed from different baseline assumptions and reference scenarios. For our study, we concentrated on the European scenario and on heavy-duty road transport vehicles, given their important incidence on the global emissions of GHG. Two possible LNG procurement strategies were considered i.e. purchasing it directly from the regasification terminal (LNG-TER) or producing LNG locally (at the service station) with small-scale plants (LNG-SSL). We ascertained that the use of LNG-TER enables a 10% reduction in GHG emissions by comparison with diesel, while the emissions resulting from the LNG-SSL solution are comparable with those of diesel.