Prospects for Electrification of Road Freight

A plethora of decarbonization pathways have been suggested over the last few years and it has been generally accepted that substantial progress toward more sustainable transport requires a significant contribution from the freight sector. Deep decarbonization of road freight by conventional means is difficult, so alternatives need to be investigated. One of the most potentially beneficial approaches is electrification which is the subject of the paper. The challenges of conventional electric freight vehicles for long-haul operations are discussed and then innovative power delivery systems that could alleviate the problems are reviewed. A logistics concept to provide a framework for the electrification of most road freight transport operations is considered and based on that, simulation tools and methods are presented to set the performance requirements for a practical system. Finally, four case studies are developed for assessing the feasibility of electrification of various road freight operations. Overall, it is shown that electrification of road freight is a viable route for more sustainable transportation

Transport in the Trans-Pennine Corridor: Present Conditions and Future Options. Interregional Study Working Paper 3.

This paper reports on a desk study carried out by the Institute for Transport Studies as part of a wider study of opportunities for inter-regional working in the trans-Pennine corridor, considering economic, environmental and transport issues. It draws together available information on transport and movement flows in the trans-Pennine corridor. These patterns of movement are examined from a broad perspective which considers intra-regional, inter- regional and international movements within and across the study area. The report proposes a regional package approach to transport, based on demand management and modal transfer

Appraisal of Rail Projects.

This paper reviews the particular characteristics of rail investment projects, taking as a starting point four examples ranging from decisions on individual routes to national rail investment programmes. The motivation for rail investment, and the interdependence of projects are examined, before turning to the identification of base case and options and the measurement of costs and benefits. It is argued that the main problems in rail investment appraisal are not technical ones relating to measuring costs and benefits but are contextual ones relating to the interdependence between rail projects and with decisions in other sectors of the economy. For this reason it is essential that rail projects be appraised with an appropriate planning framework

A Review of Rail Research Relevant to the Case for Increased Rail Investment.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of rail transport research which has a bearing on the case of increased rail investment. The paper focuses on research which has been conducted on the demand for rail travel, both passenger and freight, rather than the supply side or new technology. The aim is to identify where we believe there to be significant gaps in knowledge and key areas in which further research is required are outlined. The paper deals with the following issues: the investment and funding mechanisms that currently exist for rail; the extent to which changes in the fare and service quality of rail affect the demand for rail travel and also the demand for air and road travel; the environmental and congestion benefits of diverting traffic from road and air to rail; and the links between rail investment and economic development. Where appropriate, the discussion considers inter-urban travel, suburban travel, light rail transit and freight transport separately

A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030

As part of its Paris Agreement commitment, China pledged to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions around 2030, striving to peak earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% by 2030. Yet by the end of 2017, China emitted 28% of the world's energy-related CO2 emissions, 76% of which were from coal use. How China can reinvent its energy economy cost-effectively while still achieving its commitments was the focus of a three-year joint research project completed in September 2016. Overall, this analysis found that if China follows a pathway in which it aggressively adopts all cost-effective energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction technologies while also aggressively moving away from fossil fuels to renewable and other non-fossil resources, it is possible to not only meet its Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments, but also to reduce its 2050 CO2 emissions to a level that is 42% below the country's 2010 CO2 emissions. While numerous barriers exist that will need to be addressed through effective policies and programs in order to realize these potential energy use and emissions reductions, there are also significant local environmental (e.g., air quality), national and global environmental (e.g., mitigation of climate change), human health, and other unquantified benefits that will be realized if this pathway is pursued in China

Energy and CO2 implications of decarbonization strategies for China beyond efficiency: Modeling 2050 maximum renewable resources and accelerated electrification impacts

Energy efficiency has played an important role in helping China achieve its domestic and international energy and climate change mitigation targets, but more significant near-term actions to decarbonize are needed to help China and the world meet the Paris Agreement goals. Accelerating electrification and maximizing supply-side and demand-side renewable adoption are two recent strategies being considered in China, but few bottom-up modeling studies have evaluated the potential near-term impacts of these strategies across multiple sectors. To fill this research gap, we use a bottom-up national end-use model that integrates energy supply and demand systems and conduct scenario analysis to evaluate even lower CO2 emissions strategies and subsequent pathways for China to go beyond cost-effective efficiency and fuel switching. We find that maximizing non-conventional electric and renewable technologies can help China peak its national CO2 emissions as early as 2025, with significant additional CO2 emission reductions on the order of 7 Gt CO2 annually by 2050. Beyond potential CO2 reductions from power sector decarbonization, significant potential lies in fossil fuel displaced by renewable heat in industry. These results suggest accelerating the utilization of non-conventional electric and renewable technologies present additional CO2 reduction opportunities for China, but new policies and strategies are needed to change technology choices in the demand sectors. Managing the pace of electrification in tandem with the pace of decarbonization of the power sector will also be crucial to achieving CO2 reductions from the power sector in a scenario of increased electrification

A national power infrastructure for charge-on-the-move: An appraisal for Great Britain

The electrification of road transportation is a necessary step for coping with climate change. Charge-on-the-move is considered to be a key enabling factor in moving towards electric vehicles. The development of individual charging devices for implementing in-motion charging has been rapid but their integration with the road infrastructure at national scale is still in need of more comprehensive consideration. This work aims to outline the performance requirements of a national power infrastructure suitable for implementing charge-on-the-move. From an estimation of electric vehicles’ power requirements in conjunction with Great Britain’s road traffic data the anticipated power demand is expected to be augmented by 16 GW. Furthermore, a simulation tool is proposed to investigate the application of dynamic charging and the effects of system design variables. Based on that, a possible charging layout is suggested. Such infrastructure involves 30 kW chargers, 1.5 m length apiece, installed every 2.1 m and 4.3 m on motorways and rural sections of road respectively. Finally, a strategic overview for Great Britain suggests that the installation of a nationwide charging infrastructure of this type could be economically viable. Indeed, the cost to develop the infrastructure to enable the electrification of 86% of car-miles in Great Britain is around £76 billion at present prices

An Urban Charging Infrastructure for electric road freight operations: A case study for Cambridge UK

A charging infrastructure for electric road freight operations is explored in this paper. The city of Cambridge UK was chosen for demonstration but the same methodology could be used for other cities as well. In particular, the five Park and Ride bus routes, the refuse collection operations and two home delivery operations were investigated. Real-time data about existing operations were collected to define accurate drive cycles. Different vehicles were modelled for each operation and their performance was evaluated over the defined drive cycles. Different charging infrastructures were proposed for each operation. The additional power demand, additional load, capital cost needed and the CO2 emissions savings for each case were calculated. The results were scaled up for the entire city and the implications for the electricity supply network were explored. It was shown that electrification of all road freight operations would increase the city’s power demand and electricity consumption by 6.3% and 8.1% respectively based on current figures. Such a system would cost £56.4 million at today’s prices and would result in accumulated savings of 164 MtCO2 by 2050.This research was supported by the EPSRC Grant EP/K00915X/1: “Centre for Sustainable Road Freight Transport” and the EPSRC Doctoral Training Award 1497982: “Wireless Electric Charge-on-the-move: An appraisal for the UK transport application.

Paradoks efektywności w zakresie potrzeb energetycznych transportu drogowego w Unii Europejskiej

With quantitative and qualitative data, and knowing, at a glance, goal, it was an attempt to examine the relationship between the development of road transport and the efficiency of resource use. The analysis has shown that road transport now gained a special status in people’s daily lives. The increased mobility of European citizens caused the greatest responsibility for the transport of energy. This spite of improving the efficiency of these cars and freight transport growth. The projected continued growth of freight transport will contribute to the further changes in the structure of energy consumption by road transport. Despite the high growth rate of energy efficiency improvement of truck drives, the share of demand for fuel by those vehicles will increase in total fuel demand for road transport sector. At the same time the energy consumption of cars will reduce its share in total fuel needs transport. Improvmrnt of energy efficiency of passenger and truck will not offset the increase in demand for energy in road transport. The above regularities define a key challenge facing the transport system – meeting the ever growing demand for energy.Posiadając dane ilościowe i jakościowe, podjęto próbę zbadania zależności i związków zachodzących między rozwojem transportu a efektywnością wykorzystania zasobów paliwowych, co stanowiło zasadniczy cel artykułu. Przeprowadzona analiza pozwoliła stwierdzić, że transport drogowy zyskał obecnie szczególny status w życiu codziennym społeczeństwa. Wzrost mobilności mieszkańców Europy spowodował, że samochody osobowe są aktualnie w największym stopniu odpowiedzialne za potrzeby energetyczne transportu drogowego. Stało się tak mimo poprawy efektywności energetycznej tych samochodów oraz wzrostu przewozów towarowych. Prognozowany wzrost przewozów towarowych spowoduje dalsze zmiany w strukturze zużycia energii przez transport samochodowy. Poprawa efektywności energetycznej transportu osobowego i ciężarowego nie zrównoważy wzrostu zapotrzebowania na energię w transporcie drogowym. Przedstawione powyżej prawidłowości wyznaczają kluczowe wyzwanie stojące przed systemem transportowym – sprostanie ciągle rosnącemu zapotrzebowaniu na energię