U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Air Conditioning Fuel Use and Impact of Solar/Thermal Control Technologies
To reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from mobile air conditioning (A/C) systems, “U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards” identified solar/thermal technologies such as solar control glazings, solar reflective paint, and active and passive cabin ventilation in an off-cycle credit menu. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers developed a sophisticated analysis process to calculate U.S. light-duty A/C fuel use that was used to assess the impact of these technologies, leveraging thermal and vehicle simulation analysis tools developed under previous U.S. Department of Energy projects. Representative U.S. light-duty driving behaviors and weighting factors including time-of-day of travel, trip duration, and time between trips were characterized and integrated into the analysis. In addition, U.S. weather conditions weighted based on light-duty vehicle registrations were generated and used for the analysis. Three representative vehicle types for the light-duty fleet were selected based on registration data containing vehicle size information. These key inputs were used to support a weighted parametric analysis that quantified vehicle thermal load, vehicle accessory load, and vehicle fuel use. This analysis estimates that 7.6 billion gallons of fuel a year are used in the United States for vehicle A/C, equivalent to 6.1% of the total national light-duty vehicle fuel use. This equates to 30.0 gallons/year per vehicle or 23.5 grams CO₂ per mile (g/mi) for an average U.S. light-duty vehicle. A/C is a significant contributor to national fuel use; therefore, technologies that reduce A/C loads have an opportunity to reduce fuel consumption, reduce imported oil, and improve energy security. Implementing solar control glass reduced the CO₂ emissions by 2.0 g/mi and the reduction due to solar reflective paint was 0.8 g/mi. The active and passive ventilation strategies as defined in this analysis only reduced emissions by 0.1 and 0.2 g/mi, respectively. This analysis shows the potential to reduce operational costs, A/C fuel use, and CO₂ emissions by implementing advanced vehicle climate control technologies including the solar/thermal technologies.
- Record URL:
-
Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/19463995
-
Supplemental Notes:
- Abstract reprinted with permission of SAE International.
-
Authors:
- Rugh, John Palmer
- Kreutzer, Cory
- Kekelia, Bidzina
- Titov, Gene
- Lustbader, Jason
- Publication Date: 2018-12-11
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References;
- Pagination: pp 21-34
-
Serial:
- SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars - Mechanical Systems
- Volume: 12
- Issue Number: 1
- Publisher: SAE International
- ISSN: 1946-3995
- EISSN: 1946-4002
- Serial URL: https://www.sae.org/publications/collections/content/E-JOURNAL-06/
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air conditioning systems; Carbon dioxide; Exhaust gases; Fuel conservation; Light vehicles; Parametric analysis; Reflectorized materials; Solar energy
- Geographic Terms: United States
- Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01695808
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: SAE International
- Report/Paper Numbers: 06-12-01-0002
- Files: TRIS, SAE
- Created Date: Feb 21 2019 9:56AM