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Because of concerns with the growing threat of global climate change from increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, the United States and other countries are implementing, by themselves or in cooperation with one or more other nations, climate change mitigation projects. These projects will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or sequester carbon, and will also result in non-GHG benefits (i.e., environmental, economic, and social benefits). Monitoring, evaluating, reporting, and verifying (MERV) guidelines are needed for these projects to accurately determine their net GHG, and other, benefits. Implementation of MERV guidelines is also intended to: (1) increase the reliability of data for estimating GHG benefits;...
State policies can support renewable energy development by driving markets, providing certainty in the investment market, and incorporating the external benefits of the technologies into cost/benefit calculations. Using statistical analyses and policy design best practices, this paper quantifies the impact of state-level policies on renewable energy development in order to better understand the role of policy on development and inform policy makers on the policy mechanisms that provide maximum benefit. The results include the identification of connections between state policies and renewable energy development, as well as a discussion placing state policy efforts in context with other factors that influence the...
Rising global demand for energy, high energy prices, climate change, and the threat of terrorism all point to the need for greater energy efficiency and conservation in the United States. While technological innovation is plainly needed, our laws and institutional arrangements must also play an important role. The United States has scores of legal and policy tools from which to choose to improve energy efficiency and curb energy consumption. This Article, which grows out of a Spring 2006 seminar at theWidener University School of Law, evaluates a handful of these tools: transit-oriented development; fuel taxation; real-time pricing for electricity use; public benefit funds; improving the efficiency of existing residential...
Coalbed methane is one of the most important and valuable natural resources in the Western United States. The natural gas that results from CBM development is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, and the extensive domestic supply makes it a central element of the national goal of a secure supply of energy. Demand for natural gas will continue to grow and CBM will play an increasingly larger role in meeting that demand. CBM production has expanded tremendously over the past decade, and the rapidity with which development has expanded has resulted in stresses and tension in affected communities. Development of this important energy resource must be balanced with a number of other important goals of protecting water,...
The success of carbon capture, storage and sequestration as a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy will be, in part, dependent on the regulatory framework used to govern its implementation. Creating a science-based regulatory framework that is designed with enough flexibility to encourage greenhouse gas offset activity, effective means of measuring the costs of taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ample protection for human and ecosystem health may prove challenging. For the purposes of this paper we will assume that there is an existing incentive to capture, store and sequester carbon and focus on how to regulate the process. Accounting practices and precursory crediting rules for biological sinks...
Rising global demand for energy, high energy prices, climate change, and the threat of terrorism all point to the need for greater energy efficiency and conservation in the United States. While technological innovation is plainly needed, our laws and institutional arrangements must also play an important role. The United States has scores of legal and policy tools from which to choose to improve energy efficiency and curb energy consumption. This Article, which grows out of a Spring 2006 seminar at theWidener University School of Law, evaluates a handful of these tools: transit-oriented development; fuel taxation; real-time pricing for electricity use; public benefit funds; improving the efficiency of existing residential...
This book contains contributions by expert scientists and engineers on all of the sources of energy available to us now and in the near future that will enable us to take the energy decisions needed for sustaining development and dealing with climate change.
Stakeholder analysis allows analysts to identify how parties might be affected by government projects. This process involves identifying the likely impacts of a proposed action and stakeholder groups affected by that action. Additionally, the process involves assessing how these groups might be affected and suggesting measures to mitigate any adverse effects. Evidence suggests that the efficiency and effectiveness of government actions can be increased and adverse social impacts mitigated when officials understand how a proposed action might affect stakeholders. This report discusses how to conduct useful stakeholder analyses for government officials making decisions on energy-efficiency and renewable-energy technologies...
One of the first government-sponsored demands for integrated assessment to support decision making in the United States is embodied in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Over the past 25 years, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has supported federal agencies’ in evaluating health and environmental impacts as required by NEPA. Many of ORNL’s efforts have focused on complex, programmatic assessments that break new ground and require and integrate expertise from a wide range of technical disciplines. Examples of ORNL projects that illustrate the use of integrated assessment approaches include environmental documentation for: (1) the Department of the Army’s Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program,...
Coalbed methane is one of the most important and valuable natural resources in the Western United States. The natural gas that results from CBM development is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, and the extensive domestic supply makes it a central element of the national goal of a secure supply of energy. Demand for natural gas will continue to grow and CBM will play an increasingly larger role in meeting that demand. CBM production has expanded tremendously over the past decade, and the rapidity with which development has expanded has resulted in stresses and tension in affected communities. Development of this important energy resource must be balanced with a number of other important goals of protecting water,...
Since the beginning of 2008, natural gas exploration activities in the Marcellus Shale Formation have increased significantly in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania—more than 2,349 wells have been drilled, primarily in the southwest, northeast and northcentral regions. In response to the increased number of well sites and concerns about the impact of the Marcellus Shale natural gas development activities on air quality, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP or Department) launched a short-term, screening-level air quality sampling initiative in the northcentral region in August 2010, culminating in December 2010. This report includes the findings of the screening air sampling surveys conducted...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Fossil fuel, clean, coal
Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future. Recent advances in drilling technologies—including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—have made vast reserves of natural gas economically recoverable in the US. Responsible development of America’s oil and gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation technique used to maximize production of oil and natural gas in unconventional reservoirs, such as shale, coalbeds, and tight sands. During hydraulic fracturing, specially engineered fluids containing chemical additives and proppant are pumped under high pressure into the well to create and hold open fractures...
Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future. Recent advances in drilling technologies—including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—have made vast reserves of natural gas economically recoverable in the US. Responsible development of America’s oil and gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation technique used to maximize production of oil and natural gas in unconventional reservoirs, such as shale, coalbeds, and tight sands. During hydraulic fracturing, specially engineered fluids containing chemical additives and proppant are pumped under high pressure into the well to create and hold open fractures...
The success of carbon capture, storage and sequestration as a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy will be, in part, dependent on the regulatory framework used to govern its implementation. Creating a science-based regulatory framework that is designed with enough flexibility to encourage greenhouse gas offset activity, effective means of measuring the costs of taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ample protection for human and ecosystem health may prove challenging. For the purposes of this paper we will assume that there is an existing incentive to capture, store and sequester carbon and focus on how to regulate the process. Accounting practices and precursory crediting rules for biological sinks...
The National Toxics Network (NTN) calls on federal and state governments to implement a moratorium on the use of hydraulic drilling and fracturing chemicals (‘fracking chemicals’) used in the hydraulic drilling and fracturing of coal gas seams and gas shale extraction, until the fracking chemicals have been fully assessed for their health and environmental hazards by the industrial chemicals regulator, the National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). NTN’s assessment has found that only 2 out of the 23 most commonly used fracking chemicals in Australia have been assessed by NICNAS. Neither of these 2 chemicals have been specifically assessed for their use in hydraulic drilling and fracking.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Demand, Dependency, Foreign Oil, Oil
As electricity demand increases, policymakers must make decisions about which energy resources will meet future demands. Much of the recent literature has focused on the contribution of new coal power plants to carbon emissions (Milford et al., 2005; Milford et al., 2007; MIT 2007). However, policymakers and industry are increasingly interested in job creation and economic development analyses to understand the full impacts of new electricity generation projects.1 Additionally, economic development impacts are often a critical piece in building public support for wind power projects. The purpose of this research is to look at the specific factors that drive wind-power-related economic development and to better understand...
Rising global demand for energy, high energy prices, climate change, and the threat of terrorism all point to the need for greater energy efficiency and conservation in the United States. While technological innovation is plainly needed, our laws and institutional arrangements must also play an important role. The United States has scores of legal and policy tools from which to choose to improve energy efficiency and curb energy consumption. This Article, which grows out of a Spring 2006 seminar at theWidener University School of Law, evaluates a handful of these tools: transit-oriented development; fuel taxation; real-time pricing for electricity use; public benefit funds; improving the efficiency of existing residential...
The purpose of the pilot project is to trial different methods and vendors of wind power forecasting to determine the best approach to forecasting wind power in Alberta in the future. Three vendors were chosen with global forecasting experience; AWS Truewind (New York), energy & meteo systems (Germany), and WEPROG (Denmark). Each vendor will forecast for 12 geographically dispersed wind power facilities for a year (May 07 to May 08) providing a forecast covering the next 48 hours refreshed hourly. ORTECH Power was chosen to perform the quantitative analysis of the results analyzing methods, timeframes and geographical locations. Phoenix Engineering was chosen to collect all the necessary meteorological data required...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Wind, report, safety, wind energy, wind turbine
As wind power development continues at a rapid pace in the United States, there is increasing interest in its economic impacts. Because good wind resources are typically far from electrical loads, wind power plants are often built in rural areas. The economic impacts that arise from building and operating a power plant can be significant but are often not considered by public utility commission processes. Although these impacts vary from state to state because of the differences in wind resource and state infrastructure, economic development from new wind provides important impacts from necessary power system expansion and should play a more prominent role in decision-making processes. This paper uses the National...
The rising cost of diesel fuel spurred on by oil costs well above $100/barrel and the environmental regulation for its transportation, use, and storage, combined with the clear impacts of carbon emissions are driving remote communities dependent on diesel fuel to look at alternative methods of providing power. During the past few years, wind energy is increasingly used to reduce diesel fuel consumption, providing economic, environmental, social, and security benefits to communities’ energy supplies. The market for wind-diesel power systems has also recently progressed from a topic discussed by researchers to many commercial operating systems. From Alaska to Chile, from Australia to Spain, from high-penetration wind-diesel...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Diesel, Hybrid, Power, Remote, Wind