Credit: Liu et al.
To reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change on Earth, governments and businesses around the world are investing in the electrification of public transportation and private vehicles. China is among the countries that have begun to explore the electrification of transportation, starting with the introduction of electric buses.
Despite the expected benefits in terms of carbon reduction, the transition from fuel-based to electric public transport could put considerable pressure on electricity grids. The effects of this transition must therefore be carefully studied first.
In a recent article published in Natural energyA research team from Beihang University and other institutes has set out to study the possible implications of transforming public transport depots in China into renewable energy hubs.
“In recent years, we have seen rapid progress in the electrification of transportation as a strategy to combat climate change,” Xiaolei Ma, co-author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.
“For example, according to the International Energy Agency, sales of electric cars will reach nearly 14 million by 2023, bringing the total number of electric cars on the world’s roads to 40 million. However, increasing charging demands pose new challenges to power grids, such as increased operating and expansion costs, as well as the risk of overload.”
The positive effects of electrifying public transport will ultimately be limited if this transition is not accompanied by a shift towards renewable energy production. While some studies have already examined the possibility of integrating photovoltaic (PV) panels and electric vehicle charging stations, the implications of this approach, particularly after the introduction of electric vehicles in urban areas, have not yet been explored in depth.
“Our main goal was to present a universal framework that combines data-driven and model-driven approaches to provide insights into the widespread adoption of solar PV and energy storage in urban public transportation networks,” Ma said. “The universal framework we designed combines data-driven and model-driven approaches.”
In their study, Ma and his colleagues specifically sought to predict the consequences of a potential transition from fuel-powered to electric buses in Beijing. To do so, they analyzed data collected from across Beijing’s public transportation network, including GPS trajectories, vehicle information, and bus depot details. Their analyses also took into account weather conditions and solar irradiation recorded in Beijing in recent years.
“Our study simulates a baseline scenario in which EBs replace all other fuel types in Beijing’s bus fleet,” Ma explained. “Full fleet electrification is simulated by estimating EB energy consumption, optimizing EB battery capacities, and optimizing EB charging schedules with perfect foresight.
“To transform bus depots into energy hubs, we first estimate solar PV power generation. We then maximize the economic benefits of solar PV and energy storage by optimizing solar PV installed capacity, energy storage capacity, bus charging schedules, and solar PV and energy storage utilization under different market scenarios.”
The researchers’ case study spans a 25-year period into the future, starting in 2050. Their analyses aimed to predict how converting Beijing’s public transport depots into renewable energy hubs, starting in 2021, would affect carbon emissions.
“The case study shows that solar PV reduces net grid load by 23% during power generation periods and reduces net peak load by 8.6%,” Ma said. “Integration of energy storage amplifies these reductions to 28% and 37.4%, respectively.
“While unsubsidized solar PV generates a profit of 64% above costs, adding battery storage reduces the profit to 31% despite the benefits it provides to the grid. Negative marginal gains from CO emissions reductions2 “The emissions highlight economic sustainability.”
Overall, the results of the analyses conducted by Ma and colleagues suggest that electrifying public transportation in Beijing by converting transit depots into energy hubs would be feasible and effective in reducing carbon emissions.
In the future, this team’s work could inspire other researchers and policy makers, in China and other countries, to begin developing strategies to mitigate power grid vulnerability to support the effective deployment of EBs.
“Our findings could also catalyze policy measures to accelerate the deployment of solar PV and energy storage in other large-scale energy consumption centers, such as public electric vehicle charging stations and railway stations,” Ma added.
“Our future work will focus on the long-term operational sustainability of integrated transport and energy systems and will take into account external factors such as energy market dynamics and advances in energy storage technologies.”
More information:
Xiaohan Liu et al., Transforming public transport depots into profitable energy hubs, Natural energy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01580-0
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