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Alternative and Sustainable Fuels in the Transport Sector: The Challenge of Decarbonization

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A: Sustainable Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2022) | Viewed by 6906

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marina K. Kousoulidou

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Guest Editor

CINEA, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Interests: alternative/sustainable fuels and novel powertrains; sustainable aviation; emissions reduction; air quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, and numbers are growing. In order to achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050. Road, rail, aviation, and waterborne transport will all have to contribute to the reduction. Alternative and sustainable fuels such as hydrotreated fuels, biofuels, renewable natural gas, hydrogen, are possible pathways to reduce the negative impacts of both passenger and freight transport on human health and on the environment.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research or review articles on different alternative/sustainable fuels used in the transport sector (road, aviation, maritime), with emphasis on their demonstrated impact on reducing emissions but also investigating the limitations of such fuels. Investigation on the impact on non-regulated emissions and on well-to-wheel emissions will also be considered.

Dr. Marina K. Kousoulidou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Hydrogen
Renewable/alternative fuels
CNG
LNG
Aviation
Road transport
Maritime, ports
Fuel efficiency
Air quality
Emissions reduction
Non-regulated emissions

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 6178 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Optimal Powertrain Sizing of Series Hybrid Coach Running on Diesel and HVO for Lifetime Carbon Footprint and Total Cost Minimisation

by Shantanu Pardhi, Mohamed El Baghdadi, Oswin Hulsebos and Omar Hegazy

Energies 2022, 15(19), 6974; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15196974 - 23 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1711

Abstract

This article aims to calculate, analyse and compare the optimal powertrain sizing solutions for a long-haul plug-in series hybrid coach running on diesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) using a co-design optimisation approach for: (1) lowering lifetime carbon footprint; (2) minimising the total cost of ownership (TCO); (3) finding the right sizing compromise between environmental impact and economic feasibility for the two fuel cases. The current vehicle use case derived from the EU H2020 LONGRUN project features electrical auxiliary loads and a 100 km zero urban emission range requiring a considerable battery size, which makes its low carbon footprint and cost-effective sizing a crucial challenge. Changing the objective between environmental impact and overall cost minimisation or switching the energy source from diesel to renewable HVO could also significantly affect the optimal powertrain dimensions. The approach uses particle swarm optimisation in the outer sizing loop while energy management is implemented using an adaptive equivalent consumption minimisation strategy (A-ECMS). Usage of HVO fuel over diesel offered an approximately 62% reduction in lifetime carbon footprint for around a 12.5% increase in overall costs across all sizing solutions. For such an unconventional powertrain topology, the fuel economy-focused solution neither achieved the lowest carbon footprint nor overall costs. In comparison,

C O_{2} -

cost balanced sizing resulted in reductions close to the single objective-focused solutions (5.7% against 5.9% for the

C O_{2}

solution, 7.7% against 7.9% for the TCO solution on HVO) with lowered compromise on other side targets (

C O_{2}

reduction of 5.7% against 4.9% found in the TCO-focused solution, TCO lowering of 7.7% against 4.4% found in the

C O_{2}

-focused solution). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative and Sustainable Fuels in the Transport Sector: The Challenge of Decarbonization)

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17 pages, 908 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Novel Mathematical Method to Obtain the Optimum Speed and Fuel Reduction in Heavy Diesel Trucks

by Maria Torres-Falcon, Omar Rodríguez-Abreo, Francisco Antonio Castillo-Velásquez, Alejandro Flores-Rangel, Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz and José Manuel Álvarez-Alvarado

Energies 2021, 14(23), 8121; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14238121 - 03 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1758

Abstract

In Mexico and many parts of the world, land cargo transport units (UTTC) operate at high speeds, causing accidents, increased fuel costs, and high levels of polluting emissions in the atmosphere. The speed in road driving, by the carriers, has been a factor little studied; however, it causes serious damage. This problem is reflected in accidents, road damage, low efficiency in the life of the engine and tires, low fuel efficiency, and high polluting emissions, among others. The official Mexican standard NOM-012-SCT-2-2017 on the weight and maximum dimensions with which motor transport vehicles can circulate, which travel through the general communication routes of the federal jurisdiction, establishes the speed limit at the one to be driven by an operator. Because of the new reality, the uses and customs of truck operators have been affected, mainly in their operating expenses. In this work, a mathematical model is presented with which the optimum driving speed of a UTTC is obtained. The speed is obtained employing the equality between the forces required to move the motor unit and the force that the tractor has available. The required forces considered are the force on the slope, the aerodynamic force, and the friction force, and the force available was considered the engine torque. This mathematical method was tested in seven routes in Mexico, obtaining significant savings of fuel above 10%. However, the best performance route possesses 65% flat terrain and 35% hillocks without mountainous terrain, regular type of highway, and a load of 20,000 kg, where the savings increase up to 16.44%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative and Sustainable Fuels in the Transport Sector: The Challenge of Decarbonization)

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Review

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22 pages, 1106 KiB

Open AccessReview

Low-Emission Alternative Energy for Transport in the EU: State of Play of Research and Innovation

by Alejandro Ortega, Konstantinos Gkoumas, Anastasios Tsakalidis and Ferenc Pekár

Energies 2021, 14(22), 7764; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14227764 - 19 Nov 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2443

Abstract

The 2030 Climate target plan of the European Commission (EC) establishes a greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990. It highlights that all transport modes—road, rail, aviation and waterborne—will have to contribute to this aim. A smart combination of vehicle/vessel/aircraft efficiency improvements, as well as fuel mix changes, are among the measures that can reduce GHG emissions, reducing at the same time noise pollution and improving air quality. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of recent research and innovation in low-emission alternative energy for transport (excluding hydrogen) in selected European Union (EU)-funded projects. It considers the latest developments in the field, identifying relevant researched technologies by fuel type and their development phase. The results show that liquefied natural gas (LNG) refueling stations, followed by biofuels for road transport and alternative aviation fuels, are among the researched technologies with the highest investments. Methane-based fuels (e.g., compressed natural gas (CNG), LNG) have received the greatest attention concerning the number of projects and the level of funding. By contrast, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) only has four ongoing projects. Alcohols, esters and ethers, and synthetic paraffinic and aromatic fuels (SPF) are in between. So far, road transport has the highest use of alternative fuels in the transport sector. Despite the financial support from the EU, advances have yet to materialize, suggesting that EU transport decarbonization policies should not consider a radical or sudden change, and therefore, transition periods are critical. It is also noteworthy that there is no silver bullet solution to decarbonization and thus the right use of the various alternative fuels available will be key. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative and Sustainable Fuels in the Transport Sector: The Challenge of Decarbonization)

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