CRISP Type 2/Collaborative Research: Harnessing Interdependency for Resilience: Creating an "Energy Sponge" with Cloud Electric Vehicle Sharing

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Operating multiple interdependent infrastructure systems is often criticized as posing threats to the resilience of our modern society. However, with a smart system design, it is possible to create a reciprocal, interdependent cross-system interface to cushion local disturbances and decouple inter-system operations. This "sponge service" enhances system resilience by reserving backup resources for all the associated components, and by converting system-specific exclusive resources into system-indifferent, sharable resources. Motivated by the rapidly increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EV) in recent years, this research aims to materialize the sponge service concept based on an EV-sharing cloud. Several aspects of a potential interface between transportation and power systems will be studied by arranging EV fleets in a way that provides interchangeable mobility and energy in a "smart" way. This research will examine hypotheses, generate knowledge, and create a system design and management methodology for such novel energy sponge service, which can dynamically store and transmit energy across transportation and power systems to stabilize operations in both systems. It would have a significant societal impact due to its transformative enhancement of both the energy and transportation sectors, serving as the first domino to start a paradigm shift in the realm of traditional mobility and electricity industry. This shift could drive important behavioral change for both travelers and power providers. In addition, this research will develop novel educational modules and dissemination strategies to inspire future generations and professionals with a vision of building environments that are at once efficient and resilient. Overall, the outcomes from this research are expected to benefit infrastructure system planning and operations practices, meanwhile accelerating society towards long-term sustainability and prosperity. The research objective is to model, test, and validate this energy sponge service that leverages EV-enabled interdependency between power and transportation systems into improved resilience. The project will advance the state of the art in harnessing interdependency to enhance system resilience and enable technology for "energy sponge" systems in four interrelated ways: (i) establishing a socially-aware planning framework for the proposed EV cloud that integrates both vehicle sharing and V2G functions to provide a resilient and economic energy sponge service; (ii) develop an integrated cyber-physical information platform that utilizes large-scale empirical data to predict spatiotemporally-correlated demand trends and fluctuations in real time; (iii) analyze the interactions between demand fluctuations in these two systems and investigate EV cloud operation strategies to enhance inter-system resilience; and (iv) validate the viability and benefits of the proposed EV cloud with a customized emulator test bed integrating the dynamics of all these systems and assimilating empirical data from multiple sources, including lab-based experimental economics.