Environmental Impacts of Fuel Cell Assisted Bicycles in a Sharing Scheme

Abstract

In recent years, bicycle sharing systems have been increasingly promoted in our society as an environmentally friendly mode of transportation. In this study, we discuss the bike sharing system in terms of the mitigation of eco-burden and/or biomass energy use (e.g., sewage sludge). Here, biomass energy use indicates that the bicycle’s fuel cell (FC) system is powered by H₂ from the biomass. In other words, the bicycle is assisted with an FC and H₂ storage as an alternative to the conventional Li-ion battery. Note that the H₂ fuel is purified through the fermentation process and metal hydrides (MHs) are used for storing H₂. In our study, we selected Sendai city as the model area. Our objective was to estimate the eco-burdens of our proposed bicycle using life cycle assessment methodology. We estimated the environmental impacts of the bicycles in the target area, considering their FC performance over a period of 10 years. Consequently, bicycle sharing using FC bicycles can reduce abiotic depletion potential by 15% and global warming potential by 10% compared to conventional bicycle sharing systems.