Life cycle assessment of shared electric bicycle on greenhouse gas emissions in China

Following the bike-sharing system, the shared electric bicycle (SEB) is experiencing explosive growth in China as an emerging shared transportation mode. While shared transportation has long been linked to energy conservation and reducing emissions, a major problem facing SEB is whether it can reach the goal of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. This paper aims to evaluate GHG emissions at each stage of production, operation, and disposal of the SEB using life cycle assessment of GHG emissions. We also compared the differences in GHG emissions between the recycling incineration scenario (H1) and the recycling degradation scenario (H2) in the disposal stage. The GHG emissions of SEB in the production and operation stages were found to be 379.6173 kg CO₂-eq and 183.4663 kg CO₂-eq, respectively. However, the GHG emission reduction in the use stage was 1049.8374 kg CO₂-eq. Thus, the net GHG reduction in the life cycle of the SEB was 487.3923 kg CO₂-eq. (H1) and 433.9215 kg CO₂-eq. (H2), respectively, indicating that SEB had a green effect. Non-recyclable parts of SEB will take 48 years to degrade in landfills in the H2 scenario. The GHG emission thresholds for SEB were further discussed. When the average daily turnover rate of SEB was less than 4 and its operation day was less than 479, SEB would not be able to achieve the goal of GHG reduction in the whole life cycle, with the riding statistics remaining unchanged. Finally, some advice for practical issues of electric bicycle sharing in energy conservation and GHG reduction were presented in response to the results.