Next-Gen Italian Urban Mobility: Emissions LCA and TCO Prospective for Innovative Transportation Solutions

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Reducing vehicle numbers and enhancing public transport can significantly cut emissions in the transport sector. Hydrogen-fueled and battery electric buses show the potential for decarbonization, but a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is essential to evaluate carbon emissions from energy production and manufacturing. In addition, even associated pollutant emissions, together with components’ wear, must be taken into account to evaluate the overall environmental impact. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis complements this by assessing long-term expenses, enabling stakeholders to balance environmental and economic considerations.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">This study examines carbon and pollutant emissions alongside TCO for innovative urban mobility powertrains (compared with diesel), focusing on Italian current and future hydrogen and electricity mix scenarios, even considering 100 % green hydrogen (100GH), the goal being to support sustainable decision-making and to promote eco-friendly transport solutions. The results obtained reported that pushing towards hydrogen produced from renewable sources allows to drastically reduce the overall emissions from energy production for Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles (HFVs), going even lower than Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) ones. On the other hand, the costs related to green hydrogen production are still too high, and it would lead to much higher opexs with respect to BEVs. Regarding pollutant emissions, HFVs allow to minimize them, while BEVs present much higher values. Despite no single vehicle concept minimizes all parameters analyzed, in the hydrogen mix (MH) scenario, HFVs might become the best option in the future due to lower hydrogen environmental impact and cost. Conversely, in the 100GH scenario, HFVs could remain financially unviable, unless green hydrogen prices drop significantly.</div></div>