Life Cycle Assessment on Electric Cargo Bikes for the Use-Case of Urban Freight Transportation in Ghana

Abstract

The population and economic growth in African countries such as Ghana and the resulting increase in the need for mobility are raising unsolved challenges. An increasing number of people and goods have to be transported within an inadequate energy supply and transport infrastructure. However, the increasing number of vehicles also cause challenges such as air pollution or traffic congestion. Electrified cargo bikes are considered a space-efficient and eco-friendly alternative for freight transportation in cities. Due to their low energy demand and battery capacities, they also offer the potential to be supplied with electricity via the mini-grids commonly used in African countries, as a full-coverage electricity supply is not yet available everywhere. The growth of electric cargo bikes for the delivery of parcels, groceries and other goods in urban regions raises the question of how environmentally friendly they are compared to other urban transport modes, considering the whole life cycle, and which modal share is required to have a significant impact on the overall transport system. This paper aims to answer this question by conducting a Life Cycle Assessment on the use case of an electric cargo bike used in Ghana based on different operating and dissemination scenarios. The design of the analyzed cargo bike is adapted, e.g. in terms of the used suspensions and tires, for a usage on Ghanaian roads and climatic conditions. The results show that cargo bikes have a smaller environmental impact on global warming potential in terms of ton-kilometers as diesel vans, especially if long product lifetimes are realized. The most important parameters for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are the use of renewable energies for the charging of the batteries, the utilization of the payload capacity and the production of the battery. It could be shown that the GHG emissions over the life cycle are significantly lower when the batteries are powered by solar energy. Including solar powered e-cargo bikes in the modal split for freight transport in the accra region would result in greenhouse gas emission savings of 4-8%.