Fuel-cell technologies for private vehicles in Brazil: Environmental mirage or prospective romance? A comparative life cycle assessment of PEMFC and SOFC light-duty vehicles.

Fuel cell vehicles (FCV) have been proclaimed as a zero-tailpipe emissions alternative for passenger transportation; however, their overall environmental performance must be evaluated on a per-case basis. Although the environmental impacts (EI) of FCV have been already described in the literature, there is no evidence of comprehensive life cycle assessment studies analyzing the Brazilian case and its unique features, such as, the availability of biogenic feedstocks for hydrogen production via steam reform, high share of renewables in the electricity mix and the a novel powertrain technology based on solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) which could run on bioethanol. The purpose of this study was to quantify the EIs of polymer-electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) vehicles when hydrogen is produced in Brazilian conditions for a current and a 2030 scenario.