Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “benefits”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Generating multiple benefits from forests by producing value-added products: Lessons from the Pacific Northwestern US

This paper asks what conditions are needed to counteract a declining forest industry. The mobilization of supply chains for new value-added forest products and services can be supported by programs designed to simultaneously achieve multiple goals related to health, climate, and rural economic development. But several challenges are identified that underscore the need to stack benefits and incentives to achieve muti-sectoral goals. Based on a case study in Washington state, we find opportunities and constraints for sourcing forest products are determined by the local and regional conditions such as availability of working forests and their residues, socioeconomic conditions, workforce availability, transportation options, and perceptions about social license of the new industry. Key recommendations are the need for (1) a consistent demand and resilient supply chain for the new product; (2) a stable, supportive policy and assessment framework; (3) timely, transparent, and trusted monitoring and reporting of benefits and costs; (4) fostering engagement and buy-in from stakeholders; (5) a context-specific evaluation of opportunities and constraints; and (6) agreement on the goals of sustainable forestry. A diversity of products and markets builds a more resilient forest-based economy by mitigating impacts of disruptions in any individual market, adding value to biomass, increasing employment, and reducing forest risks to fire, insects, and disease.

Bioenergy↗
DOE OSTI2022

Perceived Costs and Benefits of ICON Science and Foundational Documents associated with “Integrated, Coordinated, Open, and Networked (ICON) Science to Advance the Geosciences: Introduction and Synthesis of a Special Collection of Commentary Articles"

This data package is associated with the publication "Integrated, Coordinated, Open, and Networked (ICON) Science to Advance the Geosciences: Introduction and Synthesis of a Special Collection of Commentary Articles" in Earth and Space Science (Goldman et al. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EA002099). The manuscript is an introductory article for a special collection of commentary articles across 19 geoscience disciplines that explore the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of ICON science principles. These principles focus on research intentionally designed to be Integrated, Coordinated, Open, and Networked (ICON) with the goal of maximizing mutual benefit (among stakeholders) and cross-system transferability of science outcomes. This data package contains data, figures, and R scripts associated with the cost/benefit analysis presented in the manuscript. The writing teams involved in the special collection placed each letter of ICON on a plot with perceived cost on one axis and perceived benefit on the other to summarize their perceptions of pursuing each principle of ICON science. These data were subsequently quantified and analyzed. Files are saved as .csv, .R, and .pdf. This data package also contains (1) the public foundational and instructional documents that enabled the crowdsourced creation of the special collection; (2) file-level metadata (flmd) that lists each file in the data package with a description; (3) data dictionary (dd) that defines column headers that appear in csv files. Files are saved as .pdf and .csv.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Analysis of Benefits Associated With Projects and Technologies Supported by the Clean Transportation Program: 2023 Executive Summary [Slides]

In 2007, California Assembly Bills (AB) 118 and 109 created the Clean Transportation Program (CTP), which authorized the California Energy Commission (CEC) to fund projects concerning alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies to help attain the state's climate change policies. AB 109 also required CEC to prepare a report summarizing the benefits resulting from the program. Since then, CEC has collaborated with National Renewable Energy Laboratory to prepare and publish biannual reports summarizing CTP's benefits related to petroleum displacement, greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, air pollution, and more. This report updates the input data, calculation methodologies, and resulting outputs from CEC's 2021 report.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Cost and Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation, Mitigation,Tracking, and Characterization

Orbital debris may collide with crewed and robotic spacecraft, placing them at risk. The wide range of debris, from 9,000-kilogram rocket bodies to millions of millimeter-size debris, has led to a similarly wide range of proposed actions for addressing the risks posed by debris. However, the costs and benefits of these actions have historically been unknown. This is a challenge for decision makers who are choosing which actions to support through technology development or policy changes. NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy is addressing these technical and economic uncertainties by building a capability to (1) complete rigorous calculations of the net present value of each action, (2) identify an optimal portfolio of actions to reduce risk, and (3) quantitatively analyze policies related to space sustainability. This report describes our progress toward that capability and to solicit feedback from the space and economic communities. Our previous work(Colvin, Karcz, and Wusk. 2023), referred to here as Phase 1, assessed the costs and benefits of performing debris remediation on operationally relevant timescales. The current paper summarizes the work of Locke and Colvin (2024), which contains major updates to the risk model used in Phase 1 and expands the breadth of actions considered to include mitigating the creation of debris, improving the ability to track debris, and more methods for cleaning up existing debris. We demonstrate that our approach of measuring risks in dollars allows for the effectiveness of seemingly incommensurate actions to be compared and generates insights that other approaches to measuring risk have missed.

Orbital Debris↗
DOE OSTI2023

Grid Interconnection and Renewables Deployment Related Air Quality and Human Health Benefits in Southeast Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has increasingly focused on multilateral electricity trade, improved grid resiliency and modernization. These opportunities in the power sector have been studied through the ASEAN Interconnection Masterplan Studies, the most recent of which is the ASEAN Interconnection Masterplan Study III (AIMS III). AIMS III assessed four different scenarios of power system in the ASEAN countries that include a base scenario and three additional scenarios (called optimum RE, ASEAN RE, and High RE) considering different levels of deployment of renewable energy (RE) and cross-border generation and trade of electricity for three years (2025, 2030, 2040). In this work, we quantify the potential air quality and public health co-benefits of AIMS III scenarios. For a rapidly expanding, energy hungry region like SE Asia generation is power generation is expected to increase significantly. The AIMS III scenarios' capacity expansion modeling suggest that: 1) Generation nearly doubles from 2025 to 2040 in all four AIMS III scenarios; 2) Most of the increased generation is met by coal in all four AIMS III scenarios; 3) While renewables generation increases in all four AIMS III scenarios, the fraction of total generation (its share) generally decreases because of the much greater increase in non-renewable sources, mostly coal. Only in the High RE Target scenario do renewables represent a higher share in 2040 than in 2025, though even here it is at the expense of natural gas rather than coal; 4) As a result, emissions of gaseous and aerosol pollutants increase significantly in all scenarios. Because emissions increase in 2040 compared to 2025 for all four AIMS III scenarios, so do PM2.5 concentrations. Even for the High RE Target scenario (the scenario with highest share of renewable energy), compared to the Base scenario in 2025, in 2040 PM2.5 concentrations are higher. Compared to the Base scenario in the same years, the Optimum RE and ASEAN RE Target scenarios do not differ very much from the Base in terms of PM2.5 concentration. The High RE Target scenario, on the other hand, yields noticeably lower PM2.5 concentration. For example, in 2040 the population-weighted decrease in annual average PM2.5 concentration in the High RE Target scenario relative to the Base scenario is 0.5 ug m-3. Compared to the Base scenario in 2040, each of the alternative AIMS III scenarios is estimated to result in net reductions in power-sector air quality-related excess mortality in the ASEAN region. Yet there are a few countries for which the Optimum RE and ASEAN RE Target result in increases in PM2.5-related excess mortality (Thailand and Vietnam for the ASEAN RE Target scenario and Thailand for the Optimum RE scenario). However, for the High RE Target scenario, all countries benefit and find reductions in excess mortality resulting from the power sector scenarios modeled in AIMS III with regionwide mortality decreasing by 16,000 compared to the Base scenario in 2040. In summary, our analysis finds that changing power generation emissions is a crucial lever for improving public health in ASEAN member countries and provides a pathway for policymakers to make decision backed by a realistic power sector expansion and air quality analyses.

air quality↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grid-Supportive Loads for Fast Frequency Response: Preprint

Flexibility in inverter-based loads could be used to support the converter-dominated power grid by offering a rapid, autonomous, and adjustable power reserve during system transients to help maintain system stability. Based on technical potential, ancillary service (AS) value, and implementation costs, this study illustrates the cost-benefit analysis of grid-supportive loads (GSLs) for the supply of fast frequency response (FFR). The net benefit for each GSL is demonstrated using a case study and relevant data sources. The findings suggest that implementation costs for enabling GSL features are low compared to the value that grid operators get from the acquisition of responsive reserve services. The authors believes that, given the rising popularity of renewable energy sources, GSLs can be a useful tool for grid stability in low-inertia systems.

cost benefit↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cost-Benefit Assessment of Additive Manufacturing for Injection Molds

This report presents an additive-manufacturing (AM) technology, where AM Cyclic Olefin Resin (COR) molds would be used for injection molding. The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) team has focused on the costs and economics of this developing technology. This report presents a cost-benefit analysis of using the polySpectra AM COR molds made of COR, at the start of the project (Present') and the potential lifetime, cost-effectiveness, and performance by the end of the project period (Period 3'). The analysis of the AM COR molds is compared to traditional Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machined aluminum molds across the time periods. A cost-benefit model framework has been developed to evaluate AM COR molds. This model accounts for mold delivery to customers, current and future levels of technology readiness, the type of material injected, and various business cases. AM COR molds offer a major advantage in lead time, reducing production setup from weeks or months (with CNC machining) to as little as two to five days. This enables faster prototyping, quicker design cycles, and accelerated time-to-market, critical in industries like electronics, aerospace, medical devices, and automotive. Even modest improvements in the durability of polySpectra AM COR molds show the potential for these molds to complement traditional tooling. With further development, AM COR mold technology could provide significant time and cost savings while supporting increased domestic manufacturing capacity.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

CalTestBed - Twelve Benefit Co - Understanding Degradation of Water Management Properties in Gas Diffusion Layers (CRADA Final Report)

The research between Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Twelve Benefit Co. enhanced Twelve’s understanding of how chemical changes to the gas diffusion layer lead to failure of their CO 2 electrolyzers. During the CRADA period, LBNL team tested Twelve’s gas diffusion layer samples (GDL), some with microporous layer (MPL) and some without MPL using the water-air capillary pressure setup. LBNL team also tested microporous layer samples using the fuel cell test stands and compared those results with commercial GDL and MPL. Understanding the hydrophobicity of the material, along with electrochemical performance is the key to determining Twelve’s ability to scale their platform. Further improvements to Twelve’s CO 2 electrolyzer can enhance the net zero emissions with their technology.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Collateral benefits: River flow normalization for endangered fish enabled riparian rejuvenation

Abstract Like most rivers worldwide, the transboundary North American Kootenay/i River has experienced multiple impacts including watershed developments, river channelization, and floodplain clearing, draining, and diking. Construction of Libby Dam was authorized by the 1964 Columbia River Treaty (CRT) between the United States and Canada, and in 1975 began regulating downstream flows for flood risk management and hydropower generation. Following cumulative impacts, the endemic Kootenai River White Sturgeon population collapsed and was designated as endangered in 1994 (U.S. Endangered Species Act). Subsequent Biological Opinions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prescribed Libby Dam operations to provide springtime flow pulses for sturgeon spawning. These provided the unanticipated benefit of substantial seedling recruitment of native and introduced riparian cottonwoods and willows. The regulated flow regime was further adaptively managed to provide a more normative (natural) regime, to balance ecological functions with flood risk management and hydropower generation. The broadened ecological considerations would be consistent with the proposed priorities for the modernization of the international CRT. The observed responses revealed that (1) diverse aquatic and riparian organisms are dependent on common river flow characteristics; (2) a normalized flow regime provided substantial ecological benefits; and (3) due to multiple influences, hybrid ecosystems develop along regulated rivers, with a blending of natural and altered processes and communities. For other regulated rivers, we recommend that (1) high springtime flows be allowed, as feasible; (2) followed by the gradual post‐peak recession; and (3) the maintenance of sufficient flows through the warm and dry interval of mid to late summer.

Rood, Stewart B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

No–till establishment improves the climate benefit of bioenergy crops on marginal grasslands

Expanding biofuel production is expected to accelerate the conversion of unmanaged marginal lands to meet biomass feedstock needs. Greenhouse gas production during conversion jeopardizes the ensuing climate benefits, but most research to date has focused only on conversion to annual crops and only following tillage. Here we report the global warming impact of converting USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands to three types of bioenergy crops using no–till (NT) vs. conventional tillage (CT). We established replicated NT and CT plots in three CRP fields planted to continuous corn, switchgrass, or restored prairie. For the 2 yr following an initial soybean year in all fields, we found that, on average, NT conversion reduced nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions by 50% and CO 2 emissions by 20% compared with CT conversion. Differences were higher in Year 1 than in Year 2 in the continuous corn field, and in the two perennial systems the differences disappeared after Year 1. In all fields net CO 2 emissions (as measured by eddy covariance) were positive for the first 2 yr following CT establishment, but following NT establishment net CO 2 emissions were close to zero or negative, indicating net C sequestration. Overall, NT improved the global warming impact of biofuel crop establishment following CRP conversion by over 20–fold compared with CT (–6.01 Mg CO 2 e ha –1 yr –1 for NT vs. –0.25 Mg CO 2 e ha –1 yr –1 for CT, on average). We also found that Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates of N 2 O emissions (as measured by static chambers) greatly underestimated actual emissions for converted fields regardless of tillage. Policies should encourage adoption of NT for converting marginal grasslands to perennial bioenergy crops to reduce C debt and maximize climate benefits.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wastewater reuse benefits for municipal complete retention lagoons: Life cycle assessment and dynamic modeling

Complete retention lagoons with wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes may offer sustainability advantages over alternative systems for small communities in semiarid regions. This study quantifies the environmental life cycle impact of adopting agriculture water reuse systems using case study data to estimate operating and building infrastructure impacts and spatial–temporal modeling to quantify resource trade-offs. Water reuse system benefits are highly dependent on supply–storage–demand dynamics. The relative size of irrigated agricultural land to the lagoon size was the most significant factor influencing site water application rates. The benefits are sensitive to changes in air emissions occurring from the agricultural land and further emphasize the importance of proper fertilizer management when adopting water reuse systems. Wastewater reuse from complete retention lagoons reduce life cycle GHG emissions, primarily through excavation reductions, offset fertilizer use, and especially from increased crop yields from wastewater reuse at previously rainfed sites.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Characterization of the Benefit of APS Flash Coatings in Improving TBC Lifetime

The addition of an air plasma sprayed (APS) “flash” layer on top of a high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) bond coating has been shown to extend the lifetime of thermal barrier coatings. A series of furnace cycle tests (FCTs) has been conducted at 1100 °C in air + 10% H 2 O to study the benefit of flash coatings on rod and disk alloy 247 specimens and provide a better mechanistic understanding of their benefit. Flash coatings of NiCoCrAlY and NiCoCrAlYHfSi both improved the FCT lifetime of rod specimens tested in 100-h cycles and disk specimens tested in 1-h cycles. In 1-h cycles, the NiCoCrAlY flash coating significantly outperformed an HVOF-only NiCoCrAlYHfSi bond coating and a NiCoCrAlYHfSi flash coating. Both flash coatings increased the bond coating roughness compared to HVOF. During exposure, the flash layer formed an intermixed alumina-metal layer that appeared to inhibit crack formation. Using a time series of observations, the lower Y + Hf content in the Y-only flash coating appeared to reduce Al consumption. The HVOF layer acted as a source of Al for the adjacent mixed zone. A second series of specimens included a fully APS bond coating where oxide had penetrated through the entire coating to the substrate after only 100, 1-h cycles and lifetime was similar to an HVOF-only bond coating. The inner HVOF layer with the outer APS flash coating prevented this complete penetration from occurring.

Pint, Bruce↗
DOE OSTI2020

A comprehensive review of solar only and hybrid solar driven multigeneration systems: Classifications, benefits, design and prospective

Depending on the application and demands, different products can be generated utilizing multigeneration systems. To drive such systems, solar energy can be used as a primary energy source or in hybridization with other renewable or nonrenewable energy sources. Solar driven multigeneration systems are appealing due to the broad availability of solar energy and related technologies. Here, the objective of this study is to review, categorize and discuss different configurations, benefits, potentials, challenges, future research directions and market perspectives of solar energy-driven multigeneration systems, comprehensively. This study also reviews how solar energy systems can be used to hybridize systems for multigeneration purposes. Regardless of using fossil fuel backup sources, these systems are classified as (1) solar only-driven and (2) hybrid solar-driven, in which solar energy is used together with other renewable sources. Reviewing the literature demonstrates numerous ways to build solar energy-driven multigeneration systems by coupling a variety of different cycles and devices. Such systems offer multiple benefits such as enhancing the efficiency, reducing capital and operating costs and carbon dioxide emission. Hybridizing solar with other renewable energies enables continuous operation and dispatchability management. This review shows that for configuration selection and design, different thermodynamics, economic and environmental aspects should be considered. To advance the solar driven multigeneration systems development, further multidisciplinary research on different aspects of such systems is necessary. Particularly, investigations should focus on building different prototypes and on conducting experimental assessments. Also, new incentives and long-term purchase agreements for the products must be established.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Temporal complementarity of marine renewables with wind and solar generation: Implications for GB system benefits

Wave and tidal energy have the potential to provide benefits to power systems with high proportions of stochastic renewable generation. This is particularly applicable with wind and solar photovoltaics, as the offsetting of these renewable resources results in more reliable renewable generation. This study utilises ten metrics to quantify the temporal complementarity and supply-demand balancing requirements of the energy mix in Great Britain, to investigate the potential magnitude of these system benefits. Wave and tidal generation profiles are created using historical resource data and hydrodynamic models. The results show that the inclusion of wave and tidal generation creates a renewable energy mix which is more available under multiple conditions: throughout a year of operation; at times of peak demand; for multiple consecutive hourly time periods; and at times when wind and solar generation are not available. Three regional case studies also show that the inclusion of marine energy allows for improved regional supply-demand matching, reducing instances of energy shortage and excess and potentially relieving transmission congestion at particularly constrained locations within GB. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed in terms of GB wholesale market operation, system balancing and system security.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantifying health benefits of sustainable aviation fuels: Modeling decreased ultrafine particle emissions and associated impacts on communities near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP, ≤100 nm) is an emerging health concern linked to premature mortality, with jet fuel combustion identified as a significant source of UFPs near airports. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) adoption has the potential to reduce aviation-related UFPs and may particularly benefit populations who reside nearby. However, assessing aviation-specific impacts on health remains challenging due to the lack of tools capable of addressing: fine-scale exposure evaluation, novel ambient pollutants, and groups with increased exposure or susceptibility. We develop and apply a method to estimate reductions in mortality associated with aviation-related UFP reductions at the Seattle-Tacoma (SEA-TAC) International Airport under SAF adoption scenarios, with a focus on near-airport communities. Using UFP exposure surfaces generated from AERMOD modeling, flight count data, and UFP measurements, we evaluated UFP reductions under various control scenarios. We estimated mortality reductions by combining this with population data, baseline mortality, and a hazard ratio of 1.012 (95 % confidence interval: 1.010, 1.015) per interquartile range increment of 2723 particles/cm 3 . Our analysis included 412 census tracts representing almost 1.5 million adults. Baseline aviation-related UFP exposures averaged 1145 (SD: 277) particles/cm 3 . The highest baseline concentrations and subsequent reductions under SAF scenarios were near SEA-TAC. Mortality case reductions averaged between 3.1 (95 % range: 2.5–3.7) for a 5 % UFP reduction to 31.0 (24.6–37.4) for a 50 % reduction, with corresponding mortality rate reductions of 0.2 (0.2–0.3) to 2.1 (1.7–2.5) cases per 100,000 people per year. Mortality rate reductions were larger among populations residing closer to SEA-TAC, including those that were Hispanic or Latino, below-poverty, and did not identify as White. Reducing aviation-related UFPs through SAF adoption could lead to lower mortality, particularly in near-airport communities. This reproducible approach can be adapted to other settings to evaluate health benefits from aviation-related UFP reductions.

Aviation-related air pollution↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluating the benefits of kinetic Monte Carlo and microkinetic modeling for catalyst design studies in the presence of lateral interactions

Popular computational catalyst design strategies rely on the identification of reactivity descriptors, which can be used along with Brønsted–Evans–Polanyi (BEP) and scaling relations as input to a microkinetic model (MKM) to make predictions for activity or selectivity trends. The main benefit of this approach is related to the inherent dimensionality reduction of the large material space to just a few catalyst descriptors. Conversely, it is well documented that a small set of descriptors is insufficient to capture the intricacies and complexities of a real catalytic system. The inclusion of coverage effects through lateral adsorbate-adsorbate interactions can narrow the gap between simplified descriptor predictions and real systems, but mean-field MKMs cannot properly account for local coverage effects. This shortcoming of the mean-field approximation can be rectified by switching to a lattice-based kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) method using cluster expansion representation of adsorbate–adsorbate lateral interactions. Using the prototypical CO oxidation reaction as an example, we critically evaluate the benefits of kMC over MKM in terms of trend predictions and computational cost when using only a small set of input parameters. After confirming that in the absence of lateral interactions the kMC and MKM approaches yield identical trends and mechanistic information, we observed substantial differences between the two kinetic models when lateral interactions were introduced. Here, the mean-field implementation applies coverage corrections directly to the descriptors, causing an artificial overprediction of the activity of strongly binding metals. In contrast, the cluster expansion in kMC implementation can differentiate among the highly active metals but it is very sensitive to the set of included interaction parameters. Considering that computational screening relies on a minimal set of descriptors, for which MKM makes reasonable trend predictions at a ca. three orders of magnitude lower computational cost than kMC, the MKM approach does provide a better entry point for computational catalyst design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Combined Land Use of Solar Infrastructure and Agriculture for Socioeconomic and Environmental Co-Benefits in the Tropics

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are on the rise even in areas of low solar insolation. However, in developing countries with limited capital, land scarcity, or with geographically isolated agrarian communities, large solar infrastructures are often impractical. In these cases, implementation of low-density PV over existing crops may be required to integrate renewable energy services into rural communities. Here, using Indonesia as a model system, we investigated the land use, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, economic feasibility, and the environmental co-benefits associated with off-grid solar PV when combined with high value crop cultivation. The life cycle analyses indicate that small-scale dual land-use systems are economically viable in certain configurations and have the potential to provide several co-benefits including rural electrification, retrofitting diesel electricity generation, and electricity for processing agricultural products locally. A hypothetical full-density off-grid solar PV for a model village in Indonesia shows that electricity output (1907.5 GJ yr-1) is much higher than the total residential consumption (678 GJ yr-1), highlighting the opportunity to downscale the PV infrastructure by half to lower capital cost, to co-locate crops, and to support secondary income generating activities. Economic analysis shows that the 30-year net present cost of electricity from the half-density co-located PV system (12,257 million IDR) is significantly lower than that of the flat cost of diesel required to generate equivalent electricity (14,702 million IDR). Our analysis provides insights for smarter energy planning by optimizing the efficiency of land use and limiting conversion of agricultural and forested areas for energy production.

agrivoltaics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Transportation and electricity systems integration via electric vehicle charging-as-a-service: A review of techno-economic and societal benefits

Here, in support of global decarbonization efforts, the adoption of electric vehicles is proceeding rapidly across transportation sectors, population groups, and regions. However, access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure remains sparse and inequitable, and technical, economic, and procedural challenges have encumbered its expansion. Charging-as-a-service, which can mitigate cost and effort risks of charging equipment ownership, adds a means of meeting many of these challenges. As charging-as-a-service has not been analyzed or addressed in the scholarly literature, we synthesize media, marketing, and analogous scholarly publications to categorize and describe the functions asserted by existing charging-as-a-service vendors. We demonstrate and quantify the benefits of many of these functions via four example business cases, sited at a detached residence, a multi-unit dwelling, a consumer-facing business, and a commercial fleet depot. Outcomes show that savings and revenues realized via charging-as-a-service can reduce charging costs, beneficially shape grid loads, and make charging installation economical where it otherwise would not be. Discussion highlights the need to deploy charging-as-a-service in cooperation with initiatives promoting societal benefits, including charging access equity.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗