• Energy Research
• 7. Clean energy close
• 1. No poverty close
• TR close
• UZ close
• Transport Research close

Abstract Alternative vehicle technologies have a great potential to minimize the transportation-related environmental impacts, reduce the reliance of the U.S. on imported petroleum, and increase energy security. However, they introduce new uncertainties related to their environmental, economic, and social impacts and certain challenges for widespread adoption. In this study, a novel method, uncertainty-embedded dynamic life cycle sustainability assessment framework, is developed to address both methodological challenges and uncertainties in transportation sustainability research. The proposed approach provides a more comprehensive, system-based sustainability assessment framework by capturing the dynamic relations among the parameters within the U.S. transportation system as a whole with respect to its environmental, social, and economic impacts. Using multivariate uncertainty analysis, likelihood of the impact reduction potentials of different vehicle types, as well as the behavioral limits of the sustainability potentials of each vehicle type are analyzed. Seven sustainability impact categories are dynamically quantified for four different vehicle types (internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles) from 2015 to 2050. Although impacts of electric vehicles have the largest uncertainty, they are expected (90% confidence) to be the best alternative in long-term for reducing human health impacts and air pollution from transportation. While results based on deterministic (average) values indicate that electric vehicles have greater potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, plug-in hybrid vehicles have the largest potential according to the results with 90% confidence interval.

One of the most encouraging sorts of renewable energy is ocean wave energy. In spite of a large number of investigations in this field during the last decade, wave energy technologies are recognised as neither mature nor broadly commercialised compared to other renewable energy technologies. In this paper, we develop and optimise Power Take-off (PTO) configurations of a well-known wave energy converter (WEC) called a point absorber. This WEC is a fully submerged buoy with three tethers, which was proposed and developed by Carnegie Clean Energy Company in Australia. Optimising the WEC’s PTO parameters is a challenging engineering problem due to the high dimensionality and complexity of the search space. This research compares the performance of five state-of-the-art metaheuristics (including Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy, Gray Wolf optimiser, Harris Hawks optimisation, and Grasshopper Optimisation Algorithm) based on the real wave scenario in Sydney sea state. The experimental achievements show that the Multiverse optimisation (MVO) algorithm performs better than the other metaheuristics applied in this work.

Coal produced in open pit mines should be moved to thermic power plants for production of power. Thermic power plants require very large amounts of coal. In transportation process of this coal, both costs and technical parameters should be considered. Common alternative transportation modes in this process are belt conveyors, truck types, suspension rail conveying systems, pipelines and railways. Selection of one of these modes is influenced by transportation distance, inclination of the haulage road, amount of coal reserve, investment costs, production capacity and unit production cost of the open pit mine. In this study, advantages and disadvantages of alternative transportation modes are analysed using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP). The results revealed, belt conveyors and trucks transportation by are superior to others.

In recent years, energy-related issues have become most important for the maritime sector due to economic and environmental reasons. The use of shoreside power for serving ships while at port has been increasingly considered as a measure to improve their energy efficiency and environmental performance. In this study, the economic analysis is performed considering different marine fuels and shoreside power supply for the ship’s electrical needs while at the international ports. Future predictions about shoreside power application are also discussed in the next-generation smart electrical power system for the maritime sector. For this purpose, real data of a bulk carrier ship are used to determine the unit energy cost. The results obtained from the analysis showed that the use of shoreside power has economic advantages. It is an important issue for shipowners and port authorities to reduce operating costs, fuel consumption and to decrease the environmental impacts of emissions.

In this paper, we propose a centralized electric vehicles (EVs) recharge scheduling system for parking lots using a realistic vehicular mobility/parking pattern focusing on individual parking lots. We consider two different types of EV based on their mobility/parking patterns: 1) regular EVs; and 2) irregular EVs. An extensive trace-based vehicular mobility model collected from the Canton of Zurich is used for the regular EVs, and a probabilistic pattern built on top of this trace is used for modeling the behavior of irregular EVs. To the extent of our knowledge, this is the first EV charging scheduling study in the literature that takes into account a realistic vehicular mobility pattern focusing on individual parking lots. We compare the performance of our proposed system with two well-known basic scheduling mechanisms, first come first serve and earliest deadline first, with regard to two objective functions: 1) maximizing the total parking lot revenue; and 2) maximizing the total number of EVs fulfilling their requirements. Comparison results show that our proposed system outperforms well-known basic scheduling mechanisms with regards to both objectives. Parking lots managing the recharging of a high number of EVs will greatly benefit from using such recharge scheduling systems in the context of smart cities.

Under many circumstances, when providing full bus priority methods, urban transport officials have to operate buses in mixed traffic based on their road network limitations. In the case of Istanbul’s Metrobus lane, for instance, when the route comes to the pre-designed Bosphorus Bridge, it has no choice but to merge with highway mixed traffic until it gets to the other side. Much has been written on the relative success of implementing Ramp Metering (RM), for example ALINEA (‘Asservissement line´ aire d’entre´ e autoroutie’) and Variable Speed Limits (VSL), two of the most widely-used “merging congestion” management strategies, in both a separate and combined manner. However, there has been no detailed study regarding the combination of these systems in the face of high bus volume. This being the case, the ultimate goal of this study is to bridge this gap by developing and proposing a combination of VSL and RM strategies in the presence of high bus volume (VSL+ALINEA/B). The proposed model has been coded using microscopic simulation software—VISSIM—and its vehicle actuated programming (VAP) feature; referred to as VisVAP. For current traffic conditions, the proposed model is able to improve total travel time by 9.0%, lower the number of average delays of mixed traffic and buses by 29.1% and 81.5% respectively, increase average speed by 12.7%, boost bottleneck throughout by 2.8%, and lower fuel consumption, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions by 17.3% compared to the existing “VSL+ALINEA” model. The results of the scenario analysis confirmed that the proposed model is not only able to decrease delay times on the Metrobus system but is also able to improve the adverse effects of high bus volume when subject to adjacent mixed traffic flow along highway sections.

AbstractThe increasing cost and depletion of fossil-based energy combined with the problems of global warming is driving the development of bio-based energy products from plant biomass as renewable energy. The utilization of biofuel co- product (BCP) in new industrial applications should be investigated to increase the profitability of bio-based products and the bio-energy business. One such area of high-impact application is the stabilization of low quality roadbed soils with sulfur-free lignins found in BCPs. Recently, researchers are taking interest in investigating the viability and use of biofuel derived sulfur-free lignins for soil stabilization.This study aims to investigate the utilization of biofuel co-products (BCPs) containing lignin in pavement geomaterials stabilization. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of BCP addition on strength performance for a wide range of soils encountered in Iowa. Two different sulfur-free lignins were investigated: Co-product A is a liquid material with higher lignin content and co-product B is a powder material with lower lignin content.For all soil types, a significant increase in compressive strength was observed once 12% BCP B was added to pure soil. The compressive strength values were increase up to two times for Soil 2 (CL-ML) and four times for Soil 4 (ML). The results of these study indicated that the BCP has excellent potential for stabilizing low quality materials for use in road construction.

The limited availability of public transportation in Saudi Arabia leads to an increased demand for private vehicles. An increase in using private cars does not meet the global sustainability goals, e.g., reducing energy consumption and improving the air quality. Road users should be encouraged to use sustainable mobility modes, particularly public transportation, equally accessible to both men and women However, women’s mobility has been somewhat limited and challenged in spatio-temporal terms, and partly due to socio-cultural barriers. This study attempts to understand the gender experience of a sample of public transport users and consider their aspirations and needs into daily mobility. A survey campaign (structured interviews and online questionnaires) was launched in the Dammam Metropolitan Region (DMR), taking four different types of respondents into account. The results suggest a predominant preference for taxis for shopping and leisure activities due to a poor public transport service, pivotally characterized by limited operational routes, hours, and infrastructure. This study ponders upon the adequacy of the supporting infrastructures and interior design of the public buses to women’s needs and compare them with global best practices. The results suggest that, due to the absence of a gender-responsive design and infrastructure, women are forced to use taxis, although privacy and a sense of insecurity often become concerns when traveling alone or with children. The study results allow future research to be expanded, considering women’s mobility patterns, needs, and embedded barriers by comparing the results with current transport policies, plans, and practices.