Applying Demand Response Programs for Electric Vehicle Fleets

In this study, we demonstrate the contribution of IS-supported demand response (DR) programs to the development of a sustainable transport sector. Based on the energy informatics framework, we develop an IS artifact that can be used to apply DR programs for electric vehicle (EV) fleets. Furthermore, we quantify one DR program in economic terms by analyzing data gathered in an electric mobility project with a car-sharing provider that uses EVs. The findings indicate that fleet operators can expect significant cost savings when applying DR programs; energy procurement costs can be reduced significantly by adjusting the time of energy use. Applying DR programs therefore has the potential to make EV fleets economically sensible because the already existing operational cost advantage can be further increased. Consequently, DR for EVs can foster sustainable development, as higher profitability could promote the market penetration of eco-friendly vehicles

Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report

Part of a series of reports that includes: Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report; Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report; Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary; Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical ReportOVERVIEW: Transportation connects Boston’s workers, residents and tourists to their livelihoods, health care, education, recreation, culture, and other aspects of life quality. In cities, transit access is a critical factor determining upward mobility. Yet many urban transportation systems, including Boston’s, underserve some populations along one or more of those dimensions. Boston has the opportunity and means to expand mobility access to all residents, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions from transportation. This requires the transformation of the automobile-centric system that is fueled predominantly by gasoline and diesel fuel. The near elimination of fossil fuels—combined with more transit, walking, and biking—will curtail air pollution and crashes, and dramatically reduce the public health impact of transportation. The City embarks on this transition from a position of strength. Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most walkable and bikeable cities in the nation, and one in three commuters already take public transportation. There are three general strategies to reaching a carbon-neutral transportation system: • Shift trips out of automobiles to transit, biking, and walking;1 • Reduce automobile trips via land use planning that encourages denser development and affordable housing in transit-rich neighborhoods; • Shift most automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains to zero-GHG electricity. Even with Boston’s strong transit foundation, a carbon-neutral transportation system requires a wholesale change in Boston’s transportation culture. Success depends on the intelligent adoption of new technologies, influencing behavior with strong, equitable, and clearly articulated planning and investment, and effective collaboration with state and regional partners.Published versio

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program and Alternative Fuel Vehicle Projects

The United States has been plagued with air quality problems for decades. Congress began to formally address these problems in 1970 with the passage of the Clean Air Act. The federal government has used a variety of approaches to address air quality problems and among the many strategies has been the use of alternative fuels. The United States also became acutely aware of the need to reduce foreign oil dependence during the oil crises in the 1970s. In response to these crises, Congress passed a number of legislative initiatives including the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1980, the Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Again, alternative fuels were to play a key role, this time in addressing the need to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil

The Critical Role of Public Charging Infrastructure

Editors: Peter Fox-Penner, PhD, Z. Justin Ren, PhD, David O. JermainA decade after the launch of the contemporary global electric vehicle (EV) market, most cities face a major challenge preparing for rising EV demand. Some cities, and the leaders who shape them, are meeting and even leading demand for EV infrastructure. This book aggregates deep, groundbreaking research in the areas of urban EV deployment for city managers, private developers, urban planners, and utilities who want to understand and lead change

Frequency response from aggregated V2G chargers with uncertain EV connections

Fast frequency response (FR) is highly effective at securing frequency dynamics after a generator outage in low inertia systems. Electric vehicles (EVs) equipped with vehicle to grid (V2G) chargers could offer an abundant source of FR in future. However, the uncertainty associated with V2G aggregation, driven by the uncertain number of connected EVs at the time of an outage, has not been fully understood and prevents its participation in the existing service provision framework. To tackle this limitation, this paper, for the first time, incorporates such uncertainty into system frequency dynamics, from which probabilistic nadir and steady state frequency requirements are enforced via a derived moment-based distributionally-robust chance constraint. Field data from over 25,000 chargers is analysed to provide realistic parameters and connection forecasts to examine the value of FR from V2G chargers in annual operation of the GB 2030 system. The case study demonstrates that uncertainty of EV connections can be effectively managed through the proposed scheduling framework, which results in annual savings of Misplaced &6,300 or 37.4 tCO2 per charger. The sensitivity of this value to renewable capacity and FR delays is explored, with V2G capacity shown to be a third as valuable as the same grid battery capacity

DEVELOPING A SMART AND SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY IN CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY

The transportation sector is a major contributor to air pollution and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. As a significant source of emissions, public transportation presents an opportunity for mitigation through electrification. However, transitioning to an electric bus fleet necessitates substantial investments in bus procurement and charging infrastructure. To address the associated costs, this study introduces a mixed-integer linear mathematical model developed to optimize the location of on-route fast charging stations within bus networks. The central objective of this optimization formulation is to minimize the overall cost of establishing the charging infrastructure. The study employs a real-world case study focusing on a Camden, NJ, USA bus network. Key considerations include optimizing charging station locations considering time constraints at bus stops to avoid schedule delays and inconvenience for passengers during the charging process. Furthermore, the study investigates the sensitivity of the optimization model in response to variations in parameters. Notably, battery capacity, charger power, average energy consumption, dwell time, and minimum and maximum state of charge significantly affect the optimal locations and required number of chargers. The insights generated from this study are anticipated to offer valuable guidance to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers involved in planning the transition of bus fleets towards zero-emission vehicles

Deployment Strategies of EV School Buses with Vehicle to Grid (V2G) in the US School System

Governments across the world are pushing for speedier adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to meet their target for transition to a greener and cleaner environment that has low or zero carbon emission. Transportation being one of the major contributors to environmental pollution because of incessant burning of fossil fuels. EVs are being considered to be the best possible solution to alleviate vehicular pollution. However, proliferation of EVs create additional burden on the power grids. The consumption of electrical power is steadily rising because of even-growing population and the demand is particularly higher during summer months due to higher use of air conditioners. To ease this pressure on the grid the novel vehicle-to-grid or V2G technology is being employed whereby idle electric vehicles can be put to use as giant batteries that can send power back to the grid to supplement its output. With the wide scale adoption of electrical buses is schools this turns out to be a feasible option. Battery driven school buses are best suited for this. These vehicles remain idle for major portion of the day and also during summer months and can be effectively utilized for generating electricity using their batteries. However, there are challenges involved in the implementation of this strategy. Besides lack of charging infrastructure and limited knowledge of owners about the nature and benefits of the implementation there are also problems of rapid battery degradation, lack of control on the vehicle and the process and high costs involved. Nevertheless, using literature review this article explains the rationale behind adoption of the technology and highlights, the strategies that can be adopted to effectively exploit this novel technology to make the most out of idle electric school buses to support public utilities. To an extent electric school buses and the v2g technology can be potentially helpful for stabilizing supply of electricity during peak hours and improve efficiency of supply chain management of several industries including the power sector