A Simple and Objective Carbon Footprint Analysis for Alternative Transportation Technologies

A simple and straightforward method of analyzing the net carbon dioxide emissions that result from different alternative transportation technologies is presented. Results are shown for three different non-fossil fuel transportation technologies; battery electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen internal combustion vehicles. These results are compared with the carbon emissions of a traditional gasoline powered internal combustion engine vehicle. Battery electric vehicles are shown to have a significantly lower carbon footprint than gasoline vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles are comparable to gasoline vehicles while hydrogen internal combustion vehicles produce substantially more carbon dioxide. The importance of electricity generating infrastructure is discussed.