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This report surveys the definitions of reserve services used in several countries and regions of Europe and the United States that have implemented competitive electricity markets. It also compares the technical specifications of these services. The systems considered are Great Britain, PJM, California, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium as well as UCTE as a whole.
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...
Waste frying oils (WFO) can be a good source for the production of biodiesel because this raw material is not part of the food chain, is low cost and can be used in a way that resolves environmental problems (i.e. WFO is no longer thrown into the sewage network). The goal of this article is to propose a method to evaluate the costs of biodiesel production from WFO to develop an economic assessment of this alternative. This method embraces a logistics perspective, as the cost of collection of oil from commercial producers and its delivery to biodiesel depots or plants can be relevant and is an issue that has been little explored in the academic literature. To determine the logistics cost, a mathematical programming...
The U.S. continues efforts to develop genetically superior short-rotation woody crops (hybrid poplar and willow) and herbaceous crops (switchgrass). These biomass crops can provide multiple environmental benefits as well as energy and fiber. This paper focuses on results of site-specific studies that are quantifying the environmental potential and ramifications of converting agricultural croplands to biomass crop production. At research-scales, no differences have been found in erosion and movement of nutrients from annual row crops, switchgrass, and tree crops with and without a cover crop in the initial year of establishment. Research- and watershed-scale studies on different soil types, in different regions,...
Community energy initiatives offer a potentially important means for reshaping the electrical system in a manner compatible with emissions reduction goals. Many such initiatives, however, focus upon top-down, institutionally structured approaches that understand community residents as atomistic, economically motivated, and minimally engaged. This paper examines a number of case studies that are based upon a bottom-up approach rooted in a civic culture that seeks to maximize the capacities of an active and engaged citizenry. The paper focuses upon two mutually dependent issues: first, recruiting community members, and second, sustaining their participation.
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...
Photovoltaic electricity has the potential to mitigate CO2 emissions from the grid. A methodology to more accurately evaluate CO2 abatement by PV electricity is developed. We develop a capacity factor based dispatching model to evaluate marginal abatement in the load zones of ERCOT and CAISO, and compare it to the abatement using national, regional and state average resource profiles. The average cases over-estimated and under-estimated CO2 abatement in ERCOT and CAISO, respectively. Marginal abatement was lower by 17% than the average cases in ERCOT, due to the predominant displacement of the low carbon natural gas plants at the margin. In CASIO, marginal abatement was higher (1.3-2.4 times) than that of the average...
There may be no more conspicuous example of a conflict between society and technology than a wind energy landscape. The fastest growing renewable energy resource in the world, wind energy has evoked a cool public response. Through the use of interviews, the published literature, governing legislation, and personal experience, this article examines this conflict near Palm Springs, California. Its purpose is to summarize and explain the opposition that developed there from the earliest days, what has been done to mitigate it, and how the local experience is reflected in similar developments elsewhere. This particular conflict between society and technology has the potential, with proper guidance, controls, and sensitivity,...
We assess different policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies: (1) a carbon emissions price, (2) a generation subsidy for renewable energy, (3) a tax on fossil fuel generated energy, (4) a portfolio (market share) requirement for renewable energy sources, (5) a tradable performance standard for the emissions intensity of all generation, and (6) a subsidy for R&D investment in renewable energy technology. We evaluate the relative performance of the different policies according to different potential goals: emissions reduction, renewable energy production, R&D, and welfare. We also assess how the nature of technological progress—whether...
Interest in renewable energy has never been greater, but much uncertainty remains as to the role the various technologies will play in the transition to a low-carbon future. This book sets out the facts - how the technologies work, where and to what extent they are currently employed, and where the greatest potential lies. Covering all the major fields - solar electricity, solar thermal, solar architecture, bioenergy, wind, geothermal, hydropower, as well as new energy technologies - it also includes sections on how best to promote the uptake of renewables and answers to common questions and opposition. The authors provide a number of German-sourced yet internationally relevant examples and strategies which have...
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...
This paper presents a new approach for a nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMA) framework that can unlock the huge potential for greenhouse gas mitigation in dispersed energy end-use sectors in developing countries; specifically, the building sector and the industrial sector. These two sectors make up the largest portions of energy consumption in developing countries. However, due to multiple barriers and lack of effective polices, energy efficiency in dispersed energy end-use sectors has not been effectively put into practice. The new NAMA framework described in this paper is designed to fulfill the demand for public policies and public sector investment in developing countries and thereby boost private...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: advances, energy, possible, storage, technology
This paper presents a new approach for a nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMA) framework that can unlock the huge potential for greenhouse gas mitigation in dispersed energy end-use sectors in developing countries; specifically, the building sector and the industrial sector. These two sectors make up the largest portions of energy consumption in developing countries. However, due to multiple barriers and lack of effective polices, energy efficiency in dispersed energy end-use sectors has not been effectively put into practice. The new NAMA framework described in this paper is designed to fulfill the demand for public policies and public sector investment in developing countries and thereby boost private...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: advances, energy, possible, storage, technology
This paper deals with a novel approach to study renewable energy options for buildings to make them more efficient, more cost effective, more environmentally benign, and more technologically attractive. To demonstrate the application of this study, four buildings are chosen as case studies with two from the residential sector, one commercial/institutional building, and one industrial building. A ground source heat pump for heating and cooling, a solar water heater for space heating and/or hot water, and a photovoltaic panel to generate electricity are designed for these case studies. Attempt is made to design projects under hybrid systems combined from two technologies are developed for the above-mentioned four...
Since the 80s power production with solar thermal power plants has been a way to substitute fossil fuels. By concentrating direct solar radiation from heliostats very high temperatures of a thermal fluid can be reached. The resulting heat is converted to mechanical energy in a steam cycle which generates electricity. High efficiencies and fast start-up are reached by using air as a heat medium, as well as using porous ceramic materials as solar receiver of the concentrated sunlight. In Germany the construction of a 1.5 MWe solar tower power plant began in 2008. It is operational since December 2008 and started production of electricity in the spring of 2009. In Greece and Cyprus, countries with high solar potential,...
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...
The article discusses a report published by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) that examined the technical feasibility of using wind energy for electricity generation. The report assessed the costs, impacts and challenges associated with the production of 20% wind energy by 2030. Results have shown that there is a need for an enhanced transmission infrastructure and an increase in turbine installations to achieve 20% wind energy.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: market, report, technology, wind
Archived samples of blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, collected yearly between 1959 and 1970 were analyzed for cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper content. Approximately halfway through the 12-year sampling period, an open-pit copper mine began activities, then ceased operations 2 years later. Thus the archived samples provided a unique opportunity to determine if avian gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, could reveal patterns in the anthropogenic deposition of trace metals associated with mining activities. Gizzard concentrations of cadmium and copper strongly coincided with the onset of opening and the closing of the pit mining activity. Gizzard zinc and lead demonstrated significant...
This report surveys the definitions of reserve services used in several countries and regions of Europe and the United States that have implemented competitive electricity markets. It also compares the technical specifications of these services. The systems considered are Great Britain, PJM, California, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium as well as UCTE as a whole.
Ecological and economic systems are open systems that require energy to change the thermodynamic states of materials from naturally occurring to more valued forms. These changes are accompanied by information flows and changes in the order of systems and their surroundings. In this paper, thermodynamics is used to assess these system changes and relate them to the knowledge present in a system. Particular emphasis is given to (1) the fundamental relationships among material, energy and information flows, and changes in order and knowledge, (2) the role of equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics in assessing system change, (3) the increasing role of material and energy flows through economic systems, and (4)...