The European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO) is an online portal, funded by the European Commission, that provides open and free information on the deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels.
The objective of the portal is to raise awareness among consumers of how easy it is to rely on stations of alternative fuels, overcoming the perception that they are hard to find, while helping EU Member States to fully integrate alternative fuels for vehicles in the geographic planning.
Targeted alternative fuels are electricity, hydrogen, LPG, natural gas (both liquefied and compressed), biofuels, synthetic and paraffinic fuels.
The portal covers the availability of alternative fuels station in all EU Member States + EFTA members + Turkey (33 countries in total, “Europe” in EAFO definition).
It works by integrating relevant data, information, news items, newsletters and other publications and focuses on national level data and information but also covers specific regions and cities based on data availability. The data are then integrated in an interactive map that shows the location of alternative fuel stations.
Furthermore, the portal provides key information about the various type of alternative fuels as well as vehicles according to European classifications.
AVERE is an eager partner of this project that shows how electromobility, among other alternative means of envisioning transportation, is a convenient and easy choice in terms of infrastructure, as EAFO already identifies more than 125.000 EV charging stations all over the continent.
EAFO Report – Pricing of Electric Vehicle Recharging in Europe
With demand rising and manufacturers ramping up production capacities, the e-mobility market will continue to grow. Looking forward, the confluence of government action, greater attention by OEMs, rising customer acceptance, and ingenious suppliers will accelerate the segment’s growth by 2020.
This report looks at how quickly electric vehicles will be adopted and what share of the portfolio they will make up. It is most likely that, in the long run, EVs will become a commonplace and significant part of our everyday life.
The FLOW project is aimed at promoting a concept of electric mobility suited for the final user while providing benefits to the energy system across Europe. The initiative will test, validate and enhance the so-called Vehicle-to-X, where energy will be exchanged among vehicles, buildings and the grid. While the EU Parliament voted to ban new sales of fossil-fueled cars by 2035, FLOW will give a solid basis to enhance the upcoming mass penetration of electric vehicle transportation.
The solutions developed within FLOW will provide answers for the upcoming mass deployment of electric vehicles to all actors involved, ranging from power distribution system operators, charging point operators, mobility service providers, and infrastructure manufacturers to final users. The main aim is to validate and quantify the benefits associated with electric vehicle charging flexibility, and alleviating grid problems, in order to achieve energy decarbonisation while transitioning to a sustainable mobility model.
A total of 5 demonstration sites will be implemented to determine the impact on different energy systems in Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Denmark and Spain.
SCALE (Smart Charging Alignment for Europe) is a three-year Horizon Europe project that explores and tests smart charging solutions for electric vehicles. It aims to advance smart charging and Vehicle-2-Grid (V2G) ecosystems to shape a new energy system wherein the flexibility of EV batteries’ is harnessed. The project will test and validate a variety of smart charging and V2X solutions and services in 13 use cases in real-life demonstrations in 7 European contexts: Oslo (NO), Rotterdam/Utrecht (NL), Eindhoven (NL), Toulouse (FR), Greater Munich Area (GER), Budapest/Debrecen (HU) and Gothenburg (SE). Going further, project results, best practices, and lessons learned will be shared across EU cities, regions, and relevant e-mobility stakeholders. SCALE aims to create a system blueprint for user-centric smart charging and V2X for European cities and regions.
SCALE’s consortium comprises 29 cutting-edge European e-mobility actors covering the entire smart charging and V2X value chain (equipment and charging manufacturers, flexibility service providers, research and knowledge partners, public authorities, consumer associations, etc.). It is led by ElaadNL, one of the world’s leading knowledge and innovation centres in smart charging and charging infrastructure.
Taskforce 40 “Critical Raw Materials for Electric Vehicles” (CRM4EV) of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Technology Collaboration Programme “Hybrid and Electric Vehicle” (HEV) , that was active between between 2019 and 2022, aimed at providing accurate, credible and up to date information on materials and topics which are considered as (potentially) critical for a quick ramp up of electric vehicles sales.
Specifically, CRM4EV aimed to assess the impacts of EVs mass deployment on the needed CRMs, assess the current and future availability of those materials and generate and continuously update relevant information related to them. Supply and demand scenarios will be made, environmental impacts (using Life Cycle Analyses) will be determined, recycling processes and impacts and responsible sourcing will be topics within the scope of work.
Smart, Clean Energy and Electric Vehicles for the City (SEEV4-City) , that took place between 2018 and 2021, was an innovative project funded by the EU Interreg North Sea Region Programme. Its main objective wass to demonstrate smart electric mobility solutions, that integrate renewable-energy sources and encourage take-up in cities.
The project looked at different pilot solutions implemented in cities in Belgium, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Norway and elaborates case studies and best practices based upon them.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are the seventeen chemical elements lanthanides, Scandium and Yttrium. REEs are considered “key-enablers” of green technologies, as they are used in hybrid electric vehicles, wind mills, and highly efficient electric motors.
The Rare Earth Recycling for Europe (REE4EU) project, that took place between 2015 and 2018, aimed to open-up a fully new route bringing recovery of in-process wastes from Permanent Magnet manufacturing within reach.
It did so by demonstrating, at a pilot scale, a closed-loop permanent magnet recycling process for the first time in Europe. The REE4EU pilot has successfully treated several tons of in-process wastes and end-of-life products containing rare earth elements, resulting in the recovery of almost hundred kilos of rare earth alloys directly from the mixed rare earth oxides feedstock produced. The alloy will be reused in the manufacturing of permanent magnet products.
