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Business process knowledge is essential for efficiently executing business processes. Game-based approaches with their advantages (e.g. emotional involvement) are a promising way for building and keeping business process knowledge within an organization. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore, how game-based approaches support the creation of business process knowledge. The article contains three major contributions: (1) a weighted overview of game design elements in literature, (2) an extension to existing process models for game development, (3) a prototype for board game for business process knowledge.
Die digitale Transformation verändert die zukünftigen beruflichen Handlungsfelder der Studierenden, weshalb die domänenspezifische Förderung digitaler Kompetenzen in den Fokus rückt. Eine Facette im betriebswirtschaftlichen Bereich stellen hierbei ERP-Anwendungen dar, die digital strukturiert Geschäftsprozesse in Unternehmen steuern. Im Beitrag wird das didaktische Design eines Onlinekurses und dessen Entwicklungsprozess vorgestellt. Digitale Kompetenzen sollen hier über didaktische Elemente des problembasierten, begleitungsorientierten und selbstregulierten Lernens gefördert werden. Ergebnisse der ersten Testung in Form einer Persona-Analyse illustrieren, dass die Bandbreite der didaktischen Designelemente die Heterogenität der Studierenden aufnehmen kann.
Purpose of this paper:
Surveys have shown that most companies still use paper-based lists or RF handhelds to support picker-to-parts order picking. More modern approaches like Pick-by-Voice or Pick-by-Vision are gaining ground but have raised concerns about cognitive ergonomics. More recently, smart wearables for order picking with integrated or wirelessly connected barcode scanners have arrived on the market. The purpose of this paper is to discuss details of a smart wearable that uses Near-Field Communication (NFC) which allows confirming storage bins and order bins without any input from the order picker.
Design/methodology/approach:
Starting from a Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) concept of the order picking process and informed by both an analysis of existing smart wearables and a literature review of design guidelines for user interfaces on smart wearables, a smart wearable was designed from scratch. The technical design, which focuses on order pickers’ productivity, features (1) a novel approach to using NFC for order picking support, (2) a streamlined user interface, and (3) a fast middleware connecting the smart wearable to a Warehouse Management System (WMS).
Findings:
Industrial smartwatches often come with an NFC reader integrated into the display, requiring non-ergonomic movements of arm and hand when reading NFC tags on storage bins. Antenna extenders directly connected to the integrated NFC reader can be placed arbitrarily in more ergonomic positions (e.g., in a glove) but at the cost of reducing the reading distance substantially. An additional, separate active NFC reader, however, can smoothly identify storage bins while moving the hand at the usual arm operation speed of 2 m/s and retains the option of using antenna extenders. Careful design of the user interface is key to smooth and fast picking; the small screen size is a neglectable restriction.
Value:
This paper contributes to the still relatively small body of literature on smart wearables in order picking by discussing design features in detail – technical ones (such as the integration of an NFC reader) as well as the user interface.
Research limitations/implications:
The NFC-based smart wearable is a prototype and has not been tested in industrial applications yet.
Practical implications:
This paper increases the technical options available for supporting picker-to-parts order picking.
Purpose of the paper:
Getting products to market in a shorter time enables a fashion brand to savor the trend in vogue and can start preparing new products later than its competitors. Shorter time-to- market could help reduce product inventory risk because not only might the design fit the market better, product replenishment can be fulfilled in a shorter time. ZARA is one of the apparel fashion brands best able to reduce finished product inventory and respond quickly to market demand; adidas CORE is a reasonably-priced fashion sports shoes targeting at younger consumers and seeking to capture market share through a responsive market strategy. Because apparel and shoes have different product structures and production processes, the supply chain design and management engaged are different. This study employed a case study method to investigate the bullwhip effect and responsiveness of ZARA and adidas CORE, and also examine the use of postponement strategies and concurrent engineering to achieve quick response.
Design/methodology/approach:
We studied fashion industry supply chain and manufacturing strategies, especially those related to design, purchasing, postponement, inventory control, production, logistics etc. that could lead to lead time reduction. ZARA and adidas CORE were used as two cases to verify the theoretical findings through direct observation, interviews and document review.
Findings:
In order to reduce out of season unsold inventory while also responding to market demand quickly, under this premise, ZARA and adidas CORE both adopted postponement strategies in their supply chains and manufacturing systems. They also adjusted production to ensure that customized processes are delayed at the postponement point until the demand is confirmed. However, due to different production structures of apparel and shoes, their postponement points are also differentiated. In addition, the two brands both use anticipatory business models in conjunction with their postponement strategies to prepare for rapid production. Because shoes require many different types of materials, to shorten development time, adidas embraced the concurrent engineering concept by inviting vendors to participate in the development process. After products have reached the market, in accordance with their sales situation, ZARA may adopt a responsiveness business model for quick response, while adidas CORE maintains a brisk production and shipment pace in order to supply the market without interruption.
Value:
The case study rationalizes from supply chain perspectives regarding how those fashion brands could make their products to market in a short time. The effectiveness of short lead time can also be confirmed from the metrics in inventory level and profits.
Purpose of the paper:
Since long, KANBAN is used in industry as an effective approach to provide the required materials to the shop floor. In its traditional form, the parameters for KANBAN, that is for each material the number of boxes and the quantity per box, are static, i.e. calculated
initially and, if at all, re-calculated only if someone suspects the parameters to be suboptimal. This paper shows how a traditional KANBAN system can be converted into a selfadaptive KANBAN, where the parameters are dynamically adjusted to reflect the dynamics of the environment. The self-adaptive approach aims to set KANBAN parameters in a way that shop-floor inventory is at a viable minimum without compromising production output.
Design/methodology/approach:
Using a simulation of the process of supplying material, we suggest an optimization method based on Evolution Strategies (ES). The strategy aims at finding the minimum quantity of material supply per box, while maintaining production efficiency, by dynamically and iteratively adjusting (self-adapt) KANBAN parameters.
Findings:
Compared to the traditional KANBAN approach, self-adaptive KANBAN is more flexible and efficient in unstable production environments, in which key variables are volatile, e.g. demand because of changes in the model mix or replenishment lead time due to the variability of capacity in picking and in-house transportation. In these cases, self-adaptive KANBAN can adjust material supply parameters for stabilizing the production output by avoiding material shortages while, at the same time, reducing on-hand inventory.
Value/Originality:
We provide an approach based on evolution strategy (ES) that aims to optimize the KANBAN system parameters automatically. We implemented a simulator for a lab-based manufacturing environment, SimCar, that relies on KANBAN-based material supply. The simulation study shows that the ES algorithm is capable of coping with two target objectives at the same time, productivity as the primary target and shop-floor inventory as the secondary target.
Research limitations/implications:
Data for this study has been collected from a simulation study, resembling SimCar, a lab- based manufacturing environment. More case-study research is required to test the approach in large-scale industrial applications. A closer look at the mutation strength σ, a key parameter in ES, is required to define a strategy for selecting the “best” σ for a certain situation. Furthermore, in essence, the self-adaptive approach is still reactive. For a proactive approach, it would be necessary to establish deep-learning algorithms on extensive data sets (including, but not limited to, availability and utilization of transportation and picking capacity) collected from the manufacturing environment.
Smart Logistics as a Digital Ecosystem: An Integrative Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
(2021)
Purpose of this paper:
Smart logistics is a popular topic these days, connecting logistics to the overarching trend of the “smart factory” or “Industry 4.0”. However, despite its attractiveness and suggested practical value, it seems to be still (1) limited to isolated applications in industry and (2) insufficiently conceptualized in academic research. The purpose of this paper is to develop a consistent conceptual framework for smart logistics that can be used to design integrated smart logistics solutions.
Design/methodology/approach:
Applying the theory lens of the digital ecosystem, we use an integrative literature review to identify and put into a consistent perspective the various conceptual elements of smart logistics suggested in extant research. We analyze these elements along three dimensions according to the main categories of digital ecosystems: (1) digital species (the smart objects in logistics), (2) space (the processes in which these smart objects are relevant), and (3) domain (the objectives these smart objects pursue). We classify the smart objects as intelligent products, while for the process dimension we make use of the building blocks (production, storage, and transportation) of the self-similar architecture of supply chains. The categories for the objective dimension are synthesized from the papers selected for the integrative literature review.
Findings:
The published research on smart logistics has already produced a set of smart objects in logistics. However, our analysis reveals that – beyond a common ground with respect to the underlying ubiquitous technologies of smart logistics – the conceptualization of the objects’ smartness, i.e. which objectives they autonomously pursue, is much less consistent. Our study shows that digital ecosystems are a promising approach to a consistent conceptualization of smart logistics.
Value:
Few papers systematically analyze the extant research on smart logistics, but they are either limited to a small subset of the supply chain, the underlying ubiquitous technologies or discuss a specific focus like the contribution of smart logistics to fulfilling individualized customer demands. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to integrate the extant literature into a consistent conceptual framework for smart logistics.
Research limitations/implications:
The conceptual framework still needs to be validated through discussions with industry experts and case studies.
Purpose of this paper:
Despite the importance of logistics innovation, not many academic papers discuss this topic in detail, even less consider the contents of logistics innovation. Other perspectives, e. g. organizational structure and process management, have attracted much more attention in logistics innovation research. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of logistics innovation from a content perspective.
Design/methodology/approach:
We have conducted a case study of the German Logistics Award (GLA), an innovation award, for which BVL, the German Association of Logistics Professionals, invites project proposals on an annual basis. In our study, we followed an interpretivist and social constructivist approach using two streams of data (1) archival data for the award-winning projects for the five years from 2015 to 2019 and (2) in-depth interviews with the BVL management as well as members of the GLA jury. Using MaxQDA, we applied Qualitative Content Analysis to the data to investigate what constitutes logistics innovation.
Findings:
Logistics innovation is rarely the lead implementation of groundbreaking new technologies in the field of logistics but is perceived as architectural innovations based on novel reconfigurations of existing technology. Although technology, and especially technology facilitating the digital transformation, is a central aspect of logistics innovation, the key innovation lies in delivering consistency, i.e. a holistic integration approach in terms of both reach (across departments and/or supply chain partners) and depth (tying together physical processes and information flow as well as harmonizing automation and human
work, etc.).
Value:
Our study contributes to the understanding of logistics innovation from a content perspective. It showcases the role of logistics as a key driver of corporate change and highlights the importance of consistency for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage.
Research limitations/implications:
Logistics innovation as it is visible in the GLA-winning projects is socially constructed by the GLA jury. Further research should investigate whether the jury’s concept of logistics innovation resonates with the industry on a broader scale. An empirical survey of logistics executives is required to better understand if striving for consistency, as our study suggests, is driving the innovation cycle in logistics
Purpose:
Kiva robots system is considered as the 8th generation of warehousing picking system by Amazon. The system utilizes Automated Guided Vehicles to pick up and carry racks to picking stations to realize goods-to-man picking operations and can save 2/3 of manpower in picking operations. One of the ways for efficient operations of the system is to have right assortment of goods on racks to reduce the number of rack move completing customer orders. This research looks into correlations of customer orders to study the goods allocation plan on racks that could effectively reduce the number of rack moves for shorter order completion time and less manpower used in picking operations.
Design/methodology/approach:
This study aims at finding goods allocation plans
considering correlations of customer orders for efficient picking operations. In calculating the correlation between and among orders, we used a priori association rules to compute the support and confidence of order items. We generate three batches of 10,000 orders with VBA, each referring to an EC company. We later implemented ABC classification and association rules to conduct different levels of order analysis. Considering put-to-light picking systems as in the Kiva systems, the correlations of order items and customer orders were computed with R programming software. The performance measure is the number of times to move racks to complete the customer orders. Different replenishment strategies for goods allocation on racks using product correlation values and order quantity ratios were implemented with simulation to find the optimal replenishment strategy.
Findings:
We analyzed nine replenishment strategies and found that the best strategy among the nine could reduce the number of rack moves by 77.9% when compared to a randomly allocated strategy.
Value/Originality:
Despite the growing application of Kiva systems in warehousing operations, there is only few studies look into operational improvement problems. This paper lies its originality in using association rules for rack replenishment strategy for efficient picking operations. The result show tremendous improvement in performance measures, which demonstrates the value of the paper.
Purpose of this paper:
Two major trends, electric mobility and digitalization, are going to transform the automotive industry. Car manufacturers and suppliers alike are under increasing pressure to adapt to these trends. This paper shows how German car manufacturers and their suppliers assess electric mobility and digitalization in terms of supply network adaptability. It is discussed if these trends follow evolutionary or revolutionary patterns.
Design/methodology/approach:
Adaptation can be seen as a process of evolution – in natural ecosystems as well as in supply networks. Evolutionary Economics and Punctuated Equilibrium are combined into a theory framework to analyze the adaptation processes of German automotive supply networks. Data has been collected in four in-depth interviews with managers of German car manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, respectively.
Findings:
Both car manufacturers and automotive suppliers see electric mobility as a trend that is still in an equilibrium and can be dealt with slower, gradual modes of adaptation. However, some experts have the opinion that this will only work until a tipping point is reached. In contrast, the impact of digitalization on automotive supply networks is much less clear. While some experts see a distinct revolutionary impact on the supply networks which requires an abrupt adaptation to new scenarios, others follow a more conservative view assuming a longer time allowance for supply networks to adapt gradually. The data suggests that the former have a focus on the connected car/autonomous driving, while the latter are following a more general approach that also includes “smartphone-on-wheels” concepts. Irrespective of the impact on a company’s products, digitalization changes the way a company works internally and collaborates with both its supply network and its customers. Both car manufacturers and tier‐1 suppliers agree that the supply networks enjoy long phases of relative stability. Trends requiring a rapid, fundamental adaptation are rare. This suggests that the theory framework that combines Punctuated Equilibrium and Evolutionary Economics is a promising toolset for analyzing the adaptation
of supply networks.
Value:
This paper presents empirical insight from the automotive industry on how car manufacturers and tier-1 suppliers prepare to cope with the trends of electric mobility and digitalization. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to combine Punctuated Equilibrium and Evolutionary Economics into a conceptual model for the adaptation of supply networks as a response to fundamental changes.
Purpose of this paper:
In a global production network, a lead plant can be defined as the global hub of knowledge with respect to the design and manufacturing of a specific product. The purpose of this paper is to identify the organizational success factors in the relationship between a lead plant and its sister plants in a company’s global production network (GPN).
Design/methodology/approach:
Eight cases, all centered at the automotive division of a multinational company and featuring lead plant/sister plant relationships for different products, were researched. Cases were selected for providing various contexts in terms of the age/maturity of the GPN and its forecasted development with respect to production volume. A literature review and initial interviews suggested to focus the research on four areas related to the knowledge flows in the network: (1) level of expertise in the lead plant, (2) knowledge transfer to sister plants, (3) organization of day-to-day operations and staff involved on either side, and (4) the perception of the relationship on either side. Information for the cases was obtained by in-depth interviews with those responsible for the relationship in both lead plant and sister plant.
Findings:
Two focal issues of a firm’s internal GPN have been identified in the research: (1) How the lead plant shapes the role assigned to it and (2) How knowledge is transferred within the GPN. The factual role of the lead plant depends on how sister plants not only take technical support and accept strategical guidance but also actively support the lead plants role by sharing their own knowledge. It is important for the lead plant that the business unit allows enough room to maneuver. The cases suggest that the life cycle of the GPN is a key influencing factor. The lead plant’s role should be established in the GPN’s formation phase. Even though the lead plant might initially prioritize technical support, it should not neglect strategic guidance early on because this function is hard to establish in an already mature GPN. Also, the mechanisms and standards of knowledge transfer must be established early in the GPN’s life cycle as in later stages both entrenched behavioral patterns and cost pressure might stand in the way.
Value:
Much research has been conducted on the different roles plants can assume in GPNs (cf. Ferdows, 1997; Vereecke et al., 2006; Feldmann and Olhager, 2013). This paper adds insight into how lead plants should organize and maintain their relationships with both business unit and sister plants in the GPN and shows the strong influence of GPN maturity
Logistics 4.0 in warehousing: a conceptual framework of influencing factors, benefits and barriers
(2022)
Purpose:
In the last decade, the Industry 4.0 paradigm had started to rapidly expand to the logistics domain. However, Logistics 4.0 is still in an early adoption stage: some areas such as warehousing are still exploring its applicability, and the technological implementation of this paradigm can become fuzzy. This paper addresses this gap by examining the relationship among influencing factors, barriers, and benefits of Logistics 4.0 technologies in warehousing contexts.
Design/methodology/approach:
Starting from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach with 56 examined documents published in scientific journals or conference proceedings, a conceptual framework for Logistics 4.0 in warehousing is proposed. The framework encompasses multiple aspects related to the potential adopter’s decision-making process.
Findings:
Influencing factors toward adoption, achievable benefits, and possible hurdles or criticalities have been extensively analyzed and structured into a consistent picture. Company’s digital awareness and readiness result in a major influencing factor, whereas barriers and criticalities are mostly technological, safety and security, and economic in nature. Warehousing process optimization is the key benefit identified.
Originality/value:
This paper addresses a major gap since most of the research has focused on specific facets, or adopted the technology providers’ perspective, whereas little has been explored in warehousing from the adopters’ view. The main novelty and value lie in providing both academics and practitioners with a thorough view of multiple facets to be considered when approaching Logistics 4.0 in logistics facilities.
Purpose:
Generic business process models for the supply chain do not cover the specific requirements of the cold chain catering to the needs of temperature-sensitive, perishable goods. The purpose of this paper is to draft a reference model specific to the cold chain.
Design/methodology/approach:
Following an object-oriented modeling approach, conceptual elements that have been synthesized from a literature review are transferred into the static view (object model) of the reference model. In addition, the reference model’s dynamic properties representing the business process view are outlined.
Findings:
While a few atomic process steps are sufficient to model the cold chain’s dynamic properties, the complexity of the cold chain lies in the object model. The classes of the object model are highly interrelated and cover four domains: perishable product, information technology, infrastructure/equipment and regulatory framework. This technical approach is more adequate to the complex nature of cold chains than typical business process models.
Research limitations/implications:
In the present draft status, the reference model is limited by the pure conceptual approach of this paper. As it is in the nature of things for a draft of a reference model, case studies to challenge the draft and a discourse of experts are required before detailed specifications can be added or any software implementation can be started. It is expected that the reference model is able to substantially support further research on cold chain design and optimization.
Practical implications:
The cold chain reference model is intended to be a standard toolbox for planning and evaluating cold chains. By integrating the technical, information technology and regulatory objects behind the business processes, it allows to design and analyze cold chains from a more holistic perspective.
Originality/value:
To the best knowledge of the author, this paper is the first to outline a reference model for the cold chain that goes beyond the business processes.
To make the best use of the imbalance of container flows between Asia and North America, containers are employed to carry grain cargoes from North America to Asia. Three criteria and nine sub-criteria were used to help control the quality of the grain cargoes shipped in containers. AHP technique is employed through a survey to major containerised grain cargo shippers, consignees, and ocean carriers to measure the degree of importance of the determinants influencing the quality of grains transported by containers. Without appropriate facilities and strategies, containerised grains mildewed easily during ocean voyage. Researching findings provide strategies to effectively reduce the damage rate of containerized grains cargo and improve the quality of the origin of food supply chain.
Dieses Lehr- und Fachbuch stellt sehr übersichtlich und leicht verständlich die Grundlagen des Qualitätsmanagements dar. Dabei wird der Bogen von den elementaren Qualitätswerkzeugen über die klassischen Qualitätsmethoden bis zum umfassenden Qualitätsmanagement TQM gespannt. Zahlreiche Verständnisfragen und Übungsaufgaben mit Lösungen sowie eine praxisorientierte Beschreibung ermöglichen leicht ein Selbststudium.
Chlor-alkali electrolysis indicates significant demand response potential, accounting for over 2% of Germany’s total electricity demand. To fully analyze this potential, digital models or digital twins are necessary. In this study, we use the IRPopt modeling framework to develop a digital model of an electrolysis process and examine the cost-optimal load shifting application in the day-ahead spot and balancing reserve market for various price scenarios (2019, 2030, 2040). We also investigate the associated CO 2 emissions. Combined optimization at both markets results in greater and more robust cost savings of 16.1% but cannibalizes the savings that are possible through optimization separately at each market. In future scenarios, the shares of savings from spot and reserve market could potentially reverse. CO 2 savings between 2.5% and 9.2% appear only through optimization at the spot market and could even turn negative if optimized solely at the reserve market.
The seasonal storage of natural gas is a recognized and reliable technology in the energy industry. Salt caverns are particularly suitable for storing alternative gaseous fuels such as hydrogen. Germany has a great technical potential for expanding its cavern storage capacity, which exceeds the expected demand for hydrogen many times. Regarding the projected long-term decline in natural gas use, the question arises as to whether existing caverns can meet future storage requirements. To this end, a techno-economic model is presented to meet electricity and hydrogen demand in a cost-optimal solution. This analysis focused on the utilization of hydrogen storage in terms of energy throughput and maximum storage capacity. To link the outcome of economic dispatch to the literature, the fundamental assumptions are based on comprehensive capacity expansion models. This study advances the state of the art by evaluating key input parameters of the future energy system. By conducting 192 model runs, the analysis revealed the range of uncertainty in terms of storage use. This indicates a strong dependence of the systemic and economic value of hydrogen storage on boundary conditions such as a consideration of dark doldrums, a flexible hydrogen demand profile, hydrogen import restrictions and a larger electrolyzer capacity. The uncertainty ranged from 0 to 67 TWhH2 for the storage capacity, with an average of 36.6 TWhH2 across all scenarios, and from 0 to 190 TWhH2 for the annual energy throughput. These results are significant for gas storage operators who derive transformation strategies and policymakers evaluating financial funding requirements.
The uptake of residential photovoltaic systems is essential for energy system transformation towards carbon neutrality and decentralization. However, despite numerous campaigns to incentivize their uptake, adoption by residential homeowners is lacking behind. While countless drivers and barriers have been identified, the decision process is not fully understood. To address this gap, we developed an agent-based residential rooftop photovoltaic adoption model called PVact. Our model analyzes the interactions of potential household adopters based on their utility functions and social network, with a focus on the role of monetary evaluation and social pressure in adoption behavior. In this paper, we aim to assess the influence of monetary evaluation and social pressure in an abstract case study based on real-world data from the municipality of Leipzig, Germany. We consider stochastic dynamics through scenario analysis to investigate the influence of these factors on adoption behavior. Our results show that monetary evaluation and social pressure have a significant impact on adoption behavior. Specifically, we find shifting adoption patterns with an increased requirement for monetary returns and higher level of normative pressure required for households to act. Higher resistance against these pressure shows more stochastic variations, more pronounced tipping points and stronger run-away effects.
Importing green chemical energy carriers is crucial for meeting European climate targets. However, estimating the costs of supplying these energy carriers to Europe remains challenging, leading to a wide range of reported supply-cost estimates. This study analyzes the estimated supply costs of green chemical energy carriers at the European border using a dataset of 1050 data points from 30 studies. The results reveal significant variations in supply costs, with a projected four-fold difference in 2030 and a five-fold difference in 2050 across all energy carriers. The main drivers of cost differences are varying production costs, particularly influenced by the weighted average costs of capital and capital expenditures of renewable energy sources, electrolyzers, and carrier-specific conversion processes. Transport costs also contribute to variations, mainly influenced by the choice of energy carrier and the weighted average costs of capital. To optimize cost-efficiency and sustainability in the chemical energy carrier sector, this paper recommends prioritizing transparency and sensitivity analyses of key input parameters, classifying energy carriers based on technological and economic status, and encouraging research and development to reduce production costs.
Adoption of new technologies necessitates changes in behaviours, attitudes, and social norms that cannot be sufficiently explained by a single predictor or group of predictors, particularly in heterogeneous populations. Aiming to add a greater understanding of intention to adopt Rooftop Photovoltaic (PV), this paper utilised an established population segmentation tool, the Sinus-Milieus and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to account for population heterogeneity of the sample of German homeowners (n = 1800). By employing partial least squares structural equation modelling, we confirmed that attitudes, social norms, and financial evaluation significantly influence adoption intention at the population level. A multi-group analysis revealed noteworthy variations in the relative impact of attitudes and social norms on adoption intention across different milieugroups. Notably, even milieugroups sharing the same broad social status and/or values, as defined by the Sinus-Milieu tool, exhibited significant differences in the influence of attitudes and social norms on adoption intention. Moreover, a Kruskal–Wallis H-test indicated significant differences in the reported level of adoption intention among milieugroups, with the Leading milieus showing the highest intention and the Deprived the lowest. Differences were also observed for the determinants of social norms, attitudes, environmental concern, and novelty-seeking behaviour. Our findings confirm the relevance of considering potential adopters as a heterogeneous group in terms of overall lifestyle characteristics. Tailoring communication strategies to target the underlying motivations of specific milieus can lead to more effective interventions.
Residential electrification of transport and heat is changing consumption and its characteristics significantly. Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of socio-techno-economic determinants on residential consumption. However, they fail to capture the distributional characteristics of such consumer groups, which impact network planning and flexibility assessment. Using actual residential electricity consumption profile data for 720,000 households in Denmark, we demonstrate that heat pumps are more likely to influence aggregated peak consumption than electric vehicles. At the same time, other socio-economic factors, such as occupancy, dwelling area and income, show little impact. Comparing the extrapolation of a comprehensive rollout of heat pumps or electric vehicles indicates that the most common consumer category deploying heat pumps has 14% more maximum consumption during peak load hours, 46% more average consumption and twice the higher median compared to households owning an electric vehicle. Electric vehicle show already flexibility with coincidence factors that ranges between 5 and 15% with a maximum of 17% whereas heat pumps are mostly baseload. The detailed and holistic outcomes of this study support flexibility assessment and grid planning in future studies but also the operation of flexible technologies.
This study derives the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) for exemplary post-fossil district heating (DH) scenarios. The DH system of Leipzig in 2040 under the assumption of a completely climate-neutral heat supply is considered. Accordingly, four generation scenarios (GS) are proposed based on different energy carriers that are characterized as follows: (1) natural gas with carbon capture and storage, (2) hydrogen, (3) diversified mix of biomass, waste heat and solar, and (4) electricity. In addition, the scenarios’ robustness toward commodity prices is investigated using a sensitivity analysis. A modeling environment was used to optimize the hourly economic dispatch. Based on this, levelized costs are determined. For the reference case, the LCOH of the GS 1 and 2 exceeds the LCOH of GS 3 and 4. Furthermore, the results indicate that relying on singular energy carriers as opposed to diversified generation portfolios leads to less robust LCOH regarding price sensitivities.
Determining the development of Germany’s energy system is the subject of a series of studies. Since their results play a significant role in the political energy debate for understanding the role of hydrogen and synthetic energy carriers, a better discussion is needed. This article provides an assessment of published transition pathways for Germany to assess the role and advantages of hydrogen-based carriers. Twelve energy studies including 37 scenarios for the years 2030 and 2050 were evaluated. Despite the variations, the carrier will play an important role. While their deployment is expected to have only started by 2030 with a mean demand of 91 TWh/a (4% of the final energy demand) in Germany, they will be an essential part by 2050 with a mean demand of 480 TWh/a (24%). The outcome of the scenarios depends on the chosen methods and assumptions. A moderately positive correlation (0.53) between the decarbonisation targets and the share of hydrogen-based carriers in final energy demand underlines the relevance for reaching the climate targets. Additionally, value creation effects of about 16 billion EUR/a in 2050 can be expected for hydrogen-based carriers. Hydrogen is expected to be produced domestically while synthetic fuels are projected to be mostly imported.