Environmental assessment of road transport in a passenger car using the life cycle approach

Environmental issues are an increasingly important aspect of management in the transport sector; new methods have been developed for assessment of the environment in the transport sector using the life cycle approach. The paper presents the application of Well to Wheel (WTW) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the transport sector. The WTW method focuses on energy analysis and greenhouse gas emissions during the life cycle of fuels. WTW is used to support decision-making on the environmental aspects of transport, particularly with regard to fuel life cycle management, but this method omits important stages in the life cycle, particularly the ones regarding important circular economy guidelines such as reduction of natural resource consumption, impact on human health, etc. The LCA method provides a much broader approach to environmental assessment than WTW. LCA takes into considration environmental impact in the whole life cycle of the vehicle, from the stage of production, through the period of exploitation, and finally its disposal.