Thomas Kirschstein

Among the economic sectors, mobility is showing significant environmental impacts, especially in the use phase of vehicles. By substituting fossil-fuelled propelling systems, environmental impacts such as the Global Warming Potential (GWP) can be reduced. The use of properly designed light electric vehicles (LEVs) significantly reduces further environmental impacts, as well as maintenance costs, which are relevant for a circular economy. For example, the use of low-voltage (42 V) propelling systems enables the maintenance of LEVs in a broader range of existing bicycle workshops. Regarding the environmental impacts, the described LCA results indicate the advantage of LEVs compared with EVs and ICVs, e.g., vehicle weight is found to be a main factor related to environmental impact for each type of vehicle. This implies a reduced need for battery capacity and lower emissions of particulate matter from tire and break abrasion. This study aims to present the application potential of LEVs and the related reduction in environmental impacts. Anonymised inventory lists of municipal vehicle fleets are analysed for quantifying the substitution potential of LEVs in specific use cases. For this purpose, the use phase of vehicles is analysed with a focus on product design for repair and recycling and supplemented by the results of a comparative environmental impact assessment of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), electric vehicles (EVs), and LEVs. The comparison is made on the premise of similar application requirements. These specifications are the ability of each of the vehicles to transport a maximum of three persons (driver included) or one driver and 250 kg of cargo in 3 m³ over a daily distance of 100 km in urban areas. On this basis, the municipal environmental benefits derived from substituting small vehicles in the form of ICEVs and EVs with LEVs are assessed. The results show that in the field of municipal mobility, a relevant number of conventional small vehicles can be substituted with LEVs. The environmental impacts in categories of the highest robustness level, RL I, that is, Global Warming Potential, fine dust emissions, and Ozone Depletion Potential, can be reduced by LEVs by 50% compared with EVs and by over 50% compared with ICEVs. The strong influence of vehicle weight on the abrasive conditions of tires and brakes is considerable, as shown by reduced fine dust emissions.

The idea of eco‐labeling is to provide customers with an easy‐to‐understand signal regarding the ecological impact of using a product or service. With this paper, we propose an eco‐labeling system for freight transportation. We discuss design options based on a common emission reporting standard and a related communication protocol. We further explain a procedure for deriving labels for shipments of goods and provide examples illustrating and evaluating the labeling process at selected land‐based freight transport services. Results indicate that eco‐labels can grade the environmental impact of a transport service reliably, even if heterogeneous goods are moved together. Finally, we outline challenges for future research associated with eco‐labeling in freight transportation markets.

The paper examines to what extent a player's market value depends on his skills. Therefore, a data set covering 28 performance measures and the market values of about 493 players from 1. and 2. German Bundesliga is analysed. Applying robust analysis techniques, we are able to robustly estimate market values of soccer players. The results show (1) that there are significantly underrated and overrated players and (2) that a player's affiliation to a certain team may contribute to his market value. We conclude that a club's reputation affects the market values of its players and that star players are in tendency overrated.