Light-duty vehicles represent the land transport means with the most prominent impact on environment, society’s travel needs, and market dynamics. The evolution of different powertrains is analyzed herein mainly in terms of the raw materials sensitive to exploitation and the energy use in three stages: production, operation, and end of life. In this sense, this study proposes a methodology based on balancing the rapports between supply and demand in order to evaluate every powertrain’s market share by 2050. The results of this analysis are compared to the outputs of other models and frameworks that aim to assess the sustainable deployment of transport means. The results show that scenarios that propose a market share of 25% for battery electric vehicles are unlikely to happen by 2050 due to the disruptions of the lithium, cobalt, and nickel supply chains, while the ambitious target of 50% market share for battery electric vehicles is not possible by then. The main findings of this study refer to the role played by battery chemistry and storage capacity in determining the market penetration of various powertrains for light-duty vehicles under the specific constraints of the automotive sector related to energy and materials.

Autonomous Wireless Sensors (AWSs) are at the core of every Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Current AWS technology allows the development of many IoT-based applications, ranging from military to bioengineering and from industry to education. The energy optimization of AWSs depends mainly on: Structural, functional, and application specifications. The holistic design methodology addresses all the factors mentioned above. In this sense, we propose an original solution based on a novel architecture that duplicates the transceivers and also the power source using a hybrid storage system. By identifying the consumption needs of the transceivers, an appropriate methodology for sizing and controlling the power flow for the power source is proposed. The paper emphasizes the fusion between information, communication, and energy consumption of the AWS in terms of spectrum information through a set of transceiver testing scenarios, identifying the main factors that influence the sensor node design and their inter-dependencies. Optimization of the system considers all these factors obtaining an energy efficient AWS, paving the way towards autonomous sensors by adding an energy harvesting element to them.

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As the title suggests, the sustainability of personal electric vehicles is in question. In terms of life span, range, comfort, and safety, electric vehicles, such as e-cars and e-buses, are much better than personal electric vehicles, such as e-bikes. However, electric vehicles present greater costs and increased energy consumption. Also, the impact on environment, health, and fitness is more negative than that of personal electric vehicles. Since transportation vehicles can benefit from hybrid electric storage solutions, we address the following question: Is it possible to reach a compromise between sustainability and technology constraints by implementing a low-cost hybrid personal electric vehicle with improved life span and range that is also green? Our methodology consists of life cycle assessment and performance analyses tackling the facets of the sustainability challenges (economy, society, and environment) and limitations of the electric storage solutions (dependent on technology and application) presented herein. The hybrid electric storage system of the proposed hybrid e-bike is made of batteries, supercapacitors, and corresponding power electronics, allowing the optimal control of power flows between the system's components and application's actuators.Our hybrid e-bike costs less than a normal e-bike (half or less), does not depend on battery operation for short periods of time (a few seconds), has better autonomy than most personal electric vehicles (more than 60 km), has a greater life span (a few years more than a normal e-bike), has better energy efficiency (more than 90%), and is much cleaner due to the reduced number of batteries replaced per life time (one instead of two or three).

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