What are the current and emerging trends in transportation electrification and renewable energy sources?

Transportation is a major source of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and it is facing significant challenges and opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon future. In this article, we will explore some of the current and emerging trends in transportation electrification and renewable energy sources, and how they can contribute to reducing the environmental impact of mobility.

1 Benefits of electrification

Electrification refers to the use of electricity as the primary energy carrier for transportation modes, such as electric vehicles (EVs), trains, buses, bikes, and scooters. Electrification can offer several benefits, such as improving energy efficiency, reducing local air pollution and noise, enhancing energy security and diversity, and enabling the integration of renewable energy sources. However, electrification also poses some challenges, such as the need for adequate charging infrastructure, grid stability and resilience, battery performance and recycling, and lifecycle emissions analysis.

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Mohammad Ali Notani

Postdoc Research Associate @ Purdue University | Civil Eng.
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An electrified road is a type of road that is equipped with a wireless charging system that allows EVs to charge during motion. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about EV's charging. Such system eliminates the need for electric vehicles to stop and charge at a stationary charging station. This could significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to charge an EV. There are also potential environmental benefits to electrified roads. Because they allow EVs to charge on the go, it may be possible to build smaller, lighter batteries for EVs, which could reduce the environmental impact of battery production. Overall, electrified roads have the potential to be a game-changer for the electric vehicle industry.

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Ben Mokaya

Sauti ya Mwafrika
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Let me use Eastern Africa as an example. Countries across Eastern Africa are net importers of fossil fuels. At the same time, these countries generate the most clean and renewable energy (Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, etc). With ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, countries in Eastern Africa are exposed to ever rising costs of fossil fuels. This has weakened the economies in Africa, and led to increased poverty and lower standards of living. Electrification of transport is an opportunity for countries in Eastern Africa to use locally generated electricity for electric mobility. The resulting electric vehicle supply chain will create jobs, and improve health by reducing air and noise pollution.

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Neal Gresham

Leading and developing a collaborative approach to promote individual and team growth.
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The possibilities are exciting and offer a significant expansion for the broad use of EV. Concerns related to durability of “charging infrastructure “ include climatic differences, durability and continued maintenance and upgrade must be addressed. Reliance on EV creates a certain risk and redundancy in the availability of charging facilities needs to occur before this widespread growth can be realized.

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2 Renewable energy sources

Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal, can provide clean and sustainable electricity for transportation electrification. Renewable energy sources can also be used directly in some transportation modes, such as biofuels for aviation and marine, hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles, and solar panels for electric bikes and boats. Renewable energy sources can help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, lower the carbon footprint of transportation, and create new opportunities for innovation and development. However, renewable energy sources also face some barriers, such as the variability and intermittency of supply, the cost and availability of technology, the regulatory and policy frameworks, and the social and environmental impacts.

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Ben Mokaya

Sauti ya Mwafrika
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Replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with battery electric vehicles (EVs) in Kenya is a leading transport decarbonization initiative in the world. Kenya is uniquely positioned globally due to the country’s geothermal energy. Up to 50% of Kenya’s generated electricity comes from geothermal wells along the Great Rift Valley. The geothermal electricity is clean, cheap, and provides a consistent supply to balance the fluctuations of solar, wind and hydropower. With up to 300GWh “excess” geothermal energy every year, Kenya can replace 1 in every 3 diesel buses in the city of Nairobi with an electric bus without straining the country’s electricity grid. These electric buses will run during the day and charge at night.

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3 Current trends in electrification and renewable energy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that the global stock of electric cars reached 10 million in 2020, a 43% increase from 2019, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the IEA estimates that the global share of renewable energy in electricity generation rose to 28%, a 2% increase from 2019. These trends demonstrate that electrification and renewable energy are gaining traction in the transportation sector, due to factors such as policy support, consumer demand, technological innovation, and cost reduction. Examples of current initiatives and projects in this field include the European Union's Green Deal, the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, the Hydrogen Council, and the Solar Impulse Foundation. The Green Deal seeks to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 through targets and measures for increasing EV deployment and renewable energy sources in transportation. The China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance reported that the number of public EV charging stations in China reached 1.68 million in 2020, a 43% increase from 2019. The Hydrogen Council is a global coalition of over 100 companies and organizations that promote hydrogen as a clean energy carrier for transportation and other sectors. They estimate that hydrogen could power more than 400 million cars, 20 million trucks, and 5 million buses by 2050. The Solar Impulse Foundation works to identify and support 1000 solutions that can protect the environment while creating economic value. They have awarded the Efficient Solution label to several transportation solutions that use solar energy, such as Lightyear One - a solar-powered car that can drive up to 725 km on a single charge.

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4 Emerging trends in electrification and renewable energy

The future of transportation is likely to be shaped by new trends in electrification and renewable energy, such as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. This technology enables EVs to communicate with the power grid, providing services such as demand response, frequency regulation, and load balancing, while also creating new revenue streams for EV owners and operators. Additionally, wireless charging technology could reduce the hassle and cost of charging infrastructure, while Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles could offer a new mode of urban mobility. Lastly, green hydrogen production could increase the availability and affordability of hydrogen as a clean fuel for transportation.

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What are the current and emerging trends in transportation electrification and renewable energy sources?

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1 Benefits of electrification

2 Renewable energy sources

3 Current trends in electrification and renewable energy

4 Emerging trends in electrification and renewable energy

Transportation Engineering

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