Geographic Features of Zero-Emissions Urban Mobility: the Case of Electric Buses in Europe and Belarus

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This article reviews the emerging phenomena of electric buses’ deployment in Europe and Belarus within the general framework of the concept of sustainable and electric urban mobility. The author offers a brief overview of electric bus technologies available on the market and a spatial analysis of fleet deployment in Europe. The analysis of the spatial structure of the distribution of e-buses in Europe indicated that, in terms of the number of vehicles in operation, the UK and the Netherlands are the regional leaders, while in terms of the number of cities testing e-buses – Germany, Sweden, and Poland are the leaders. The analysis showed that the main factors supporting the distribution of innovative technology and public support are legislative and regulative framework as well as clear strategic planning and cooperation between local administrations and transportation authorities. Other important aspects, such as network building features, and the location of the charging infrastructure were also discussed. The analysis of the case study of Minsk (the first city to introduce electric buses in Belarus) outlined the typical limiting factors for all types of markets: high battery costs and dependency on infrastructure; recommendations are given to emphasise bus fleet replacement (instead of trolleybus) and to develop a comprehensive sustainable urban mobility strategy.</jats:p>

Analysis of the current state and prospects for public electric transport development in Russia (on the example of electric buses)

“…The scenario, considering all three trends, produces impressive global results by 2050, such as: a) reduction of global energy use from urban passenger transpor-tation by over 70%; b) reduction of CO2 emissions by over 80%; c) reduction of the measured costs of vehicles, infrastructure, and transportation systems operation by over 40%; and d) savings approaching $5 trillion per year (Fulton et al, 2017)." [11]. It is expected that by 2050, the vast majority of countries aiming for zero-carbon emissions will have completely switched to electric buses.…”

Vehicle Cycle Hierarchization Model to Determine the Order of Battery Electric Bus Deployment in Public Transport

“…The goal of these studies is to support the decision-making process in cities and agglomerations (e.g., to achieve emission targets when meeting budget constraints). Bezruchonak studied the geographical features of zero-emission mobility [32]. The research showed that the distribution of innovative technology and public support as well as clear strategic planning and interaction between transit companies and local authorities are of key importance in the process of BEB deployment.…”

Development of measures to increase the cruising range of electric buses by installing thermal control system based on phase transitional heat acumulating materials

“…В результате анализа научной литературы были установлены основные факторы, влияющие на интенсивность разряда энергии тяговых аккумуляторных батарей электробуса при эксплуатации в условиях города [8][9][10][11][12][13]:…”