Feasibility Study for Using Energy-Harvesting Floor in Urban Public Transportation System: Case of Subway Stations
Miguel Ángel Saldaña Cabrera, Aída Huerta Barrientos · Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems · 2020
Over the past 50 years, human activity has released huge amounts of greenhouse gases, particularly because of their dependence on fossil fuels, causing global warming which in turn brings variations in the weather for long periods leading to climate change.In this direction, the adoption of renewable energy and the increase in the electric car fleet are presented as the promising solution of a more efficient and sustainable paradigm.The principal purpose of this paper is to develop a feasibility study for using energy-harvesting floor in urban public transportation system and to apply it to the case of Mexico City subway stations.First, we review the literature about the use of renewable energy in urban public transport system around the world as well as the best practices and the feasibility studies.Second, we propose a feasibility study for using energy-harvesting floor in urban public transport system.Third, we validate the feasibility study considering the case of a Mexico City subway station.Even though the adoption of technology based on renewable energy in Mexico is low due to the high investment required, the results of this study showed the benefits of using energy-harvesting floor in Mexico City subway stations.Such solution contributes mainly at the mitigation of CO 2 level and the installation is ideal in urban context.We consider that the feasibility study proposed can support the decision-making process of Mexico City subway authorities.