Eurac Research at EVS38 Conference

At the EVS38 Conference held from 15 to 18 June, our researchers are going to present an in-depth analysis on the potential of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, exploring both its economic and environmental implications and a second study about the analysis of the impacts of decarbonization at regional level (South Tyrol).

This last one, titled “Evaluating the Fiscal and Technical Impacts of Decarbonizing all Road Transport Sectors at Regional Level” will be exposed by Wolfram Sparber, and is going to focus on the contribution of each vehicle type in terms of emission reduction and energy consumption increase in South Tyrol. The study reported that by 2040, following European Union sales targets, the region's vehicle fleet will achieve 88.4% electrification, and this will lead to a substantial reduction of 583 kt of on-site CO₂ emissions (-87.6%).

The other study, titled "How Convenient Is Vehicle-to-Grid? An Economic and Environmental Perspective," presented by Giuseppe Rotondo, focuses on V2G technologies, which enables electric vehicles to provide power back to the grid, offers several potential benefits such as active power regulation, load balancing, peak shaving, frequency regulation, and support for renewable energy integration.

However, the technology also poses challenges, including modifications needed to distribution network infrastructure, the complexity of reliable communication protocols, and battery degradation due to increased charging cycles.

The team's proposed study focuses on the financial trade-offs between grid service revenues and accelerated battery degradation costs. The study demonstrates that V2G has the potential to convert EVs into revenue-generating assets, yielding an annual profit of 216.6€. It offers substantial benefits for climate change mitigation, land use, and resource consumption. However, it may simultaneously increase particulate matter emissions and ozone depletion potential depending on the electricity mix. Future research will focus on better defining the "additional costs" due to battery depletion from increased cycles and extending the methodology to different countries. Researchers will also consider different future scenarios in terms of energy mix.

Here the complete agenda of the Conference