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Corn ethanol produced in the US and sugarcane ethanol produced in Brazil are the world's leading sources of biofuel. Current US biofuel policies create both incentives and constraints for the import of ethanol from Brazil and together with the cost competitiveness and greenhouse gas intensity of sugarcane ethanol compared to corn ethanol will determine the extent of these imports. This study analyzes the supply-side determinants of cost competitiveness and compares the greenhouse gas intensity of corn ethanol and sugarcane ethanol delivered to US ports. We find that while the cost of sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil is lower than that of corn ethanol in the US, the inclusion of transportation costs for the...
This paper presents an overview of the main issues associated with the economics of offshore wind. Investment in offshore wind systems has been growing rapidly throughout Europe, and the technology will be essential in meeting EU targets for renewable energy in 2020. Offshore wind suffers from high installation and connection costs, however, making government support essential. We review various support policies used in Europe, concluding that tender-based feed-in tariff schemes, as used in Denmark, may be best for providing adequate support while minimising developers' rents. It may prove economic to build an international offshore grid connecting wind farms belonging to different countries that are sited close...
The 165-km2 Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in west-central California includes 5,400 wind turbines, each rated to generate between 40 kW and 400 kW of electric power, or 580 MW total. Many birds residing or passing through the area are killed by collisions with these wind turbines. We searched for bird carcasses within 50 m of 4,074 wind turbines for periods ranging from 6 months to 4.5 years. Using mortality estimates adjusted for searcher detection and scavenger removal rates, we estimated the annual wind turbine–caused bird fatalities to number 67 (80% CI = 25–109) golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), 188 (80% CI = 116–259) red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), 348 (80% CI = −49 to 749) American kestrels...
Mining and civil engineering industries sometimes use drilling muds for stabilizing a borehole during drilling wells for methane drainage, geothermal energy and radioactive waste disposal. Standard theories predicting borehole breakdown pressure assume breakdown occurs when a small fracture initiates at a location where the largest tangential stress at the borehole reaches the tensile strength of formation. Fracturing tests conducted in this study, how- ever, showed that when drilling fluid was used as an injection fluid, borehole breakdown did not occur even if a fracture initiated at a borehole wall. Bore- hole breakdown occurred when the initiated fracture became unstable after significant growth with O. 76cm...
In many ways, the mountain west (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) is an energy colony for the rest of the United States: it is rich in energy resources that are extracted to fuel economic growth in the wealthier and more populous coastal regions. Federal agencies and global corporations often behave as if the mountain west is a place to be exploited or managed for the benefit of customers and consumers elsewhere. Yet, the area. is not vast empty space with a limitless supply of natural resources, but rather a fast-growing region with a diverse economic base dependent on a limited supply of water. New decision processes and collaborations are slowly changing this situation,...
Policymakers and managers in the U.S. energy sector will face complex multidimensional challenges as they confront potential supply shortfalls, infrastructure constraints, and environmental limitations in the years ahead. Using a technique known as scenario analysis, this paper investigates key energy issues and decisions that could improve or reduce the ability of the United States to deal with the uncertainties that may challenge the U.S. economy during the next fifty years. Four scenarios have been developed representing a diverse range of future worlds to explore the driving forces and critical uncertainties that may shape U.S. energy markets and the economy for the next fifty years. Each scenario has been quantified...
Expanding the use of CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) promises to both significantly increase recovery from existing U.S. oil reserves and possibly form a bridge to large-scale CO2 capture and sequestration. An important input into planning for such expansion are estimates of how both the supply of incremental oil and the derived CO2 demand from EOR are likely to vary with the prices of oil and CO2. We demonstrate how the “analog” method of predicting oil and CO2 flows can be used to readily generate such estimates, and apply the method to Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: economics, energy, supply demand
Consistent with sound business practice and the Agency’s stewardship responsibilities, Reclamation is continuously striving to identify and apply advanced approaches allowing the operation of Reclamation hydropower plants in a more efficient manner—generating more electricity per acre-foot of water released. One of the challenges of efficient hydropower generation is the matter of setting short-term generation schedules from multiple sources. On at least an hourly basis, Reclamation’s power plant operators must determine the best combination of generator units to bring online, and at what levels, given the existing demand for electricity and other operating costs and constraints. This is known as the economic dispatch...
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...
We provide a brief historical background of the development of hydraulic fracturing models for use in the petroleum and other industries. We discuss scaling laws and the propagation regimes that control the growth of hydraulic fractures from the laboratory to the field scale. We introduce the mathematical equations and boundary conditions that govern the hydraulic fracturing process, and discuss numerical implementation issues including: tracking of the fracture footprint, the control of the growth of the hydraulic fracture as a function of time, coupling of the equations, and time-stepping schemes. We demonstrate the complexity of hydraulic fracturing by means of an application example based on real data. Finally,...
An integrated approach for choosing among energy supply- and demand-side measures shows that, compared to business-as-usual demand patterns, global greenhouse-gas emissions can be reduced well below current levels with net economic benefits to society. Given these findings, a 'wait-and-see' stance towards new initiatives in energy and environmental policy is not economically justifiable. Achieving significant emissions reductions, however, will require commitments to policies aimed at enabling energy markets to function more efficiently and supporting legislation where market forces do not suffice.
During the past three years, working with more than 150 organizations representing public and private stakeholders, EPRI has developed the Electricity Technology Roadmap. The Roadmap identifies several major strategic challenges that must be successfully addressed to ensure a sustainable future in which electricity continues to play an important role in economic growth. Articulation of these anticipated trends and challenges requires a detailed understanding of the role and importance of reliable electricity in different sectors of the economy. This report is intended to contribute to that understanding by analyzing key aspects of trends in the economic value of electricity reliability in the U.S. economy. We first...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Economics, Energy, Shell, Shell Energy
This paper presents an overview of the main issues associated with the economics of offshore wind. Investment in offshore wind systems has been growing rapidly throughout Europe, and the technology will be essential in meeting EU targets for renewable energy in 2020. Offshore wind suffers from high installation and connection costs, however, making government support essential. We review various support policies used in Europe, concluding that tender-based feed-in tariff schemes, as used in Denmark, may be best for providing adequate support while minimising developers' rents. It may prove economic to build an international offshore grid connecting wind farms belonging to different countries that are sited close...
In many ways, the mountain west (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) is an energy colony for the rest of the United States: it is rich in energy resources that are extracted to fuel economic growth in the wealthier and more populous coastal regions. Federal agencies and global corporations often behave as if the mountain west is a place to be exploited or managed for the benefit of customers and consumers elsewhere. Yet, the area. is not vast empty space with a limitless supply of natural resources, but rather a fast-growing region with a diverse economic base dependent on a limited supply of water. New decision processes and collaborations are slowly changing this situation,...
As technical efficiency improvement in energy use remains a touchstone measure to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is substantial concern about whether this approach can offset the large and expanding impacts of human actions. Critics contend that without adjustments to the prevailing consumptive lifestyle, energy efficiency improvement will generate only token reductions in GHG emissions. I address this concern by examining the extent to which technical efficiency improvement in energy use offsets the impacts of housing-related lifestyle on GHG emissions. I build from two perspectives, the physical-technical-economic models that consider energy efficiency improvement as a potent strategy to curb residential...
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To better understand the motivations of landowners, specifically farmers, to participate in programs that improve wildlife habitat and water quality in the region. The LCC is working with U.S. Geological Survey to evaluate factors influencing landowners’ enrollment in U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that improve water quality by reducing sedimentation and nutrient loading, and, landowners’ incentives to enter into sustainable agricultural systems. The outcomes of this study will provide insight into designing and developing programs, practices and messages that encourage broader participation in conservation programs and sustainable practices within the agricultural community. The long-term objectives of...
Environmental managers are faced with the wise management, sustainability, and stewardship of their land for natural resource values. This task requires the integration of ecological evaluation with economics. Using the Department of Energy (DOE) as a case study, we examine the why, who, what, where, when, and how questions about assessment and natural resource protection of buffer lands. We suggest that managers evaluate natural resources for a variety of reasons that revolve around land use, remediation/restoration, protection of natural environments, and natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). While DOE is the manager of its lands, and thus its natural resources, a range of natural resource trustees and public...
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...
Energy, economics, and the environment are interdependent. Land, water, atmospheric, and biological resources #are being degraded by current high energy consumption. U.S. energy consumption is the highest in the world and the U.S. Department of Energy reports that the United States has only about 10 years of known and potentially 1,discoverable oil reserves. The U.S. should reduce its energy consumption by one half to help restore the quality of ithe environment while improving the American standard of living by strengthening the economy and increasing the Inumber of jobs. Because of the interdependence of energy, economics, and the environment, energy efficiency and 1:ransition to renewable energy sources are critical....
map background search result map search result map Assessing landowner's / producer's attitude toward and motivations for participating in conservation programs beneficial to wildlife Assessing landowner's / producer's attitude toward and motivations for participating in conservation programs beneficial to wildlife