PEOPLEAndrea Grotto

de en it

Andrea Grotto

Post-Doc-Researcher
Institute for Renewable Energy

T +39 0471 055 744

andrea.grotto@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4704-3433

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About

Short Bio

Andrea Grotto is a PhD student in smart mobility.

At Eurac Research, he is responsible for project management of charging prototypes, electric vehicle monitoring, localization of charging points, and the study of sustainable technologies diffusion in the mobility sector.

Currently, he is writing a thesis on the analysis of possible sustainable mobility scenarios at the urban level in the case studies of Barcelona and Bolzano.

He has a background in energy and nuclear engineering, with a thesis on energy management of hybrid electric vehicles.

Previously, he worked as a continuous improvement engineer in the industrial sector and as a HVAC designer in the residential sector.

Link

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-grotto-b2353a169/

Scientific Publications

Inbook2026

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Grotto A, Fonseca i Casas P

Andrea Grotto

Society 5.0 represents a vision where technology and human decision-making work together to address complex social challenges. This research examines how Digital Twins can function as effective decision-support tools in this emerging societal framework, using Urban Mobility as an illustrative case. The principles presented for Urban Mobility Digital Twins (UMDTs) can be applied to many complex systems. The digital twin approach extends beyond specific domains—whether managing water resources, optimizing energy distribution, or planning healthcare services—by creating virtual counterparts that learn continuously from real-world data. Digital twins transform how cities approach mobility planning by converting data into practical insights. Planners can visualize potential changes, test different scenarios, and understand impacts on both technical performance and community experiences before implementing solutions in the physical world. This methodology aligns with Society 5.0’s central idea: using technology to enhance human wellbeing. By developing accessible, validated models that connect technical and social considerations, digital twins help create shared understanding among diverse stakeholders and support more informed decision-making.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21811-7_27

Presentation2025

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Grotto A, Fonseca i Casas P

Andrea Grotto

Society 5.0 represents a vision where technology and human decision-making work together to address complex social challenges. This research examines how Digital Twins can function as effective decision-support tools in this emerging societal framework, using Urban Mobility as an illustrative case. The principles presented for Urban Mobility Digital Twins (UMDTs) can be applied to many complex systems. The digital twin approach extends beyond specific domains—whether managing water resources, optimizing energy distribution, or planning healthcare services—by creating virtual counterparts that learn continuously from real-world data. Digital twins trans-form how cities approach mobility planning by converting data into practical insights. Planners can visualize potential changes, test different scenarios, and understand impacts on both technical performance and community ex-periences before implementing solutions in the physical world. This method-ology aligns with Society 5.0's central idea: using technology to enhance hu-man wellbeing. By developing accessible, validated models that connect technical and social considerations, digital twins help create shared under-standing among diverse stakeholders and support more informed decision-making.

DOI

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17185.11363

Presentation2025

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0 Journal LNCS

Grotto A, Fonceca I Casas P

Andrea Grotto

Society 5.0 represents a vision where technology and human decision-making work together to address complex social challenges. This research examines how Digital Twins can function as effective decision-support tools in this emerging societal framework, using Urban Mobility as an illustrative case. The principles presented for Urban Mobility Digital Twins (UMDTs) can be applied to many complex systems. The digital twin approach extends beyond specific domains—whether managing water resources, optimizing energy distribution, or planning healthcare services—by creating virtual counterparts that learn continuously from real-world data. Digital twins trans-form how cities approach mobility planning by converting data into practical insights. Planners can visualize potential changes, test different scenarios, and understand impacts on both technical performance and community ex-periences before implementing solutions in the physical world. This method-ology aligns with Society 5.0's central idea: using technology to enhance hu-man wellbeing. By developing accessible, validated models that connect technical and social considerations, digital twins help create shared under-standing among diverse stakeholders and support more informed decision-making.

DOI

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17185.11363

Journal article2024

Formalizing Sustainable Urban Mobility Management: An Innovative Approach with Digital Twin and Integrated Modeling

Grotto A, Casas Fonseca I Casas P, Zubaryeva A, Sparber W

Alyona Zubaryeva, Wolfram Sparber, Andrea Grotto

Project: PNRR iNEST - Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem

Urban mobility management faces growing challenges that require the analysis and optimization of sustainable solutions. Digital twins (DTs) have emerged as innovative tools for this assessment, but their implementation requires standardized procedures and languages; Methods: As part of a broader methodology for continuous DT validation, this study focuses on the conceptual validation phase, presenting a conceptualization approach through formalization using Specification and Description Language (SDL), agnostic to simulation tools. The conceptual validation was achieved through stakeholder engagement in the Bolzano context, producing 41 SDL diagrams that define both elements common to different urban realities and specific local data collection procedures; Results: The feasibility of implementing this stakeholder-validated conceptualization was demonstrated using Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) for traffic simulation and optimization criteria calculation, and its framework SUMO Activity GenerAtion (SAGA) for generating an Activity-Based Modeling (ABM) mobility demand that can be improved through real sensor data; Conclusions: The SDL approach, through its graphical representation (SDL/GR), enables conceptual validation by enhancing stakeholder communication while defining a framework that, while adapting to the monitoring specificities of different urban realities, maintains a common and rigorous structure, independent of the chosen implementation tools and programming languages.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/logistics8040117

Journal article2023

Evaluation of Different Scenarios to Switch the Whole Regional Bus Fleet of an Italian Alpine Region to Zero-Emission Buses

Sparber W, Grotto A, Zambelli P, Vaccaro R, Zubaryeva A

Alyona Zubaryeva, Wolfram Sparber, Andrea Grotto

Project: EU Zero Emission LIFE IP - Zero Emissions Services for a Decarbonised Alpine Economy

Public bus decarbonization is increasingly important to address the global issue of climate change. There are several challenges associated with large-scale introduction of zero-emission technologies in public fleets. This is especially the case in an extra-urban context, of mountain regions with challenging weather conditions. In this work the analysis of the state-of-the-art ZEBs, local bus lines, and timetables was performed to understand the best fit of technology—battery electric buses (BEBs) or fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs)—for each line in such a region. Further, a simulation tool was developed to calculate the compatibility of zero-emission technologies with the current needs of the public transportation considering distance, altitude difference, and climate conditions. The results show that a complete switch of the fleet is possible with a slight increase in the number of buses and that there is no clear difference in the distance covered in mountainous areas by BEBs versus FCEBs, but that both technologies can cover similar distances. The tool developed is not limited to bus fleets but can be applied to all kinds of fleets that cover clearly defined daily routes.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/wevj14040091

Journal article2023

Optimal Fleet Transition Modeling for Sustainable Inland Waterways Transport

Prina MG, Zubaryeva A, Rotondo G, Grotto A, Sparber W

Alyona Zubaryeva, Wolfram Sparber, Matteo Prina, Andrea Grotto, Giuseppe Rotondo

Project: EU ITA-CH MOBSTER - Mobility and Tourism going electric

The transition to sustainable waterways transport is imperative in the face of environmental and climate challenges. Local lakes, often overlooked, play a significant role in regional transportation networks and ecosystems. This study focuses on Orta lake, Italy, and aims to facilitate its transition to sustainable inland waterways transport by substituting its diesel-based fleet with electric vessels. Firstly, a comprehensive market analysis was conducted to understand the available electric vessel models and their technical characteristics. This included parameters such as capacity, range, and charging time. Based on the market analysis, an optimization model was developed to determine the minimum number of electric vessels required to completely replace the existing diesel-based fleet. This model considers various constraints and objectives, such as meeting transport demand, minimizing the number of vessels, and reducing environmental impact. The developed model was then applied to the case study of Orta lake using the collected market data. The results indicate an optimal fleet configuration and provide insights into the feasibility and implications of the transition. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on sustainable inland waterways transport and offers a methodology that can be replicated and adapted for other local lakes or maritime settings.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/app13179524

Journal article2023

Regional Infrastructure Planning Support Methodology for Public and Private Electrified Transport: A Mountain Case Study

D’Alonzo V, Zambelli P, Zilio S, Zubaryeva A, Grotto A, Sparber W

Alyona Zubaryeva, Wolfram Sparber, Samuele Zilio, Andrea Grotto

Project: EU ITA-CH MOBSTER - Mobility and Tourism going electric

The European Union has seen a strong growth of electric passenger vehicles over the last decade. The steady increase in the number of electric vehicles requires a thorough examination of the current infrastructure and their future development, which are critical to the continuous market growth of this technology. The underdeveloped charging infrastructure is identified as one of the main barriers, next to the purchase price of electric vehicles. Thus, the infrastructure (supply side) and the vehicles (demand side) must coevolve and consider not only the quantitative balance between EVs and charging stations but the interlinkages with social, technical, and economic criteria for the overall system development. In this context, the methods presented in this paper address regional specificities when developing an integrated network of charging infrastructure for private and public passengers transport in an alpine region. The results of the application of the methodology to a mountainous area present the potential for replicability and highlight the importance of considering regional characteristics and of stakeholder involvement.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/app13127181

Journal article2022

Assessment of Final Space Cooling Consumption in the European Transportation Sector

Quaglini G, Pezzutto S, Grotto A, Wilczynski E

Simon Pezzutto, Eric Wilczynski, Andrea Grotto

The current study aims to investigate one of the most underexplored energy fields in scientific research, i.e., final energy consumption (FEC) of space cooling (SC) in the European (EU27+UK) transportation sector with 2019 as a baseline. The fundamentals of this study include a comprehensive literature review as well as the creation of a dataset characterized by completeness and reliability. Different essential input parameters have been investigated and the encountered data and information gaps have been filled. The transportation sector has been broken down into three main categories, namely, light, medium, and heavy vehicles. Throughout the EU27+UK, the number of vehicles, equivalent full load hours (EFLHs), system power capacities, and their related energy efficiency levels have been collected. The collected data and information have been computed and the EU27+UK FEC for space cooling in the transportation sector resulted in more than 125 TWh/year. It is worth underlining that the light vehicles category accounted for the majority of the total FEC, followed by the medium and heavy vehicle categories, respectively.

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heating and Cooling: Mapping and Planning of Energy Systems)

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/su14031491

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Journal article2024

Formalizing Sustainable Urban Mobility Management: An Innovative Approach with Digital Twin and Integrated Modeling

Grotto A, Casas Fonseca I Casas P, Zubaryeva A, Sparber W

Alyona Zubaryeva, Wolfram Sparber, Andrea Grotto

Project: PNRR iNEST - Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem

DOI Source

DOI: 10.3390/logistics8040117

Andrea Grotto

About

Scientific Publications

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0 Journal LNCS

Formalizing Sustainable Urban Mobility Management: An Innovative Approach with Digital Twin and Integrated Modeling

Evaluation of Different Scenarios to Switch the Whole Regional Bus Fleet of an Italian Alpine Region to Zero-Emission Buses

Optimal Fleet Transition Modeling for Sustainable Inland Waterways Transport

Regional Infrastructure Planning Support Methodology for Public and Private Electrified Transport: A Mountain Case Study

Assessment of Final Space Cooling Consumption in the European Transportation Sector

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Scientific Publications

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0

Digital Twins for Urban Mobility: Enabling Real-Time Decision Making in Society 5.0 Journal LNCS

Formalizing Sustainable Urban Mobility Management: An Innovative Approach with Digital Twin and Integrated Modeling

Evaluation of Different Scenarios to Switch the Whole Regional Bus Fleet of an Italian Alpine Region to Zero-Emission Buses

Optimal Fleet Transition Modeling for Sustainable Inland Waterways Transport

Regional Infrastructure Planning Support Methodology for Public and Private Electrified Transport: A Mountain Case Study

Assessment of Final Space Cooling Consumption in the European Transportation Sector