26 Ecological Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Sensor-Based Parking …
413
The last major factor to examine is the assumption of a massive rising number of
servers. Even assuming a tenfold increase in the number of necessary server systems,
no significant influences on emissions are discernible. This observation is attributed
by the proportionally low emissions of the servers compare to emissions of vehicles,
analogously shown with the behavior for the parking lots per sensor.
In summary, potential CO 2 savings scale with the market share of the “Park&Joy”
Application and the probability of parking lot forecasts. The change of real vehicle
emissions through increasing numbers of electric vehicles or stricter limits for inner
cities and the average number of parking searches per day are scaling factors as well.
The emission savings also scale with the actual parking search time and the speeddependent distance travelled. A slightly influence consists in the number of parking
lots covered by a sensor, as the environmental impact of the sensors is comparatively
small. And as a minor influence factor the lifetime of sensor and server infrastructure
was detected, which are calculated proportionately in the total balance.
26.5 Summary
The initial idea of the sensor as the central element of the cost-benefit analysis leads
to an examination in great detail. It turned out that spending less effort on the sensor
investigation would be appropriate, since the ratio of emissions compare to traffic is
rather low.
The complete calculation is implemented in software. In the developed tool, the
greatest uncertainties can be adjusted and the main influencing factors of the emission
saving can be varied to describe exactly the target scenario (e.g. certain geographical
area). In combination with a future data collection to determine real driving emissions
with permission of the customers, as well as the statistically record start and end of
app usage to determine real parking search distances, the tool can achieve even higher
accuracy. In addition, a yearly update of vehicle fleet composition of Germany leads
to a more precise calculation of saving potentials. While disassembling the sensor
some potential hardware improvement has been identified. The plastic welding of
the current design obstructs the recycling and maintenance of possible defective
components. As the battery and the primary board are located right next to each
other (Fig. 26.1) along the welding edge, a non-destructive opening is not possible.
Currently, all sensors remain in the asphalt after end of life. Hence, the most important issue is the complete loss of valuable materials, as neither the manufacturer
nor operator provide any reuse, renew or recycle option for the sensors. However,
the study shows the emission saving potential in Germany’s inner cities by using
“Park&Joy” is rather high and reasonable.
In summary, a multi-criterion and parameterizable method for modelling the emission savings was developed and implemented in software. The environmental assessment lacks a proportional consideration of the resource consumption, since a direct
comparison with the vehicle emissions is not possible. It should be borne in mind
that resource consumption is always a factor that cannot be offset by the number
413
The last major factor to examine is the assumption of a massive rising number of
servers. Even assuming a tenfold increase in the number of necessary server systems,
no significant influences on emissions are discernible. This observation is attributed
by the proportionally low emissions of the servers compare to emissions of vehicles,
analogously shown with the behavior for the parking lots per sensor.
In summary, potential CO 2 savings scale with the market share of the “Park&Joy”
Application and the probability of parking lot forecasts. The change of real vehicle
emissions through increasing numbers of electric vehicles or stricter limits for inner
cities and the average number of parking searches per day are scaling factors as well.
The emission savings also scale with the actual parking search time and the speeddependent distance travelled. A slightly influence consists in the number of parking
lots covered by a sensor, as the environmental impact of the sensors is comparatively
small. And as a minor influence factor the lifetime of sensor and server infrastructure
was detected, which are calculated proportionately in the total balance.
26.5 Summary
The initial idea of the sensor as the central element of the cost-benefit analysis leads
to an examination in great detail. It turned out that spending less effort on the sensor
investigation would be appropriate, since the ratio of emissions compare to traffic is
rather low.
The complete calculation is implemented in software. In the developed tool, the
greatest uncertainties can be adjusted and the main influencing factors of the emission
saving can be varied to describe exactly the target scenario (e.g. certain geographical
area). In combination with a future data collection to determine real driving emissions
with permission of the customers, as well as the statistically record start and end of
app usage to determine real parking search distances, the tool can achieve even higher
accuracy. In addition, a yearly update of vehicle fleet composition of Germany leads
to a more precise calculation of saving potentials. While disassembling the sensor
some potential hardware improvement has been identified. The plastic welding of
the current design obstructs the recycling and maintenance of possible defective
components. As the battery and the primary board are located right next to each
other (Fig. 26.1) along the welding edge, a non-destructive opening is not possible.
Currently, all sensors remain in the asphalt after end of life. Hence, the most important issue is the complete loss of valuable materials, as neither the manufacturer
nor operator provide any reuse, renew or recycle option for the sensors. However,
the study shows the emission saving potential in Germany’s inner cities by using
“Park&Joy” is rather high and reasonable.
In summary, a multi-criterion and parameterizable method for modelling the emission savings was developed and implemented in software. The environmental assessment lacks a proportional consideration of the resource consumption, since a direct
comparison with the vehicle emissions is not possible. It should be borne in mind
that resource consumption is always a factor that cannot be offset by the number