A Low-Carbon Charging Operation Planning Approach for Electric Buses

We propose a charging operation planning method to reduce carbon emissions from electric bus charging. The proposed method prioritizes charging during periods of low carbon intensity, considering life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions. This is determined by the amount of local photovoltaic (PV) surplus power and the proportion of renewable energy in the entire grid generation. Simulations based on real-city data evaluated the proposed charging method's effectiveness in reducing emissions by prioritizing grid power charging during low-emission periods while utilizing PV surplus power. The proposed method significantly leverages local PV generation and prioritizes charging during low carbon intensity periods, reducing the emission by up to 81% against overnight charging. Especially in adverse weather conditions, the method effectively decarbonized the operation compared with the surplus-use-oriented method lessening about 244.7 kg- CO2 on a representative day.