• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close
• Transport Research close

Urban logistics is a field that studies the best solutions for urban freight distribution with high environmental objectives. However, most actions are started by public authorities without taking into account the impacts of the new organizational schemas in the existing distribution enterprises’ organization. This paper proposes a case study from Padova, Italy: the city logistics system Cityporto, from which the sustainability of such systems is discussed in a Sustainable Development point of view, for both enterprise and collective dimensions, in order to relate the particularities of city logistics to the corresponding supply chains, i.e. to global logistics. Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, Vol 3, N° 2 (2010): City Logistics

Abstract The effects of climate change have led to reduces fossil fuel in vehicle, developing new technologies such as the electric vehicles. The research presents an identification of barriers and inhibitors according to international experiences, an evaluation with the MICMAC method and the identification of key factors to achieve development of electric vehicles in Colombia. The results allow to identify the elements of high influence, which may guide intervention strategies and be the basis for the formulation of guidelines and policies. The results conclude that the business models for the purchase and sale of energy are the catalyst for the encouraging of the stakeholders, the improvement of the distribution network and the management of the electricity market.

Abstract This article proposes a calculation methodology that starts from the demand calculation to supply a fleet bus with renewable hydrogen based on the electrolysis process until the energetic, economic, and environmental analyses, involving all the processes of the productive chair. Also considering the dynamic behaviour of the following hydrogen processes: production, storage, and use. The simplified scheme of the proposed system configuration to be studied consists of the use of alternative and renewable sources of energy (solar-wind-biogas) to generate electrical energy in order to produce hydrogen from electrolysis of the water, which is stored in its gaseous state and subsequently redirected to a filling station to be used as vehicle fuel in buses. The results show that to feed one bus the hybrid system generates an average of 78,110 kWh/month with an installed capacity of 1101.905 kW, producing 1209.90 kgH2/month through the electrolysis process from water. The results also show a range of electricity generation costs between 1.130 and 0.123 US$/kWh and H2 production between 0.963 and 0.110 US$/kWh. Concluding that the application of renewable energies to produce hydrogen and electricity for the public transport sector is an attractive alternative in the future throughout the country, because the proposed system is technically, economically and ecologically viable.

Time-sharing cars, as a sustainable model for transport, have seen rapid developments in recent years. Prior studies on car sharing paid little attention to the continuance intention among users. But understanding ways to cultivate user habits is important to enhance car sharing’s contribution to sustainability. Based on the expectation confirmation model (ECM), this study adopts a user-centered perspective to explore factors affecting the continuance intention of time-sharing electric vehicles through personal cognitive variables (i.e., psychological ownership, familiarity, and trust) and external environmental variables (i.e., facilitating conditions and service quality). An online survey was conducted, and a total of 1072 valid samples were collected. The results of the structural equation modeling show that offline service quality and facilitating conditions had the greatest impact on the perceptions of usefulness and satisfaction users have for car sharing. Perceived usefulness and satisfaction positively predicted continuance intention, as in the ECM. Among customer variables, environmentalism, familiarity, and trust in peers positively predicted the perceived usefulness of car sharing. Psychological ownership played a subtle function by negatively affecting perceived usefulness but positively affecting satisfaction. We discuss the findings and practical implications for stakeholders and offer suggestions for future research.

Decentralization development and changing urban form will increase the mobility and contribute to global CO2 emissions, in particular for developing countries which are experiencing rapid economic growth and urban expansion. In this paper, an integrated analytical framework, which can quantify the impact of changing urban form on commuting CO2 emissions, is presented. This framework simultaneously considers two emission dependent factors, commuting demand and modal share based on the concept of excess commuting and accessibility analysis, and ensures its applicability to other cities where the detailed individual travel data is not available. A case study of Beijing from 2000 to 2009 is used to illustrate this framework. The findings suggest that changing urban form in Beijing did have a significant impact on commuting CO2 emission increase. Changing to a more decentralized urban form in Beijing had a larger impact on commuting distance and increased usage of cars, which resulted in a significant rise in CO2 emissions. There is a larger space and an urgent need for commuting CO2 emission reduction, in 2009 in Beijing, by planning and by strategic measures in order to promote sustainable transport.

The term eco-innovation has been coined to label those innovations expected to reduce the life cycle environmental burdens resulting from their use. Claims of environmental superiority are usually supported by technology-oriented analyses, such as product-level life cycle assessment. However, the environmental superiority of an innovation depends not only on its technical characteristics but also on technology-demand interactions. In this article, such interactions are incorporated through the concept of the environmental rebound effect. Using the Dynamic IPAT-Life cycle assessment with Environmental Rebound effect or DILER model, environmental superiority claims of seven alleged transport eco-innovations were evaluated by comparing alternative macro-level scenarios (with and without innovation) for Europe. The results support the claims of environmental superiority of only three out of seven studied innovations. That is, a majority of innovations actually induced increases in various environmental pressures. Such increases can be attributed mostly to the influence of generally noteworthy environmental rebound effects. The magnitude of the rebound effect is found to be highly correlated with two variables: the total change in effective income resulting from the use of the innovation and the difference between the environmental pressures per monetary unit of the studied innovations and that of the rest of consumption. The article contributes to the literature by (a) applying a comprehensive approach to the rebound effect and its relationship with the eco-innovation concept, (b) by calculating original rebound estimates of specific transport innovations and assessing these in absolute terms, as well as by (c) obtaining novel insights into the drivers behind the rebound effect. The counterintuitive results of this study also invite to re-assess the use of technology-oriented tools for guiding environmental policy. Other policy implications of this study relate to the relevance of transport cost differences, the targeted promotion of actual eco-innovations and its combination with broader policies as well as the achievement of higher quality mobility.

Producción Científica Achieving ambitious reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG) is particularly challenging for transportation due to the technical limitations of replacing oil-based fuels. We apply the integrated assessment model MEDEAS-World to study four global transportation decarbonization strategies for 2050. The results show that a massive replacement of oil-fueled individual vehicles to electric ones alone cannot deliver GHG reductions consistent with climate stabilization and could result in the scarcity of some key minerals, such as lithium and magnesium. In addition, energy-economy feedbacks within an economic growth system create a rebound effect that counters the benefits of substitution. The only strategy that can achieve the objectives globally follows the Degrowth paradigm, combining a quick and radical shift to lighter electric vehicles and non-motorized modes with a drastic reduction in total transportation demand. European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 691287 and 821105, respectively. Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project ECO2017-85110-R) Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project FJCI-2016-28833)

Efficiency enhancement of various propulsion systems is in the focus of technical development, with the aim of reducing both operating costs and emissions. When considering internal combustion engines, only a fraction of the supplied fuel energy can be converted to mechanical work, whereas the remaining energy is mostly being released to the environment as waste heat. Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) enable the use of this very waste heat for increasing overall efficiency of the propulsion system. To use the full potential of the waste heat recovery system, the impacts of the single influencing factors within the ORC have to be understood, such as the working medium, process management when using a regenerator, the number and arrangement of the single heat sources, the lower temperature level of the cycle (condensation temperature) or the share of circulating lubricant within the working cycle. This paper wants to assess the thermodynamic influence of the lubricant in an ORC in order to show the maximum potential of efficiency.