Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp06073.pdf Nontechnical SummaryNational sustainability indices provide a one-dimensional metric to valuate country-specific information on the three holistic dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social conditions. At the policy level, they suggest an unambiguous yardstick against which a country's development can be measured and even a cross-country comparison can be performed. However it remains questionable whether we can meaningfully speak from unambiguousness in the holistic subject of sustainability development.This paper reviews the consistency and meaningfulness of eleven sustainability indices that We find that -although the sustainability indices are imputed to be concise and transparentthey fail to meet fundamental scientific requirements with respect to the three central steps of indices formation: normalization, weighting, and aggregation. Normalization and weighting of indicators -which in general are associated with subjective judgments -reveal a high degree of arbitrariness without mentioning or systematically assessing critical assumptions.As to aggregation, there are scientific rules which could guarantee consistency and meaningfulness of composite indices. Yet, these rules are often not taken into account. As a consequence, sustainability indices currently employed in policy practice are doomed to be useless if not misleading with respect to concrete policy advice. Abstract. Sustainability indices for countries provide a one-dimensional metric to valuate country-specific information on the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social conditions. At the policy level, they suggest an unambiguous yardstick against which a country's development can be measured and even a cross-country comparison can be performed. This paper reviews the explanatory power of various sustainability indices applied in policy practice. We show that these indices fail to fulfill fundamental scientific requirements making them rather useless if not misleading with respect to policy advice. Measuring the Immeasurable - A Survey of Sustainability Indices

This is the autho s e sio of a o k that was published in the following source: Hardman, S.; Jenn, A.; Beard, G.; Daina, N.;Figenbaum, E.; Jochem, P. E. P.; Kinnear, N. A. D.; Pontes, J. P.;Refa, N.;Turrentine, T. S.; Witkamp, B. (2018). AbstractThis paper presents a literature review of studies that investigate infrastructure needs to support the market introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). It focuses on literature relating to consumer preferences for charging infrastructure, and how consumers interact with and use this infrastructure. This includes studies that use questionnaire surveys, interviews, modelling, GPS data from vehicles, and data from electric vehicle charging equipment. These studies indicate that the most important location for PEV charging is at home, followed by work, and then public locations. Studies have found that more effort is needed to ensure consumers have easy access to PEV charging and that charging at home, work, or public locations should not be free of cost. Research indicates that PEV charging will not impact electricity grids on the short term, however charging may need to be managed when the vehicles are deployed in greater numbers. In some areas of study the literature is not sufficiently mature to draw any conclusions from. More research is especially needed to determine how much infrastructure is needed to support the roll out of PEVs. This paper ends with policy implications and suggests avenues of future research.Next, we provide background information on charging modes and levels and then introduce the approach to the literature review. Section 2 then summarises the literature, whilst Section 3 concludes with insights for policymakers and literature gaps.

Urban mobility solutions foster climate mitigation

a b s t r a c tElectric vehicles are often said to reduce carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. However, the results of current comparisons with conventional vehicles are not always in favor of electric vehicles. We outline that this is not only due to the different assumptions in the time of charging and the country-specific electricity generation mix, but also due to the applied assessment method. We, therefore, discuss four assessment methods (average annual electricity mix, average time-dependent electricity mix, marginal electricity mix, and balancing zero emissions) and analyze the corresponding CO 2 emissions for Germany in 2030 using an optimizing energy system model (PERSEUS-NET-TS). Furthermore, we distinguish between an uncontrolled (i.e. direct) charging and an optimized controlled charging strategy. For Germany, the different assessment methods lead to substantial discrepancies in CO 2 emissions for 2030 ranging from no emissions to about 0.55 kg/ kWh el (110 g / km). These emissions partly exceed the emissions from internal combustion engine vehicles. Furthermore, depending on the underlying power plant portfolio and the controlling objective, controlled charging might help to reduce CO 2 emissions and relieve the electricity grid. We therefore recommend to support controlled charging, to develop consistent methodologies to address key factors affecting CO 2 emissions by electric vehicles, and to implement efficient policy instruments which guarantee emission free mobility with electric vehicles agreed upon by researchers and policy makers.

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Highlights• Domestic photovoltaics (PV) and storage systems are techno-economically analyzed.• PV & storage are profitable in the medium term due to high self-consumption rates.• Controlled electric vehicle charging improves load flexibility and self-generation.• External procurement of electricity drastically changes and decreases to 48-58 %.• Dynamic tariffs e. g. with load limits or demand charges incentivize load shifting. AbstractThe developments of battery storage technology together with photovoltaic (PV) roof-top systems might lead to far-reaching changes in the electricity demand structures and flexibility of households. The implications are supposed to affect the generation mix of utilities, distribution grid utilization, and electricity price. Using a techno-economic optimization model of a household system, we endogenously dimension PV system and stationary battery storage (SBS). The results of the reference scenario show positive net present values (NPV) for PV systems of approx. 500-1,800 EUR/kW p and NPV for SBS of approx. 150-500 EUR/kWh. Main influences are the demand of the households, selfconsumption rates, investment costs, and electricity prices. We integrate electric vehicles (EV) with different charging strategies and find increasing NPV of the PV system and self-consumption of approx. 70 %. With further declining system prices for solar energy storage and increasing electricity prices, PV systems and SBS can be profitable in Germany from 2018 on even without a guaranteed feed-in tariff or subsidies. Grid utilization substantially changes by households with EV and PV-SBS. We discuss effects of different incentives and electricity tariff options (e. g. load limits or additional demand charges). Concluding, solar energy storage systems will bring substantial changes to electricity sales. Keywordsdemand flexibility; optimization model; tariff design; electric vehicles; controlled charging; battery storage profitability Abbreviations CHP -combined heat and power; EEG -(Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz) Renewable Energy Act; EVelectric vehicle; EV2H -electric vehicle to home; NPV -net present value; PV -photovoltaics; RMSD -root-mean-square deviation; SBS -stationary batteries system; SoC -state of charge; ToU -time of use; UoSC -use of system charge

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The increasing demand for electricity caused by a growing number of electric vehicles (EV) is a major challenge for future energy systems. For an integration of the electricity demand from EV, a comprehensive knowledge of its characteristics is essential. The analysis of charging behavior patterns of EV and resulting load profiles become important premises for this crucial task. Three electric mobility studies in Germany's southwestern region (Get eReady, iZEUS, and CROME) deliver comprehensive data of EV use for this purpose. In this paper we analyze and discuss the mobility and charging characteristics of this data in detail. We derive empirical EV load profiles and show how they are affected by charging management as well as charg- representation of EV demand in analyses of future energy systems.