Well-to-Wheel Emissions- What are they and how do Louisiana’s compare?
Posted by Clean Fuels Intern on Jul. 17, 2023 / Electric Vehicles, Case Studies / Subscribe 0
Well-to-Wheel Emissions- What are they and how do Louisiana’s compare?
Written by Elizabeth Linehan, Clean Cities Intern
What are Well-to-Wheel Emissions?
When comparing the lifetime emissions of an electric vehicle (EV) to an internal-combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), it is important not only to include the emissions from driving and constructing the vehicle, but also to think about where the fuel comes from. For EVs the fuel is electricity while for ICEVs the fuel is gasoline. Incorporating this data in the emissions is referred to as “well-to-wheel” emissions, referencing from the oil well to the wheel of the car.
“Well-to-wheel emissions include all emissions related to fuel production, processing, distribution, and use. In the case of gasoline, emissions are produced while extracting petroleum from the earth, refining it, distributing the fuel to stations, and burning it in vehicles.” (AFDC, 2022)
It is well known that EVs have less emissions than ICEVs, in the following table you can see that gasoline powered vehicles have roughly 3x the yearly well-to-wheel emissions of an EV. Even hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which use a combination of electricity and gasoline produce half of the emissions of an ICEV.
Figure 1: Annual Emission per Vehicle (in pounds of CO2 equivalent) (AFDC, 2022)
How does Louisiana Compare?
Louisiana’s well-to-wheel emissions are higher for electric vehicles when compared to the country as a whole due to the sources of our electricity. This is because Louisiana’s electricity primarily comes from the locally sourced natural gas, which creates greenhouse gas emissions through the energy production process. Beneficially, Louisiana utilizes much less coal than the national average, and while natural gas emits GHGs, it burns much cleaner than coal. Moreover, the proportion of electricity produced using renewable sources such as solar, wind, or hydro is much smaller than that of the nation as a whole. Consequently, owning an EV in Louisiana is slightly less sustainable than in other states across the country.
Figure 2: Sources of Electricity in the US and Louisiana (AFDC, 2022)
Looking into the Future:
Fortunately, this is on track to change in the future. Over the next three years, Entergy, Louisiana’s largest energy utility company, intends to triple their utilization of renewable resources. To meet customer demand for clean energy capacity, they see the potential for up to 17 gigawatts of renewable energy generation in our portfolio by 2031 (Energy, 2022), which is over 50% of their current generated capacity.
As Louisiana, and the rest of the world, transfer more and more to renewable energy utilization, electric vehicles and all other uses of electricity will become more sustainable.
For more information:
https://www.entergy.com/renewable-energy/
https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_emissions.html
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