Abstract

The land-transportation cannot meet its demands anymore. Jammed highways and cities, dangerous emissions, omnipresent traffic accidents, delays, expensive railways. Solutions are being sought to transfer a large part of passenger- and especially freight-traffic to (high-speed) rail and the efforts are shifting towards electromobility, car-sharing, 5G-connectivity, autonomous ride, MaaS-transport-coordination or Hyperloop-type solutions. However, all these solutions have further problems and limitations. Solutions are not sought where they really exist - in the mutual adaptation of the road and rail vehicles and their deep cooperation. The ComplexTrans-project shows that simply adapting dimensions and functions of the road and rail vehicles can eliminate (or at least substantially reduce) all the problems of existing land transport. The main features of the ComplexTrans system are sufficient parking spaces, reduced traffic density inside and outside of the cities, electric-vehicles with unlimited range and cheaper than the standard cars, cheaper and affordable recharging of batteries, autonomous ride, self-financing rail-transport, transfer of intercity freight to rail, replacement of part of the continental air-transport and many others.

Abstract

Will automated driving help or hurt our efforts to remedy climate change? The overall impact of transportation and mobility on the global ecosystem is clear: changes to that system can greatly affect climate outcomes. The design of mobility and automotive systems will influence key factors such as driving style, fuel choice, ride sharing, traffic patterns, and total mileage. However, to date, there are few research efforts that explicitly focus on these overlapping themes (automated driving & climate changes) within the HCI and AutomotiveUI communities. Our intention is to grow this community and awareness of the related problems. Specifically, in this workshop, we invite designers, researchers, and practitioners from the sustainable HCI, persuasive design, AutomotiveUI, and mobility communities to collaborate in finding ways to make future mobility more sustainable. Using embodied design improvisation and design fiction methods, we will explore the ways that systems affect behavior which then affect the environment.

Abstract

This contribution is based on results obtained in the collaboration project “TRANSFORMERS”, which has received funding from the European Commission in the FP7-programme. The project has the objective to reduce CO2 emissions per tonne·km by up to 25%, by improved reconfigurable aerodynamic measures, by innovative loading efficiency measures and by a hybrid-on-demand driveline for truck-semitrailer combinations. Besides giving insight to the overall project, this publication focusses on the trailer mounted hybrid-on-demand (HoD) driveline. This electric driveline is combined with a conventionally propelled tractor unit, effectively hybridizing the combination with minimal changes to the tractor. The objective is to save fuel both in long haulage applications and urban dense traffic scenarios. Test results obtained in both test track and public road testing show that an actual fuel saving of up to 12% can be achieved.

Abstract

Proceedings of 7th Transport Research Arena TRA 2018, VIENNE, AUTRICHE, 16-/04/2018 - 19/04/2019; This contribution is based on the European collaborative project TRANSFORMERS (Configurable and adaptable trucks and trailers for optimal transport), which received co-funding from the European Commission. The project has the goal of reducing energy use per tonne.kilometre of goods transported by up to 25%. This is achieved by innovations including: i) Configurable whole vehicle aerodynamics, ii) Improved loading efficiency measures, iii) A distributed, trailer mounted electric driveline known as 'hybrid-on-demand' for truck-semitrailer combinations. The combination of innovations gives the possibility of a semi-trailer combination which can be adapted or re-configured to suit individual transport missions. The paper focuses on providing background to the project, an overview of the innovations developed within the project, and the main conclusions that were drawn from the wide range of work undertaken within the project. It covers both the 'Energy Efficiency' and the 'Load Optimisation' trailers which were developed and tested within the project. Document type: Conference object

Abstract

Photo-electrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation is a promising technology and alternative to photovoltaic (PV)-electrolyser combined systems. Since there are no commercially available PEC cells and very limited field trials, a computer simulation was used to assess the efficacy of the approach for different domestic applications. Three mathematical models were used to obtain a view on how PEC generated hydrogen is able to cover demands for a representative dwelling. The analysed home was grid-connected and used a fuel cell based micro-CHP (micro-combined heat and power) system. Case studies were carried out that considered four different photo-electrode technologies to capture a range of current and possible future device efficiencies. The aim for this paper was to evaluate the system performance such as efficiency, fuel consumption and CO2 reduction capability. At the device unit level, the focus was on photo-electrode technological aspects, such as the effect of band-gap energy represented by different photo-materials on productivity of hydrogen and its uncertainty caused by the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE), which is highly electrode preparation specific. The presented dynamic model allows analysis of the performance of a renewable energy source integrated household with variable loads, which will aid system design and decision-making. Document type: Article