JEC Consortium issues results of version 4 of its Well-to-Wheel Study

Author: August 15, 2013

August 2013 – JEC Consortium issues results of version 4 of its Well-to-Wheel Study

The members of the JEC consortium (JRC, EUCAR and CONCAWE) are progressing in updating their joint evaluation of the Well-to-Wheels energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for a wide range of potential future fuels and powertrain options in the European context. The current update is the fourth evaluation of the fuel/powertrain system, the first study was published in 2003.

The Well-to-Tank (WTT) and the Tank-to-Wheels (TTW) reports of this version 4 are now available on the JEC consortium website (http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/about-jec/) and the Well-to-Wheels integration report will be published during the course of this year.

The major change of this version 4 versus the previous ones are the changes of the timeframes for the evaluation: the reference year is now 2010 and the projection focuses on the 2020+ time horizon.

Highlights from the Well-to-Tank report (WTT) are:

  • Minor changes to the fossil fuel pathways based on updated estimates for flaring and venting emissions from crude production
  • Updated Europe’s anticipated crude oil appetite between 2010 and 2020+
  • Updated natural gas pathways, including the addition of a European shale gas pathway and natural gas production based on 2011 statistics
  • Updated production data for biofuel pathways based on best available information from bio-industry consultations;
  • Added a globally-applicable analysis of nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) from farming based on IPCC data
  • Reviewed and updated the EU electricity mix based on 2009 statistics in relation to the recharging of hybrid and battery electric vehicles

Data and results on hydrogen pathways  have not been updated from the previous Version 3c but will be updated at a later date.

From the Tank-to-Wheels report (TTW):

  • Re-evaluation of 2010 conventional and Hybrid vehicle configurations
  • Introduction of additional fuels
  • Introduction of additional electrified vehicle configurations such as Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), Range Extended Electric Vehicles (REEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)
  • Consideration of conventional and electrified vehicle configurations for 2020+