Research articleLife cycle analysis of direct and indirect coal liquefaction for vehicle power in China

•Life cycle analysis of direct and indirect coal liquefactions for vehicle power in China is performed.•Direct coal liquefaction with railway distribution is the best.•Coal liquefaction factory should be located at the coal mining area.

In the present paper, life cycle analysis of several typical coal liquefaction technical routes for vehicle power in China is performed with full considerations of environmental pollutants (e.g. SO2 and NOx), greenhouse gas emissions, costs, and energy efficiency. Direct and indirect coal liquefactions are discussed in detail with comparisons of several different technical routes (e.g. different transportation methods and liquefaction factory locations). Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of three direct coal liquefaction routes is performed with a focus on the transportation distance and vehicle internal combustion engine efficiency. Our analysis shows that the direct coal liquefaction with railway distribution is the best technical route among all the routes investigated, which could significantly reduce the emissions of CO2, the production costs with acceptable energy efficiency. Generally speaking, the coal liquefaction factory should be located at the coal mining area to minimize the costs of products.