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The aim of the present study is to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of supplying recharge points for Electric Vehicles converting water pressure in excess into electric energy from a water distribution network. A real water distribution network was analyzed, by designing a power station consisting of three components: a Pump-as-Turbine, an ad hoc generator, and a control system. The last one controls the flow rate trend at the inlet of the Pump-as-Turbine to regulate the rotational speed corresponding to the optimal range of efficiency. Energy produced permits to supply a recharging point for Electric Vehicles on site with the aim to convert water pressure generally dissipated and, consequently, lost into a renewable energy and to reduce power grid congestion. The economic analysis confirms the convenience of the proposed power station, and overall, a comparable cost with pressure reduction valve devices normally adopted to control pressure pattern and leakages of a water distribution network.

Since bicycles and bike-sharing systems are becoming increasingly important in modern transportation contexts, we suggest in this paper an alternative method to incorporate cycling among the freight transport alternatives within urban areas. We propose pursuing a sustainable initiative of crowdsourced delivery where some of the urban good deliveries may be voluntarily undertaken by users of the free-floating bike-sharing systems while following their prefixed route in exchange for some kind of reward. We believe that a network design model that allows properly allocating the resources of the bike-shared mobility service could improve the potential of crowdshipping, making it a viable support and supplement for the local postal services, and more easily accepted and adopted in urban contexts. An application to a case study has been embodied to show the effectiveness and advantages of our proposal.

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