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Highlights • We developed a model to simulate BEV trips based on travel surveys. • BEVs in 2017 could already cover 85–90% of trips in Finland and Switzerland. • Charging infrastructure at households should be expanded faster. • With infrastructure policies in place, BEVs can cover 99% or more of all trips. Abstract Limitations of battery capacity in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) contribute to what is known as range anxiety, and therefore poses an obstacle to their mass-market adoption. While high-range BEVs have been recently introduced, it is not clear whether they will be able to cover all possible trips without long recharging detours, and what the infrastructure needs of those vehicles are. To understand the impact of range limitations in Switzerland and Finland, we constructed a simulation model that is based on representative national travel surveys. We use it to calculate the potential of BEVs to cover any trips and investigate options to increase this coverage. The options discussed in this paper are ways to facilitate easy recharging, such as infrastructure development policies. We complement our results with insights from three focus groups. The results suggest that 85–90% of all national trips could have already been covered with BEVs prevalent in 2016. If the charging station infrastructure is developed appropriately and high-range BEVs are adopted, it is possible to reach a potential coverage of 99% or more in both countries. Deploying charging stations at users' homes and in residential areas does contribute significantly to this improvement and is desirable from a car user's perspective. Providing fast-charging stations in other locations is necessary to maximise the potential. We recommend to focus policy efforts on the development of residential charging options and to increase the visibility of electro-mobility using fast-charging stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material flow modeling constitutes an important approach to predicting and understanding the flows of materials through the anthroposphere into the environment. The new “Dynamic Probabilistic Material Flow Analysis (DPMFA)” method, combining dynamic material flow modeling with probabilistic modeling, is presented in this paper. Material transfers that lead to particular environmental stocks are represented as systems of mass-balanced flows. The time-dynamic behavior of the system is calculated by adding up the flows over several consecutive periods, considering changes in the inflow to the system and intermediate delays in local stocks. Incomplete parameter knowledge is represented and propagated using Bayesian modeling. The method is implemented as a simulation framework in Python to support experts from different domains in the development of their application models. After the introduction of the method and its implementation, a case study is presented in which the framework is applied to predict the environmental concentrations of carbon nanotubes in Switzerland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• BWR cycle specific Transient Reload Analyses (TRA) methodology has been developed in PSI. • CTF subchannel code has been successfully applied for the iterative critical power ratio (CPR) estimation for the BWR TRA. • Operating limit minimum CPR (OLMCPR) predicted by PSI TRA methodology is within ± 10% band comparing to the vendor data. For BWRs, computations of the minimum critical power ratio (CPR) during transients constitute one of the main components for core design and reload licensing. The primary objective of this is to establish the operating limit minimum CPR (OLMCPR) that will prevent occurrence of dryout during both normal operation and for the most limiting transients. To this aim, state-of-the-art industrial methods combine plant system transient simulations with hot-channel analyses using fuel-design specific CPR correlations in order to compute the margins to boiling crisis. To overcome the complexity of CPR correlations, an alternative approach based on combining the full core transient simulator SIMULATE-3 K (S3K) with the COBRA-TF (CTF) sub-channel code along with generic CHF correlations was established at PSI. The objective of this paper is to present the concepts of this computational scheme and to provide an assessment of its applicability for independent audits of core reload licensing analyses. A part of this, experimental validation of each component of the scheme is presented, including a first-of-a-kind validation of CTF against available CPR tests for a modern BWR fuel design employed in Switzerland. For steady-state conditions, a numerical verification of the CTF performance is then performed by comparing the results to those obtained by the SIMULATE 3-D core simulator with implemented CPR correlations. For transient evaluations, an assessment of the S3K/CTF scheme is presented by comparing the estimated OLMPCRs against results from a real reload licensing application submitted by a vendor for a recent Swiss BWR cycle. The qualitative as well as quantitative agreement between S3K/CTF and the vendor results using CPR correlations is presented for the complete matrix of transients including in the reload licensing submittal. Some systematic trends observed in the CTF CPR results are pointed out, e.g. the fact that CTF tends to underpredict the CPRs by around 10%, and discussed in the perspective of further enhancements of the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) constitutes a highly voluminous urban waste stream with significant potential for circular mineral construction material usage. This paper uses participatory system dynamics modeling with relevant actors from different public policy and industry sectors to a) to identify structural barriers to the uptake of secondary resource utilization; b) design and test policies administrative (spatial planning, ownership), fiscal (extraction levy, disposal fee) and soft (lighthouse projects) policies and c) discuss the feasibility of implementing these with policies in the political and legislative context of Switzerland. We find practice relevant policy insights, such as the role of distributed control of land use policies resulting in a co-evolutionary lock-in to primary resources consumptions. Policy interventions need to establish new forms of collaboration between regional actors, as hinterland are specializing as resource suppliers for urban regions. Without coordinated interventions that address structural imbalances of material flow, arbitrage effects with other regions render policies ineffective. From a methodological perspective we find that simulation and participatory modeling improves the efficacy of transition interventions as we provide a structural problem analysis as a tool for Stakeholder reflexivity. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]