Ricardo supports Green NCAP’s update of Life Cycle Assessment data to bridge knowledge from science and industry to consumers

Ricardo, the global strategic, environmental and engineering consultancy, and a leader in vehicle life-cycle assessment, has assisted Green NCAP in the organisation’s recent update of its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data and fact sheets. The update includes increased data coverage of countries, including Norway, and fuel types, such as LPG and E85, as well as more up to date information on battery production, supply of electricity and biofuel mixes. This update reflects the evolving automotive industry and the rapidly changing energy sector. More than ever, Green NCAP’s LCA creates a bridge for knowledge between science, industry and consumers. 

For the update, Ricardo experts provided data projections for electricity supply in European countries. These data projections, used in Ricardo’s own LCA work, are widely regarded as high quality and transparent, and provided a valuable contribution to the overall LCA data update. Ricardo has also participated in Green NCAP industry expert stakeholder meetings, providing advice and feedback into the ongoing development of Green NCAP’s methodology.

Through this recent data update, Green NCAP experts revealed a steady positive change in the sustainable picture of industry: from the evolving raw materials blends for biofuels to the increasing efficiency of battery production. The ever-increasing scope of Green NCAP’s LCA data is a direct response to the growth and innovation currently taking place in the automotive sector. Green NCAP’s new LCA results have revealed the lowered environmental impacts of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles over their lifetime, compared to conventional combustion engine vehicles. This change can be attributed primarily to the decreasing carbon intensity of battery production and the improving expectations for Europe’s future energy mix. 

Nikolas Hill, Ricardo Technical Director, Head of Vehicle Technologies and Fuels, Sustainable Transport Team said: “Ricardo and Green NCAP have a long collaborative relationship. We appreciate Green NCAP’s approach to LCA with a focus on providing authentic data and customer usability. It is important that LCA data evolve to remain relevant and in step with industry, so we strongly support this update. We look forward to seeing its results.” 

Dr Gerfried Jungmeier, JOANNEUM RESEARCH leading scientist on the LCA tool project for Green NCAP said: “We are looking into the future, and nobody knows how electricity will be generated in 5 or 10 years. So, we need a kind of scenario for all the European countries with the same assumptions. That was one of the key reasons we took the data from Ricardo. They have a very consistent scenario for each of the 27 European countries based on technical feasibility and political expectations. Their numbers are extrapolated under two existing scenarios: Baseline (REF2020) and Tech1.5 (further updated based on the MIX scenario from Fit-for-55 package).”

“What is crucial is to be as transparent as possible, by showing the tables and data we use. This has, from the very beginning, been a guiding principle in this project. LCA can bridge knowledge from science to the broader public. Car manufacturers are increasingly publishing their very own LCAs, given they understand their vehicles and supply chains the best. But they still lack transparency in the data and methods used, making comparability between vehicles impossible. This is what Green NCAP’s LCA offers.” 

Dr Aleksandar Damyanov, Green NCAP Technical Manager added: “The LCA of vehicles has been an essential part of the information Green NCAP offers. However, continual data updates are necessary to stay aligned with industry developments and changing energy supply trajectories. Green NCAP’s LCA, we believe, provides improved standardisation, more realistic and relevant results, consumer-operability, and good comparison abilities.”