Reducing the Cost of Delay: On the Interaction of Cap-and-Trade and Subsidies for Clean Energy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Tietjen
Keyword(s):  
Clean Energy ◽  
Cap And Trade ◽  
The Cost

Development of Biomass Energy Technologies and Business Models for Southern Africa

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malena Agyemang ◽  
Nathan G. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Biomass Energy ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Fuel Pellet ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Biomass Pellet

This study evaluates options for biomass pellet formulations and business models to create a sustainable energy solution for cooking energy in Southern Africa. Various agricultural wastes and agro-processing wastes are investigated to meet industry standards on biomass pellet quality. These fuels are obtained from farms and facilities across a geographic area that affects the end-cost of the pellet through transportation costs and the cost of the biomass. The technical performance of the pellet and cost of the pellet are first contrasted and then optimized in unison to develop sustainable energy options that can provide year-round clean energy for household cooking and heating needs. A market was analyzed using wheat, sugarcane and maize crops as components for the biomass pellet fuel source in the Zululand district of South Africa. Using a target moisture content (MCtarget) of 8–10%, a target lower heating value (LHVtarget) greater than 16.0 MJ/kg and a target percent ash (Ashtarget) less than 3%, pellet metrics were optimized. The cost of the crops for the pellets was dependent upon the amount of each biomass used to make up the composition of the pellet. The production demand was then analyzed based on the most current consumer cooking fuel demand within South Africa. The production model was evaluated for three factory sizes; small (1hr/ton), medium (3hr/ton), and large (5hr/ton). Primary shipping cost is based on factory location and has a major impact on the cost of the pellet for the consumer as well as the availability of the supply. Factory location was analyzed by varying the biomass crop distance to the factory. Several business models are evaluated within this study to show which representation results in a high quality pellet of low cost to consumer. The study suggests the pellet be composed of 44.62% sugarcane, 47.49% maize, and 0.82% wheat resulting in a LHV of 16.00 MJ/kg, a MC of 8 (w/w%), and an ash content of 3 (w/w%). The optimal cost of the biomass fuel pellet for the consumer ranged from 172.77US$/ton to 185.03 US$/ton.

Can Coal Contribute to Sustainable Development?

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Wicks ◽  
Malcolm Keay
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Cost Penalty ◽  
The Cost

Coal is not always seen as a route to sustainable development; renewable energy, energy efficiency and a move away from fossil fuels are what people usually have in mind. The paper argues that such a view is incomplete. One of the key development challenges facing the 21st century is to ensure wider access to clean energy. There are 1.6 billion people currently lacking electricity and the enormous benefits it brings in terms of poverty reduction and improved quality of life. Coal has been the route to electrification for millions in the developing world – China alone secured electricity access for over 700 million people between 1980 and 2000 in a system based 84 percent on coal. Clean technologies generally involve higher costs. Can the higher environmental expectations of the 21st century be met without denying or delaying access to electricity for millions in need? The paper identifies ways in which the cost penalty and other barriers to the introduction of clean coal-based technologies can be overcome. Higher efficiencies reduce both costs and emissions – the universal deployment of existing commercial best practice would produce savings equivalent to those from the Kyoto protocol. Emerging coal-based technologies enable cost-effective carbon dioxide emissions reductions. Co-firing of coal and renewables is often the most effective route to enabling resources such as biomass and solar power to be exploited. In the longer run, carbon sequestration offers huge potential for near zero emissions power at costs comparable with or lower than the alternatives. The conclusion is that no single fuel source provides the answer to sustainable development; a range of options is needed. Cleaner coal-based technologies must be one of those options: they can meet both immediate development goals and longer-term climate change imperatives.

scholarly journals Cost-Optimized Heat and Power Supply for Residential Buildings: The Cost-Reducing Effect of Forming Smart Energy Neighborhoods

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 5093
Author(s):  
Christoph Bahret ◽  
Ludger Eltrop
Keyword(s):  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Linear Optimization ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Neighborhood Scale ◽  
Storage Technologies ◽  
The Cost

The Clean Energy for all Europeans Package by the EU aims, among other things, to enable collective self-consumption for various forms of energy. This step towards more prosumer-based and decentralized energy systems comes at a time when energy planning at a neighborhood scale is on the rise in many countries. It is widely assumed that—from a prosumer’s cost-perspective—shared conversion and storage technologies supplying more than a single building can be advantageous. However, it is not clear whether this is the case generally or only under certain conditions. By analyzing idealized building clusters at different degrees of urbanization (DOU), a linear-optimization approach is used to study the cost difference between shared energy infrastructure (smart energy neighborhoods, SENs) and individually planned buildings. This procedure is carried out for various emission reduction targets. The results show, that with higher emission reduction targets the advantage of SENs increases within rural environments and can reach up to 16%. Nevertheless, there are constellations in which the share of energetic infrastructure among buildings does not lead to any economic advantages. For example, in the case of building clusters with less than four buildings, almost no cost advantage is found. The result of this study underlines the importance of energy system planning within the process of urban planning.

Comparative Analysis of Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic Panels as Electrical Sources for RO Desalination Domestic Scale Systems

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Abdel-Rehim ◽  
Bahy S. A. Abdel-Mesih ◽  
Jamal E. Alostaz
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Photovoltaic Effect ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
System A ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Domestic Use ◽  
Sustainable Societies ◽  
Clean Energy Source ◽  
The Cost

Fuel cells and photovoltaic cells are two promising technologies for green sustainable societies. Both are technologies that are capable of producing electricity but with different techniques. A solar cell converts light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. On the other hand, a fuel cell converts the chemical energy from the reaction between oxygen and a fuel into electricity and water. The fuel used is hydrogen which can be produced using solar energy. Both devices have different working principles, operation requirements, and efficiencies. However, they share the end goal of producing electricity from a non-fossil clean energy source. The main objective of this work is to investigate whether fuel cells or solar cells are more feasible for domestic use by considering the available technologies and information. The comparison is based on the electricity produced by the two technologies provided the same input of energy from the sun. The research focuses on the electrical output, their efficiencies, and the cost of purchasing, operation, and thus the cost of energy produced from the whole system. A desalination domestic scale system based on Reverse Osmosis (RO) technique was proposed as an application to consume this energy.

Profitability of organic and conventional soybean production under ‘green payments’ in carbon offset programs

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Singerman ◽  
Kathleen Delate ◽  
Craig Chase ◽  
Catherine Greene ◽  
Michael Livingston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Agricultural Markets ◽  
Cap And Trade ◽  
Soybean Production ◽  
Conventional Production ◽  
The Usa

AbstractEmphasis on reducing emissions from the greenhouse gases (GHG), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) has increased in recent years in the USA, primarily for industry, transportation, energy and agricultural sectors. In this study, we utilized on-farm data collected by the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), secured under an agreement with the USDA-Economic Research Service (ERS) to analyze the profitability of organic and conventional soybean production, based on changes that ‘green payments’ in a cap-and-trade system would introduce in agricultural markets in the USA. In particular, the analysis focused on establishing whether organic producers would be better positioned to sequester carbon (C) and reap the benefits of the C-offset scheme compared to conventional producers, given the differences in costs, management practices and environmental benefits between organic and conventional production methods. We estimated several changes in profitability of soybean producers according to management practices, incentives for the generation of offset credits, and increase in energy input prices that a potential cap-and-trade system may introduce in future agricultural markets in the USA. Survey data suggested that even with lower yields, conventional producers could profit from converting to organic agriculture, given organic price premiums. In addition, taking into consideration both direct and indirect costs, average cost for conventional-till (CT) organic soybean production was approximately 9% lower than no-till (NT) conventional production. With a C market and payments for soil C sequestration through potential Clean Energy legislation, additional profit could be accrued by organic producers, because organic production would have 28% greater ton CO2 eq. acre−1 yr−1 sequestration than conventional NT. Thus, the environmental benefits from GHG reduction could incentivize increased conversion from conventional to organic production across the USA.

Cost Analysis of Geothermal Energy Development in Tengchong, China

2014 ◽  
Vol 1030-1032 ◽  
pp. 2544-2546
Author(s):  
Ru Liu ◽  
Yan Jun Liu ◽  
Xiao Qing Dong
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Made In

Geothermal energy project in Tengchong has to be economically feasible to be implemented. The cost analysis is necessary to be made in order to obtain a vision for the investors, so that they could find out if the project is advisable regarding cost in short and long term. As a new kind of clean energy contributing to the electricity, geothermal energy development in Tengchong will be a long-term strategy.

Analysis of generation cost changes during China’s energy transition

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenli Qiang ◽  
Shuwen Niu ◽  
Xiaojie Liu ◽  
Xiang Wang ◽  
Zhuo Jia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Emission Trading ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Generation Cost ◽  
The Government ◽  
Carbon Emission Trading ◽  
The Cost

How to cut down power generation cost is an important issue during energy system transformation. This study examines the pathway of China’s coal-fired and clean power’s unit generation cost changes during 2007–2015 and predicts the change trends of each type of power between 2016 and 2025. The results show that the cost of coal-fired power will increase to 0.50–0.73 Yuan/kWh in 2025 because of the stricter environmental regulations and the establishment of a nationwide carbon emission trading market. Conversely, the cost of clean energy power, with the exception of hydropower, shows a decreasing trend between 2007 and 2025, with the costs of nuclear power, solar power, and wind power declining from 0.40, 4.34, and 0.56 Yuan/kWh to 0.33, 0.31, and 0.49 Yuan/kWh, respectively. However, the cost of hydropower displays an increasing trend from 0.22 to 0.26 Yuan/kWh during 2007–2025 due to increases in construction costs. Considering the external cost increases applying to coal-fired power and the declining trend caused by the learning rates of renewable power, the cost of all the clean energy power will be lower than the costs of coal-fired power before 2025. The cost sharing of coal-fired power is also analyzed in this study. However, there are a number of relevant economic and policy measures that are needed to be taken by the government to fulfill this transformation.

scholarly journals Fungal Laccases: The Forefront of Enzymes for Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 1048
Author(s):  
Martina Loi ◽  
Olga Glazunova ◽  
Tatyana Fedorova ◽  
Antonio F. Logrieco ◽  
Giuseppina Mulè
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Enzymatic Catalysis ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Fungal Laccases ◽  
Industrial Enzymes ◽  
Phenolic Components ◽  
Biotechnological Processes ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Enzyme Application

Enzymatic catalysis is one of the main pillars of sustainability for industrial production. Enzyme application allows minimization of the use of toxic solvents and to valorize the agro-industrial residues through reuse. In addition, they are safe and energy efficient. Nonetheless, their use in biotechnological processes is still hindered by the cost, stability, and low rate of recycling and reuse. Among the many industrial enzymes, fungal laccases (LCs) are perfect candidates to serve as a biotechnological tool as they are outstanding, versatile catalytic oxidants, only requiring molecular oxygen to function. LCs are able to degrade phenolic components of lignin, allowing them to efficiently reuse the lignocellulosic biomass for the production of enzymes, bioactive compounds, or clean energy, while minimizing the use of chemicals. Therefore, this review aims to give an overview of fungal LC, a promising green and sustainable enzyme, its mechanism of action, advantages, disadvantages, and solutions for its use as a tool to reduce the environmental and economic impact of industrial processes with a particular insight on the reuse of agro-wastes.

scholarly journals WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SECTORAL TRADING: A US-CHINA EXAMPLE

2011 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 9-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAIRE GAVARD ◽  
NIVEN WINCHESTER ◽  
HENRY JACOBY ◽  
SERGEY PALTSEV
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Cap And Trade ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
Early Action ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Carbon Technologies

In the recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations, sectoral trading was proposed to encourage early action and spur investment in low carbon technologies in developing countries. This mechanism involves including a sector from one or more nations in an international cap-and-trade system. We analyze trade in carbon permits between the Chinese electricity sector and a US economy-wide cap-and-trade program using the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model. In 2030, the US purchases permits valued at $42 billion from China, which represents 46% of its capped emissions. In China, sectoral trading increases the price of electricity and reduces aggregate electricity generation, especially from coal. However, sectoral trading induces only moderate increases in generation from nuclear and renewables. We also observe increases in emission from other sectors. In the US, the availability of cheap emissions permits reduces the cost of climate policy and increases electricity generation.

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