Economics of Sector Coupling

This chapter presents an introduction on the main characteristics of sector coupling, which is often referred to with P2X, where “X” may stand for various applications, such as gas (G), heat (H), vehicles (V) or others. The common feature of these technologies is to provide additional flexibility to the power grid by the integration with other energy networks or sectors, converting electricity into other energy carriers. Sector coupling is still an emerging concept, with its first applications being deployed to exploit the electricity excess from variable renewable sources in specific contexts, but with difficulties in achieving competitive returns due to the limited annual capacity factors. However, decreasing investment costs and increasing needs of long-term electricity storage solutions may trigger an interest in sector coupling technologies

The Use of Biomethane in Internal Combustion Engines for Public Transport Decarbonization: A Case Study

Public transport can play a central role in representing a viable and sustainable mobility solution, especially in urban areas. Average energy consumption and emissions per passenger are much lower than for private cars. At the same time, current buses often mostly rely on diesel, and there are different solutions that can contribute to public transport decarbonization. Biomethane is among the options to exploit local low-carbon resources to decrease the emissions of public transport in urban environments. This paper presents the analysis of a real case study considering real data on the fuel consumption and mileage of the existing bus fleet in the city of Turin, Italy, composed by diesel and natural gas buses. The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of different penetration levels of biomethane in substitution of the current fuels. The results show that the use of biomethane in urban buses could save to up to 71% of emissions compared to the current situation, and savings would increase to 75% when deploying biomethane and electric buses together. Average emissions per pkm could decrease from a current level of 85.5 gCO2/pkm to 21.3–63.4 gCO2/pkm depending on the penetration of biomethane and electric buses. The sensitivity analysis shows even higher savings when accounting for the future decrease of the electricity carbon intensity in Italy and for the additional benefits related to avoided emissions from manure disposal. The results of the analysis demonstrate the potential contribution of biomethane in decarbonizing urban buses, and the findings presented for this case study can be of use for policy makers and researchers that deal with a similar situation in other cities and countries

Economics of Electricity Battery Storage

This chapter deals with the challenges and opportunities of energy storage, with a specific focus on the economics of batteries for storing electricity in the framework of the current energy transition. Storage technologies include a variety of solutions that have been used for different grid services, including frequency control, load following, and uninterrupted power supply. A recent interest is being triggered by the increasing grid balance requirements to integrate variable renewable sources and distributed generation. In parallel, lithium-ion batteries are experiencing a strong market expansion driven by an uptake of electric vehicles worldwide, which is leading to a strong decrease of production costs, making Li-ion batteries an attractive solution also for stationary storage applications

Wood biomass CHP in district heating systems: simulation and operation analysis

This research work is focused on the development of a simulation model for the operational analysis of wood biomass CHP (combined heat and power) units supplying district heating systems. The integrated approach that has been adopted offers the possibility of considering the effect of each system component during the different operation conditions that can occur during the year. The aim of the model is to provide a support for different situations: the design of the components of the system, the analysis of real operation to match the requested performance and the local energy planning considering the effects of the actual behaviour of those systems throughout the year. The model has been improved thanks to an analysis of real operation data, both on demand side and on supply side. The heat demand from different district heating systems has been investigated, by analysing the main differences and analogies with respect to size and climate conditions. Considering the supply side, two different ORC systems have been analysed over some years of operation with an hourly time step. These data analysis has pointed out the significant variations that can occur in DH systems when the actual operation conditions are different than the ones forecast in the system design. The model has been used for a case study analysis to assess the optimum size of a CHP unit coupled to a heat storage system in an existing district heating network. An economic analysis has been performed in order to evaluate the current Italian incentive framework for RES (renewable energy sources) plants. A difference has been found between the optimal energetic layouts and the best economic solutions, showing that the current incentives still not promote the most efficient solutions for energy production from wood biomass

Luis Noussan-Lettry : curriculum

Fil: Noussan-Lettry, Luis. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letra

Sobre maestros, milicia y taxonomía

Fil: Noussan-Lettry, Luis. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letra

Cross-Country Comparison of Hourly Electricity Mixes for EV Charging Profiles

Electric vehicles, when coupled to electricity generation from renewable energy sources, can become a viable solution to decarbonize the transport sector. However, given the high variability of electricity mixes on a daily and seasonal basis, high-resolution profiles are needed for a precise analysis of the impacts of electric vehicles in terms of greenhouse gases emissions. This paper presents a comparison of different charging profiles evaluated on 10 European countries over four years, to highlight the effects of national electricity mixes and of the type of charging location on the specific emissions of EVs charging. This study, based on three archetypal charging profiles, provide a quantification of the potential influence of different charging strategies on the average emission factor of the electricity supplied to electric vehicles. The results show that the variability related to charging profiles is generally limited, with an average variation range of 6% for any given country and year, while in several countries the variability from one year to another is much larger, with an average range of 18% for any given country and charging profile

Electric vehicle charging network in Europe: An accessibility and deployment trends analysis

If coupled with a low-carbon electricity mix, electric vehicles (EVs) can represent an important technology for transport decarbonization and local pollutants abatement. Yet, to ensure large-scale EVs adoption, an adequate charging stations network must be developed. This paper provides the first comprehensive bottom-up analysis of the EV charging network in Europe. Combining a crowd-sourced database of charging stations with accessibility data and algorithms, we produce maps of the travel time to the most accessible EV charging station across Europe, we evaluate the charging points density and the number of active operators in different areas. We find that although recent years have witnessed a notable expansion of the EV charging network, stark inequalities persist across and within countries, both in terms of accessibility and of the charging points available to users. Our results allow for a better understanding of some of the key challenges ahead for ensuring mass EVs adoption throughout Europe and thus potentially reducing the environmental impact of the transport sector

Towards the electrification of buildings heating - Real heat pumps electricity mixes based on high resolution operational profiles

The energy transition driven by the need of a deep decarbonization to limit the world temperature rise requires coordinated actions across the whole energy sector. Among other measures, the strong development of renewable energy sources in the power sector is gaining momentum in different parts of the world. The possibility of producing low-carbon electricity leads to a renovated interest in increasing electricity penetration in final sectors, especially in transport and buildings heating. However, a large share of renewable electricity comes from non-dispatchable sources, notably wind and solar PV, and their daily and seasonal variability needs to be matched with the demand profiles of those sectors. In particular, the charge of electric vehicles shows a relatively constant demand on a seasonal basis while attention must be paid on the daily operational logic to fully exploit available power from solar and/or wind. On the other hand, the operation of heat pumps for building heating shows a strong seasonality that may be an issue in countries that have a larger renewable production during summer. This research work is focusing on this specific issue, with the aim of improving the common practice of evaluating energy consumption and emissions on an annual basis, thanks to a detailed analysis based on hourly time-step, both for the electricity generation mix and for the heat pumps demand. To increase the significance of the results, different countries across Europe have been analyzed and compared

Operational analysis of natural gas combined cycle CHP plants: energy performance and pollutant emissions

The natural gas-fired combined cycle (NGCC) plants are among the best technologies for power production, especially when operating in combined heat and power (CHP) generation feeding a district heating (DH) network. Even if usually designed to operate with very high utilization factors, thus satisfying mainly the base load, nowadays these plants are often used also as backup power. This is due mainly to the necessity to compensate the nonprogrammable renewable energy sources (RES) production, and it can be done, thanks to the good flexibility of these plants. However, in off-design conditions, the energy performance and the pollutant emissions may not be as good as the expected nominal ones. In this paper, the real operation of three NGCC units has been analysed in detail by considering mean hourly data over several years. A gas turbine efficiency curve at partial loads has been obtained, showing a decrease of conversion efficiency at lower unit loads. The CO emissions during the start-up and shut-down procedures of the plant reached values that are some orders of magnitude higher than in normal operation. This criticality should not be forgotten when using these units for frequent on-off operations