Techno-economic evaluation of developing a zero-carbon highway service area energy system

ABSTRACT

To further reduce CO₂ emissions from highway service areas, this study proposes a novel zero-carbon highway service area energy system (S3). This system not only addresses energy supply challenges in remote locations but also expedites the reduction of CO₂ emissions. A mixed-integer linear programming problem is formulated to optimize the configuration and operation of the proposed system. The system is compared with the conventional (S1) and low-carbon (S2) highway service area systems. Focused on northwest China, the results indicate that S3 can achieve zero CO₂ emissions. However, the energy efficiency ratio (EER) of S1 is the highest at 84%, surpassing S3 by 2.4% (82%). In terms of economic analysis, the total cost and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of S1 are the highest at 1.62 MUSD and 0.14 USD/kWh, respectively. These values are 100% and 180% higher than those of S3, which are 0.81 MUSD and 0.05 USD/kWh.

KEYWORDS:

• Highway service area
• optimization
• CO₂ emission
• zero-carbon system
• renewable energy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Ruoshi Tang

Ruoshi Tang is a graduate student in the School of Energy and Environment of Southeast University, with her main research direction being carbon neutrality.

Naiji Zhang

Naiji Zhang is an employee of Jiangsu Development and Reform Commission.

Zhenxi Ma

Zhenxi Ma is a Ph.D. in the School of Energy and Environment of Southeast University. His main research directions are hydrogen fuel cells, carbon neutrality, and integrated energy systems.

Liang Cai

Liang Cai is a professor in the School of Energy and Environment of Southeast University, executive director of the Institute of Science and Technology for Carbon Neutrality of Southeast University, an invited director of the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences, and an executive director of the Jiangsu Refrigeration Society. He is mainly engaged in research and teaching in carbon-neutral strategic development planning, integrated energy management, heat and mass transfer in porous media, and building energy conservation