Optimal Sustainable Transport Solutions Integrated into a Nordic Municipal Energy System

• Main Authors: Fischer, Robert, Elfgren, Erik, Toffolo, Andrea
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Energivetenskap 2019
• Subjects: Energy Engineering; Energiteknik; Piteå; Norrbotten
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-77161

In Nordic environments the cold climate, large-scale industries, and a high share of electric heating drive energy consumption and create significant peak electricity demand in municipal energy systems. Prospects for decarbonizing the transport sector by electrification escalate these challenges, while availability and sustainability concerns limit biofuel use. Local authorities are committed to contributing to national climate goals, while considering local objectives for economic development, increased energy self-sufficiency and affordable energy costs. This research combines these goals into a multi-objective optimization problem (MOOP), and solves the MOOP by interfacing the energy systems simulation tool EnergyPLAN with a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) implemented in Matlab. In this way, the study generates optimal solutions for integrated electricity, heating and transport sectors and valuable insights are offered to decision makers in local authorities. Piteå (Norrbotten County, Sweden) is a typical Nordic municipality and serves as a case study for this research. Results show that CO2 emissions from the integrated system can be reduced up to 60% without a considerable increase of total annual costs, and that in the same range of emission reductions it is economically more convenient to invest in electric personal vehicles, light trucks and busses.