This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Quantifying the Life Cycle Water Consumption of a Passenger Vehicle
Technical Paper
2012-01-0646
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Numerous studies have pointed out the growing need to assess the availability of water sources in numerous regions around the world as future forecasts suggest that water demands will increase significantly while freshwater resources are being depleted. In this paper, we highlight the difference between water use versus consumption and analyze the life-cycle water consumption of a car from material extraction through production, use, and final disposition/end of life and determine a car's water footprint using data from the EcoInvent database as well as data collected from literature sources. Although water use is typically metered at the factory level, water consumption (i.e., water lost through evaporation and/or incorporation into a material, part, and/or product) is much harder to quantify. As shown in this paper, the difference can be an order of magnitude or more. The use phase has significant impact on the overall vehicle water consumption, followed by material production, whereas end of life processing seems to be relatively insignificant. The assessment in this paper represents a life-cycle inventory assessment. The impact of water consumption varies by region and locality, and a differentiation of impact would still be needed whether the water consumption actually happens in water scarce regions or not.
Recommended Content
Authors
Topic
Citation
Bras, B., Tejada, F., Yen, J., Zullo, J. et al., "Quantifying the Life Cycle Water Consumption of a Passenger Vehicle," SAE Technical Paper 2012-01-0646, 2012, https://doi.org/10.4271/2012-01-0646.Also In
References
- Yen, J. Zullo, J. Tejada, F. Bras, B. et al. “A Model for Water Consumption in Vehicle Use within Urban Regions,” SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1152 2011 10.4271/2011-01-1152
- Pfister, S. Koehler, A. Hellweg, S. Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Freshwater Consumption in LCA Environmental Science & Technology 2009 43 11 4098 4104
- Hoekstra, A.Y. Chapagain, A.K. Aldaya, M.M. Mekonnen, M.M. Water Footprint Manual: State of the Art 2009 2009 Water Footprint Network Enschede, the Netherlands
- WFN Water Footprint, Glossary 2011 Water Footprint Network Enschede, The Netherlands
- Morrison, J. Morikawa, M. Murphy, M. Schulte, P. Water Scarcity & Climate Change: Growing Risks for Businesses & Investors 2009 Ceres Boston
- SABMiller and WWF-UK Water footprinting: Identifying & Addressing Water Risks in the Value Chain 2009 WWF-UK Goldalming, UK
- Hischier, R. Life Cycle Inventories of Packaging and Graphical Papers. ecoinvent-Report No. 11 2007 Durbendorf
- Classen, M. Althaus, H.-J. Blaser, S. Scharnhorst, W. Life Cycle Inventories of Metals. Final report ecoinvent data v2.1, No 10 2009 EMPA Swiss Center for Life Cycle Inventories Dubendorf, CH
- Saari, A. Lettenmeier, M. Pusenius, K. Hakkarainen, E. Influence of vehicle type and road category on natural resource consumption in road transport Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2007 12 1 23 32
- Schweimer, G.W. Levin, M. Sachbilanz des Golf A4 (Life Cycle Inventory for the Golf A4) 2000 Volkswagen AG Wolfsburg
- Spielmann, M. Althaus, H.-J. Can a prolonged use of a passenger car reduce environmental burdens? Life Cycle analysis of Swiss passenger cars Journal of Cleaner Production 2007 15 11-12 1122 1134
- Schmidt, W.-P. Life Cycle Tools within Ford of Europe's Product Sustainability Index. Case Study Ford S-MAX & Ford Galaxy (8 pp) The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2006 11 5 315 322
- Das, S. Curlee, T.R. Rizy, C.G. Schexnayder, S.M. Automobile recycling in the United States: Energy impacts and waste generation Resources, Conservation and Recycling 1995 14 3-4 265 284
- Buckingham, D.A. Steel Stocks in Use in Automobiles in the United States U.S. Geological Survey 2005 Eastern Publications Group Denver
- Margolis, N. Sousa, L. Energy and Environmental Profile of the U.S. Aluminum Industry U.S. Department of Energy 1997 Energetics, Incorporated
- Margolis, N. Brindle, R. Energy and Environmental Profile of the U.S. Iron and Steel Industry U.S. Department of Energy 2000 Energetics, Incorporated
- BCS Inc Energy and Environmental Profile of the U.S. Mining Industry U.S. Department of Energy 2002 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 5-1 5-21
- Du, J. Han, W. Peng, Y. Life cycle greenhouse gases, energy and cost assessment of automobiles using magnesium from Chinese Pidgeon process Journal of Cleaner Production 2010 18 2 112 119
- Pulselli, R. Ridolfi, R. Rugani, B. Tiezzi, E. Application of life cycle assessment to the production of man-made crystal glass The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2009 14 5 490 501
- Xiao, X. Songwen, X. Xueyi, G. Kelong, H. Ryoichi, Y. LCA Case Study of zinc hydro and pyro-metallurgical process in China The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2003 8 3 151 155
- Bridgestone 2010 Environmental Commitment and Performance
- Franklin Associates Craddle-to-Gate Life Cycle Inventory of Nine Plastic Resins and Four Polyurethane Precursors 2010
- Boustead, I. Eco-profiles of the European Plastics Industry - CRUDE OIL 2005 Plastics Europe Brussels, Belgium
- Sullivan, J.L. Burnham, A. Wang, M. Energy-Consumption and Carbon-Emision Analysis of Vehicle and Component Manufacturing U.S.D.o. Energy 2010 Argonne National Laboratory Argonne, Illinois
- Gedlinske, B. Machine Coolant Management Program Cutting Fluid Management for Small Machining Operations 1997
- Dahmus, J.B. Gutowski, T.G. An Enviromental Analysis of Machining ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and RD&D Expo 2004 Anaheim, California
- Alcoa Sustainability at a Glance 2010
- Liu, C. Modeling of Water and Lubricant Sprays Industrial Systems Engineering 2007 The Ohio State University
- Belosevich, V. Svidovskii, F. Emulsions for drawing copper Metallurgist 1997 41 7 254 256
- College, F.V.T. 2000 Cutting Fluid Types and Uses
- Fratila, D. Macro-level environmental comparison of near-dry machining and flood machining Journal of Cleaner Production 2010 18 10-11 1031 1039
- Oberg, E. Jones, F.D. Horton, H.L. Ryffel, H.H. Machinery's Handbook (27th Edition) & Guide to Machinery's Handbook Industrial Press
- Dasch, J. D'Arcy, J. Gundrum, A. Sutherland, J. Johnson, J. Carlson, D. Characterization of Fine Particles from Machining in Automotive Plants Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2005 2 12 609 625
- Davim, J.P. Astakhov, V.P. Ecological Machining: Near-dry Machining Machining 2008 Springer London 195 223
- Rosato, D.V. Rosato, D.V. Rosato, M.G. Injection Molding Handbook 3rd 2000 Boston Kluwer Academic Publishers
- Shore, N. 2010 Sustainability Report
- BMW Group Sustainability Value Report 2010 2010 Bayerische Motoren Werke, AG Munich, Germany
- Daimler 360 DEGREES - Facts on Sustainability 2010 2010 Daimler, AG Stuttgart, Germany
- Toyota Motor Corporation Sustainability Report 2010 2010 Toyota Motor Corporation Environmental Affairs Division
- Toyota Motor Corporation Sustainability Report 2011 2011 Toyota Motor Corporation Environmental Affairs Division
- Ford Motor Company Sustainability Report 2010/11 2011 Ford Motor Company Dearborn, MI
- Volkswagen Sustainability Report 2010 2010 Volkswagen A.G. Wolfsburg, Germany
- Nissan Motor Co. Sustainability Report 2011 2010 Nissan Motor Co. Kanagawa, Japan
- Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Toyota 2010 Sustainability Report 2010 Toyota Motor Corporation Australia
- Chrysler Group LLC 2010 Sustainability Report 2011 Chrysler Group LLC Auburn Hills, MI
- Honda Global Environmental Impact 2011 2011 Nov. 7 http://world.honda.com/environment/currentinitiatives/impact.html
- Gleick, P.H. Water and Energy Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 1994 19 1 267 299
- Wu, M. Mintz, M. Wang, M. Arora, S. Water Consumption in the Production of Ethanol and Petroleum Gasoline Environmental Management 2009 44 5 981 997
- Ferrão, P. Nazareth, P. Amaral, J. Strategies for Meeting EU End-of-Life Vehicle Reuse/Recovery Targets Journal of Industrial Ecology 2006 10 4 77 93
- Castro, M. Remmerswaal, J. Reuter, M. Life cycle impact assessment of the average passenger vehicle in the Netherlands The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2003 8 5 297 304
- Funazaki, A. Taneda, K. Tahara, K. Inaba, A. Automobile life cycle assessment issues at end-of-life and recycling JSAE Review 2003 24 4 381 386
- Hendrix, J. Massey, K.A. Whitham, E. Bras, B. Technologies for the Identification, Separation and Recycling of Automotive Plastics International Journal of Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing 1996
- A.W.C. Services Shredder Technology Overview 2011 http://awcservice.com/shredder_technology_htm.htm
- Metso Recycling Texas Shredder 2010 http://www.metso.com/recycling/mm_recy.nsf/WebWID/WTB-070201-2256F-F0B34?OpenDocument&mid=925DAA637E899E1CC22575AE004F0D1F
- Clean Washington Center Guide to Best Practices in HDPE Recycling 2011 http://www.cwc.org/hdpe/hdpe_bp.htm
- Navarri, Sink Float Tank 2011 http://www.navarini.com/wanne_e.htm
- Polymer Recovery Systems Float Sink Tank 2011 http://www.prsi.com/index.cfm?event=ViewPage&contentPieceId=4325