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Additional file 2: Additional Figures S1–S36, Tables S2, S3.

International audience

Eckard Helmers,1 Martin Weiss2 1Department of Environmental Planning and Technology, Environment Campus Birkenfeld, University of Applied Sciences Trier, Birkenfeld, Germany; 2Sustainable Transport Unit, Directorate C – Energy, Transport and Climate, European Commission – DG Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Abstract: Concerns over climate change, air pollution, and oil supply have stimulated the market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The environmental impacts of BEVs are typically evaluated through a standardized life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Here, the LCA literature was surveyed with the objective to sketch the major trends and challenges in the impact assessment of BEVs. It was found that BEVs tend to be more energy efficient and less polluting than conventional cars. BEVs decrease exposure to air pollution as their impacts largely result from vehicle production and electricity generation outside of urban areas. The carbon footprint of BEVs, being highly sensitive to the carbon intensity of the electricity mix, may decrease in the nearby future through a shift to renewable energies and technology improvements in general. A minority of LCAs covers impact categories other than carbon footprint, revealing a mixed picture. Up to date little attention is paid so far in LCA to the efficiency advantage of BEVs in urban traffic, the gap between on-road and certified energy consumption, the local exposure to air pollutants and noise and the aging of emissions control technologies in conventional cars. Improvements of BEV components, directed charging, second-life reuse of vehicle batteries, as well as vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid applications will significantly reduce the environmental impacts of BEVs in the future. Keywords: toxic emissions, China, energy use, carbon footprint, impact categories, environmental impact, health impact

Since the implementation of catalysts containing platinum-group-elements (PGE) for the control of vehicle emissions in 1975, a controversial discussion has begun on PGE emissions & eventual consequences for the environment. However, a comprehensive overview of the various works & results in different scientific areas is still lacking. This book covers all aspects of anthropogenic PGE emissions & their consequences for man & environment. The interdisciplinary approach is substantiated by contributions from the fields of environmental geosciences, analytical chemistry, biology & occupational medicine. The articles mirror the actual status of scientific work & discuss environmentally related topics. Modern analytical methods for various environmental matrices as well as models of the current & future geochemical behaviour of PGE in the environment are presented. Bioavailability & toxicological & allergic potentials are discussed. The assessment of sources and sinks constitutes a logical step localized at the end of an analytical strategy. Prior to the quantification of sources and sinks, spatial and particularly time trends of the investigated elemental parameter are to be identified (Helmers, contribution in this book). Sources and sinks, are closely connected within biogeochemical cycles: The atmosphere constitutes a primary sink since aerosols possess a residence time of only several days (Buat-Ménard 1983). International exchange of Pt via the atmosphere is not considered here. In another view, the atmosphere acts as a diffuse source for Pt polluting soils as the secondary and permanent sink. Also freshwater as well as the seas are receiving Pt from diffuse (atmospheric input) or point sources (dumping) in the function of a primary sink. Anthropogenic input of metals into freshwater and seawater is then followed by e.g. scavenging generating polluted sediments as a secondary sink.