The electricity used for charging electric vehicles (EV) must be produced from renewable energy sources to make EV carbon neutral. Solar PV panels installed at fuel stations can provide a noticeable fraction of charging electricity for EV also in countries located in the Northern region. The study aims to assess the potential dynamics of that fraction given a certain growth rate of the number of EV. System dynamics modelling is used as the method and Latvia is chosen as the case. The model contains parts for the calculation of the number of EV, dynamics of charging units and PV panels at fuel stations as well as in other places, the share of PV-produced power, and the resulting reduction of CO2 emissions. Economic factors, i.e. subsidies for EV purchase, investments, and costs of charging are considered in the model. Assessment is based on sensitivity analysis. Results show that the subsidies for the purchase of EV and the price of new EV play a decisive role in the growth rate of EV and the resulting reduction of CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles.

The aim of presented study was to identify the most promising new business models which could help to reach climate and energy targets. ‘Business model’ means new opportunities (e.g. business for profit or non-profit community collaboration models) enabled by various technologies in energy domains, i.e., heat and power supply and demand as well as mobility. Based on scientific publications, nine most important technologies and 37 new business models, which could be among the most important for sustainable energy transition, were identified. Mapping of the new business models was done by looking at synergies between the technologies and the energy domains. Valuation of the business models is done by finding ‘expected impact’ with regards to reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is obtained by multiplication of two factors: ‘potential’ and ‘feasibility’. The ’potential’ represents ability to reduce GHG emissions considering technical characteristics of technologies involved and scalability. The ‘feasibility’ indicates how realistic is implementation of the new business model in the near to mid-term. Experts in the field of energy and environmental engineering were interviewed to obtain scores for the ‘potential’ and the ‘feasibility’ for all business models. The results show that electric mobility is among the solutions with the largest expected impact for reduction of GHG emissions. Results of this valuation will be used to choose the most promising solutions for further analysis with system dynamic modelling.

District heating (DH) will have an increasing role in the decarbonization of energy systems and improving the security of supply. Although the electrification of DH via heat pumps and heat storage is seen as the main path to decarbonization, green hydrogen could also be an important energy source for covering peak demand, providing long-term storage in power-to-gas solutions and backup. The research question of the study was to identify the potential pathways for replacing natural gas in DH with hydrogen. Should we focus on using pure hydrogen and build appropriate infrastructure, or should we use hydrogen-derived synthetic gas, for which we already have an infrastructure? A review of publications was the method used in the study. The results show the existing technological solutions and associated costs for using either hydrogen or hydrogen-derived synthetic gas, i.e., methane.