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Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "E: Electric Vehicles".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 27594

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Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
Interests: energy; sustainable energy; solar energy; hydrogen technologies
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Guest Editor
Institute of Sustainable Building Design, School of Energy Geoscience Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
Interests: solar PV systems; bifacial PV performance; ground albedo enhancement; sustainable buildings; behaviour and attitude of users towards energy consumption
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Engineering Construction and Project Management, School of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Interests: renewable energies; energy sustainability; climate change; urban planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The issue of climate change has been discussed within the scientific community as well as in popular media to such an extent that it has become a priori to almost all discussions related to the sustainable use of energy.

For developed economies of Western Europe, transport-related global greenhouse (GHG) emissions are beginning to stabilize, but for the world as a whole these emissions demonstrate a rapidly rising profile. The present proportion of 23% share of CO2 emissions for global transport is set to rise. Road transport is the chief contributor and is responsible for 20% of the total GHG emissions. Marine and air transport jointly contribute, almost equally, to the remainder. It is obvious that the bulk of the emissions problem lies with road transport.

As a follow-up to the Paris Agreement, which has determined that for the globe to halt within a 2oC average temperature increase, the transport sector needs to be decarbonised.

The United Nations estimates that 60% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2030. Cities account for 2 % of the world’s area and for 75% of the world’s energy consumption. For over a century, the automobile has offered affordable freedom of movement within urban areas. Global registrations jumped from 980 million units in 2009 to over 1.2 billion in 2018. The world population exceeded 7 billion in the year 2012, and every seventh person now owns a vehicle, which, in all likelihood, is powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). Worldwide, 18 million barrels of oil are consumed each day by the automobile sector. Annually, the vehicles emit 2.7 billion tonnes of CO2.

The Nordic region, constituting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, has taken a lead on electric vehicles (EVs) with the launch of its Nordic Electric Vehicle Outlook (NEVO2018) report. The EVs offer an elegant solution towards a significant reduction in GHG and kerbside pollution, provided that the electricity for charging the vehicles is sought from renewable means.

This Issue of Energies aims to address the challenge of emissions reduction from the transport sector and the potential solutions that may be available in the near and not-so-distant future.

Prof. Tariq Muneer
Dr. Mehreen Gul
Prof. Dr. Eulalia Jadraque Gago
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Electric vehicles
  • Automobile
  • Energy consumption
  • Sustainable transport
  • GHG and kerbside pollution.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 8443 KiB  
Article
Design of an Electrically Powered Rickshaw, for Use in India
by Colin Cochrane, Tariq Muneer and Bashabi Fraser
Energies 2019, 12(17), 3346; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12173346 - 30 Aug 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7117
Abstract
The main aim of this article is to present research findings related to the design of an electric rickshaw for use in Kolkata, India, identifying weaknesses in the current cycle rickshaw, developing a design solution to address problems found, and exploring the possibility [...] Read more.
The main aim of this article is to present research findings related to the design of an electric rickshaw for use in Kolkata, India, identifying weaknesses in the current cycle rickshaw, developing a design solution to address problems found, and exploring the possibility of utilising solar power. Through research and testing it was found there were many design issues, concerns with health and safety, comfort, and ergonomics. All problems found were addressed by implementing design upgrades. The testing of the current cycle rickshaw identified the power and energy required to implement an electric drive system, where a 500 W 24 V DC motor and a battery capacity of 220 ampere hours was used in conjunction with a pedal assist system to provide a range of up to 52 km. A conceptual prototype was developed to prove the successful application of a pedal assist system, which was established as a viable option for design. The design has been critically evaluated and the relevant issues discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport)
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22 pages, 2461 KiB  
Article
Driven Performance of Electric Vehicles in Edinburgh and Its Environs
by Ross Milligan, Saioa Etxebarria, Tariq Muneer and Eulalia Jadraque Gago
Energies 2019, 12(16), 3074; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12163074 - 9 Aug 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4045
Abstract
Fuelled by energy security problems and urban air pollution challenges, several countries worldwide have set the objective to gradually eliminate petrol and diesel cars. The increasing support from government and demands for environmental friendly means of transportation are accelerating the use of battery [...] Read more.
Fuelled by energy security problems and urban air pollution challenges, several countries worldwide have set the objective to gradually eliminate petrol and diesel cars. The increasing support from government and demands for environmental friendly means of transportation are accelerating the use of battery electric vehicles. However, it is indispensable to have accurate and complete information about their behaviour in different traffic situations and road conditions. For the experimental analysis carried out in this study, three different electric vehicles from the Edinburgh College leasing program were equipped and tracked to obtain over 50 GPS and energy consumption data for short distance journeys in the Edinburgh area and long-range tests between Edinburgh and Bristol (UK). The results showed that the vehicles’ energy intensities were significantly affected by the driving cycle pattern, with a noticeable diminution due to low temperatures. It was found that the real available range of the electric vehicle in some situations could be 17% lower than the predicted mileage shown in the dashboard of the vehicle. The difference from the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) values was even higher. The study has also provided a discussion on the effect of the electricity mix on carbon emission reduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport)
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23 pages, 2328 KiB  
Article
A Variational Bayesian and Huber-Based Robust Square Root Cubature Kalman Filter for Lithium-Ion Battery State of Charge Estimation
by Jing Hou, He He, Yan Yang, Tian Gao and Yifan Zhang
Energies 2019, 12(9), 1717; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12091717 - 7 May 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3133
Abstract
An accurate state of charge (SOC) estimation is vital for safe operation and efficient management of lithium-ion batteries. To improve the accuracy and robustness, an adaptive and robust square root cubature Kalman filter based on variational Bayesian approximation and Huber’s M-estimation (VB-HASRCKF) is [...] Read more.
An accurate state of charge (SOC) estimation is vital for safe operation and efficient management of lithium-ion batteries. To improve the accuracy and robustness, an adaptive and robust square root cubature Kalman filter based on variational Bayesian approximation and Huber’s M-estimation (VB-HASRCKF) is proposed. The variational Bayesian (VB) approximation is used to improve the adaptivity by simultaneously estimating the measurement noise covariance and the SOC, while Huber’s M-estimation is employed to enhance the robustness with respect to the outliers in current and voltage measurements caused by adverse operating conditions. A constant-current discharge test and an urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS) test are performed to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm by comparison with the square root cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF), the VB-based SRCKF, and the Huber-based SRCKF. The experimental results show that the proposed VB-HASRCKF algorithm outperforms the other three filters in terms of SOC estimation accuracy and robustness, with a little higher computation complexity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport)
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16 pages, 4576 KiB  
Article
A Coupled-Inductor DC-DC Converter with Input Current Ripple Minimization for Fuel Cell Vehicles
by Fuwu Yan, Jingyuan Li, Changqing Du, Chendong Zhao, Wei Zhang and Yun Zhang
Energies 2019, 12(9), 1689; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12091689 - 5 May 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3145
Abstract
A coupled-inductor DC-DC converter with a high voltage gain is proposed in this paper to match the voltage of a fuel cell stack to a DC link bus. The proposed converter can minimize current ripples and can also achieve a high voltage gain [...] Read more.
A coupled-inductor DC-DC converter with a high voltage gain is proposed in this paper to match the voltage of a fuel cell stack to a DC link bus. The proposed converter can minimize current ripples and can also achieve a high voltage gain by adjusting the duty cycle d and the turns ratio n of a coupled inductor. A passive lossless clamping circuit that is composed of one capacitor and one diode is employed, and this suppresses voltage spikes across the power device resulting from system leakage inductance. The operating principles and the characteristics of the proposed converter are analyzed and discussed. A 400-W experimental prototype was developed, and it had a wide voltage gain range (4–13.33) and a maximum efficiency of 95.12%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport)
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Review

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22 pages, 500 KiB  
Review
Electric Vehicles for Public Transportation in Power Systems: A Review of Methodologies
by Jean-Michel Clairand, Paulo Guerra-Terán, Xavier Serrano-Guerrero, Mario González-Rodríguez and Guillermo Escrivá-Escrivá
Energies 2019, 12(16), 3114; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12163114 - 14 Aug 2019
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 9171
Abstract
The market for electric vehicles (EVs) has grown with each year, and EVs are considered to be a proper solution for the mitigation of urban pollution. So far, not much attention has been devoted to the use of EVs for public transportation, such [...] Read more.
The market for electric vehicles (EVs) has grown with each year, and EVs are considered to be a proper solution for the mitigation of urban pollution. So far, not much attention has been devoted to the use of EVs for public transportation, such as taxis and buses. However, a massive introduction of electric taxis (ETs) and electric buses (EBs) could generate issues in the grid. The challenges are different from those of private EVs, as their required load is much higher and the related time constraints must be considered with much more attention. These issues have begun to be studied within the last few years. This paper presents a review of the different approaches that have been proposed by various authors, to mitigate the impact of EBs and ETs on the future smart grid. Furthermore, some projects with regard to the integration of ETs and EBs around the world are presented. Some guidelines for future works are also proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Practice and Innovations in Sustainable Transport)
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