Article Analysis of the Reduction of CO2 Emissions in Urban Environments by Replacing Conventional City Buses by Electric Bus Fleets: Spain Case Study Edwin R. Grijalva 1,2 and José María López Martínez 1,* 1 University Institute for Automobile Research (INSIA), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28031 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] 2 Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería e Industrias, Universidad UTE, Bourgeois N34-102 & Rumipamba, Quito 171508, Ecuador * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +34-913-365-304 Received: 14 December 2018; Accepted: 29 January 2019; Published: 7 February 2019 Abstract: The emissions of CO2 gas caused by transport in urban areas are increasingly serious, and the public transport sector plays a vital role in society, especially when considering the increased demands for mobility. New energy technologies in urban mobility are being introduced, as evidenced by the electric vehicle. We evaluated the positive environmental effects in terms of CO2 emissions that would be produced by the replacement of conventional urban transport bus fleets by electric buses. The simulation of an electric urban bus conceptual model is presented as a case study. The model is validated using the speed and height profiles of the most representative route within the city of Madrid—the C1 line. We assumed that the vehicle fleet is charged using the electric grid at night, when energy demand is low, the cost of energy is low, and energy is produced with a large provision of renewable energy, principally wind power. For the results, we considered the percentage of fleet replacement and the Spanish electricity mix.