Seminar Video and Presentation: Roland Geyer

ROLAND GEYER

Do Lightweight Materials Reduce Automotive Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Quantifying the net climate change impact of automotive material substitution requires the assessment of the mass reduction potential of automotive materials, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their production and recycling, and their impact on GHG emissions from vehicle use. This Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows that for materials like aluminum, the GHG emission impacts of material production and recycling are both of the same size as the use phase savings from vehicle mass reduction.