Taking a new perspective on road transport and the electricity supply system: a non-biological ecosystem

Stable ecosystems embody a careful balance between resources, uses and users: this balance is the key to sustainability. Stable ecosystems likewise represent the final ideal status of the integration of plug-in road transport to the UK electricity system. This paper considers the various types of road transport and the electricity supply system to be members of a non-biological ecosystem. Using ecological theories the coming intermixing of the road transport sector with the electricity supply industry can be better understood. The principles behind evolution, selection, and the forming of ecological relationships offer insight into the emergence and success of new technologies, and how to plan for the future. By introducing the concept of energy-based niches for plug-in vehicles, their added demand can be constrained within the bounds of available generation, transmission and distribution capacity. Meanwhile the existence of alternative and crossover energy pathways illuminates the need to widen the scope of energy resource/use/user allocation, as non-electricity dependent road transport competes for resources with the electricity system.