Transforming public transport depots into profitable energy hubs
Journal article, 2024

Transportation is undergoing rapid electrification, with electric buses at the forefront of public transport, especially in China. This transition, however, could strain electricity grids. Using a large-scale dataset with over 200 million global positioning system records from 20,992 buses in Beijing, we explore the technical, economic and environmental implications of transforming public transport depots into renewable energy hubs. Here we show that solar photovoltaic reduces the grid’s net charging load by 23% during electricity generation periods and lowers the net charging peak load by 8.6%. Integrating energy storage amplifies these reductions to 28% and 37.4%, respectively. Whereas unsubsidized solar photovoltaic yields profit 64% above costs, adding battery storage cuts profits to 31% despite offering grid benefits. Negative marginal abatement gains for CO2 emissions underscore the economic sustainability. Our findings provide a model for cities worldwide to accelerate their commitments towards sustainable transport and energy systems.

Author

Xiaohan Liu

Beihang University

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Patrick Plötz

Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Sonia Yeh

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

Zhengke Liu

Beihang University

Xiaoyue Cathy Liu

John and Marcia Price College of Engineering

Xiaolei Ma

Beihang University

Ministry of Education China

Nature Energy

20587546 (eISSN)

Vol. In Press

Next generation of AdVanced InteGrated Assessment modelling to support climaTE policy making (Navigate)

European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/821124), 2019-09-01 -- 2023-08-31.

Areas of Advance

Transport

Energy

Subject Categories

Energy Engineering

Transport Systems and Logistics

Energy Systems

DOI

10.1038/s41560-024-01580-0

More information

Latest update

8/8/2024 8