Electricity Carbon Intensity in European Member States: Impacts on GHG Emissions of Electric Vehicles
Open accessAbstract
The Well-To-Wheels (WTW) methodology is widely used for policy making in the transportation sector. In this paper updated WTW calculations are provided, relying on 2013 statistic data, for the carbon intensity (CI) of the European electricity mix; detail is provided for electricity consumed in each EU Member State (MS). An interesting aspect presented is the calculation of the GHG content of electricity traded between Countries, affecting the carbon intensity of the electricity consumed at national level. The amount and CI of imported electricity is a key aspect: a Country importing electricity from another Country with a lower CI of electricity will lower, after the trade, its electricity CI, while importing electricity from a Country with a higher CI will raise the CI of the importing Country. In average, the CI of electricity used in EU at low voltage in 2013 was 447 gCO 2 eq/kWh, which is the 17% less compared to 2009. Then, some examples of calculation of GHG emissions from the use of electric vehicles (EVs) compared to internal combustion engine vehicles are provided. The use of EVs instead of gasoline vehicles can save (about 60% of) GHG in all or in most of the EU MSs, depending on the estimated consumption of EVs. Compared with diesel, EVs show average GHG savings of around 50% and not savings at all in some EU MS.
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The emissions intensity of the grid, including imports, can form an important share of consumed electricity.
“A significant issue when looking at EV LCAs is the emissions intensity of the grid, including imports, which can form an important share of consumed electricity [51].”
From A National and Regional Greenhouse Gas Breakeven Assessment of EVs across North America (2023) · cites this paper as [51]
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“The data on electricity trade between nations was retrieved from [57–59] using the following formula, following a similar approach as Moro and Lonza [51]:”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
- Authors
- Moro, A., & Lonza, L.
- Affiliations
- Joint Research Centre (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Moro, Alberto
- Venue
- Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-10
- Volume
- 64
- Pages
- 5-14
- ISSN
- 1361-9209 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6358150
- OpenAlex
- W2740559467
- Cited by
- 492
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 54 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 101 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 28
- FWCI
- 22.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Joint Research Centre (European Commission) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Vehicle emissions and performance
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Keywords
- carbon intensity of electricity, electric vehicles, greenhouse gas emissions, cross-border electricity trade, EU member states, internal combustion engine vehicles, diesel vehicles, low-voltage electricity
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