Updates to the GREET Model

Regular and transparent data updates are needed to support accurate, comprehensive life cycle assessments. The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model is a commonly used tool for life cycle assessment, but it lacked up-to-date data for key sectors including cement and concrete, petrochemicals, and petroleum refining.

ERG helped update Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model for use in estimating emissions from traditional and alternative pathways for fuels. This work involved generating comprehensive life cycle inventories for the production of hydrogen from steam methane reforming, as well as using detailed process-level emissions data from petroleum refineries to develop more refined emissions estimates for specific refinery products. In addition to supporting GREET fuel pathways, ERG supported updates to life cycle data for U.S. cement and concrete production and olefins production (e.g., ethylene), primary inputs to many petrochemical pathways.