Integrated approach for the road traffic greenhouse gas emissions calculation in a life-cycle perspective

This research aims at defining a model to assess the Greenhouse Gases emissions of an entire vehicle fleet, from a life cycle perspective, based on the results of specific traffic simulations. The environmental performance of the City of Rome private transport network was evaluated in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq), was based on the life cycle impacts of the different vehicle categories in circulation and based on the vehicle flow on the road net-work. In terms of life-cycle environmental impact, fully electric vehicles were found to be those with the highest emission values as regards construction, maintenance, and dis-posal, both compared to internal combustion vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Nevertheless, a 100% penetration of electric vehicles in the circulating fleet can potentially generate a reduction of GHG of the order of 39% at transport network level.