Zero-emission bus economics study

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2024

Subject Area

economics - benefits, economics - capital costs, economics - operating costs, mode - bus, place - australasia, technology - alternative fuels, technology - emissions

Keywords

buses, battery electric, decarbonisation, emissions, hydrogen fuel cell, green hydrogen, hydrogen blending, life-cycle assessment, mode shift, operational efficiency, renewable diesel, total cost of ownership, zero emission

Abstract

This report details the process to develop a user-friendly Excel model – ‘the ZEB Cost Model’ – that allows the user to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the different use-cases available to replace existing diesel buses with zero-emission buses (ZEB). The use-cases include options for replacing diesel buses at the end of their useful life, retiring diesel buses early, and retaining diesel buses to induce further mode shift. Thus, the ZEB Cost Model developed under this assignment and described in this report empowers public transport authorities to make informed decarbonisation investment decisions. Further, this report delivers several key findings revealed in the model design process. First, emissions savings from early retirement of diesel buses far outweigh emissions from earlier bus construction. Second, operations and maintenance costs – and, more specifically, energy costs (electricity, hydrogen or diesel) – are the key driver of total cost of ownership for different bus technologies. Third, battery electric buses, whether repowered diesel buses or new battery electric buses, are the least cost option with which to replace existing diesel buses. This is because of the high cost of hydrogen in New Zealand at the time of this research and the importance of fuel costs in overall total cost of ownership.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), copyright remains with them.

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