Transforming public transport depots into profitable energy hubs

Xiaohan Liu, Patrick Plötz, Sonia Yeh, Zhengke Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy Liu and Xiaolei Ma ()
Additional contact information
Xiaohan Liu: Beihang University
Patrick Plötz: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
Sonia Yeh: Chalmers University of Technology
Zhengke Liu: Beihang University
Xiaoyue Cathy Liu: University of Utah
Xiaolei Ma: Beihang University

Nature Energy, 2024, vol. 9, issue 10, 1206-1219

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01580-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natene:v:9:y:2024:i:10:d:10.1038_s41560-024-01580-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nenergy/

DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01580-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Energy is currently edited by Fouad Khan

More articles in Nature Energy from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().