Digital Commons Network^™

Determining The Impacts Of Corn Silage Mixing Ratios On Hydrogen Production From Beef Cattle Manure, Katya Faber-Quimby

Honors Theses

With global warming becoming an increasingly serious threat and a growing population requiring additional energy resources, interest in the production of clean energy from the agricultural sector has surged in popularity. Biohydrogen, also known as green hydrogen, is H₂ that has been produced using renewable energy, such as from agricultural byproducts or waste materials. It presents a promising alternative to nonrenewable resources due to its high potential for energy storage and lack of carbon emissions when used. Cattle manure has been explored as a resource for the production of biohydrogen. Selecting for hydrogen-producing microbes in the manure serves the …

Limited Rigor In Studies Of Raptor Mortality And Mitigation At Wind Power Facilities, Tara J. Conkling, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Sandra Cuadros, Scott R. Loss, Todd E. Katzner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wind power is an expanding source of renewable energy. However, there are ecological challenges related to wind energy generation, including collisions of wildlife with turbines. Lack of rigor, and variation in study design, together limit efforts to understand the broad-scale effects of wind power infrastructure on wildlife populations. It is not clear, however, whether these types of limitations apply to groups of birds such as raptors that are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of wind energy. We reviewed 672 peer-reviewed publications, unpublished reports, and citations from 321 wind facilities in 12 countries to evaluate methods used to monitor and mitigate …

Modeling And Analysis Of A 12kw Solar-Wind Hybrid Renewable Energy System, Ekaterina Muravleva

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The increase in rate of depletion of natural resources in the last decade as well as the increased global focus on climate change has made the transition to renewable resources of energy a priority for various countries and organizations across the globe. The sporadic nature of energy generated by photovoltaic systems and wind energy conversion systems has led to an increased utilization of more reliable hybrid renewable energy systems. A combination of both solar and wind energy-based power generations systems reduces the impact of seasonal variation on the amount of power generated and therefore, can be used under varying weather …

Super Solar, William Wilton

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Photovoltaic Panels Tilt Angle Optimization, Kerry A. Sado, Lokman H. Hassan, Shivan Sado

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The tilt angle of solar panels is significant for capturing solar radiation that reaches the surface of the panel. Photovoltaic (PV) performance and efficiency are highly affected by its angle of tilt with respect to the horizontal plane. The amount of radiation reaching the surface of a PV panel changes with the changes in its tilt angle, hence adding a solar tracking system will maximize the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of a PV panel at any time during the day, however, integrating solar tracking system will increase the total cost and maintenance of any PV system. Thus, …

Nanomechanical Characterization Of Fuel Cell Ionomers, Jackson Goddard

UCARE Research Products

Energy sustainability can be achieved by improving and adopting clean energy technologies, and a better nanoscale understanding of ionomer-catalyst layers could lead to increased efficiency of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Samples of Nafion ( Perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer) and PFIA (Perfluoroimide acid ionomer) of varying film thickness were prepared and then studied using contact resonance force microscopy. It was determined that storage and loss modulus increase as relative humidity increases and ionomer film thickness goes below 100 nm. Furthermore, in this specific study, the similar storage and loss modulus of Nafion and PFIA could be attributed to similar backbone structure …

Energy Development And Production In The Great Plains: Implications And Mitigation Opportunities, Jacqueline P. Ott, Bruce B. Hanberry, Mona Khalil, Mark W. Paschke, Max Post Van Der Burg, A.J. Prenni

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Energy is an integral part of society. The major US energy sources of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas); biofuels (ethanol); and wind are concentrated in grassland ecosystems of the Great Plains. As energy de- mand continues to increase, mounting pressures will be placed on North American grassland systems. In this review, we present the ecological effects of energy development and production on grassland sys- tems. We then identify opportunities to mitigate these effects during the planning, construction, and pro- duction phases by using informed methodology and improved technology. Primary effects during energy development include small- and large-scale soil disturbance …

The Next-Generation Retail Electricity Market In The Context Of Distributed Energy Resources: Vision And Integrating Framework, Josue Campos Do Prado, Wei Qiao, Liyan Qu, Julio Romero Aguero

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The increasing adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) and smart grid technologies (SGTs) by end-user retail customers is changing significantly both technical and economic operations in the distribution grid. The next-generation retail electricity market will promote decentralization, efficiency, and competitiveness by accommodating existing and new agents through new business models and transactive approaches in an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). However, these changes will bring several technical challenges to be addressed in transmission and distribution systems. Considerable activities have been carried out worldwide to study the impacts of integrating DERs into the grid and in the wholesale electricity market. However, the …

A Thermo-Activated Wall For Load Reduction And Supplementary Cooling With Free To Low-Cost Thermal Water, Yuebin Yu, Fuxin Niu, Heinz-Axel Guo, Denchai Woradechjumroen

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

A building envelope serves as a thermal barrier and plays an important role in determining the amount of energy used to achieve a comfortable indoor environment. Conventionally, it is constructed and treated as a passive component in a building thermal energy system. In this article, a novel, mini-tube capillary-network embedded and thermal-water activated building envelope is proposed to turn the passive component into active, therefore broaden the direct utilization of low-grade thermal energy in buildings. With this proposed approach, low-grade thermal water at a medium temperature close to the ambient environment can be potentially utilized to either counterbalance the thermal …

Modeling,Metrics, And Optimal Design For Solar Energy-Powered Base Station System, Heng Wang, Hongjia Li, Chaowei Tang, Lingbao Ye, Xin Chen, Hui Tang, Song Ci

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Using renewable energy system in powering cellular base stations (BSs) has been widely accepted as a promising avenue to reduce and optimize energy consumption and corresponding carbon footprints and operational expenditures for 4G and beyond cellular communications. However, how to design a reliable and economical renewable energy powering (REPing), while guaranteeing communication reliability, renewable energy utilization, and system durability, is still a great challenge. Motivated by this challenge, we firstly model the dynamic energy flow behavior of solar energy-powered BS by using stochastic queue model, jointly considering instability of solar energy generation, non-linear effects of energy storage, and time varies …

An Isolated Multiport Dc–Dc Converter For Simultaneous Power Management Of Multiple Different Renewable Energy Sources, Jianwu Zeng, Wei Qiao, Liyan Qu, Yanping Jiao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper proposes a new isolated multiport dc–dc converter for simultaneous power management of multiple renewable energy sources, which can be of different types and capacities. The proposed dc–dc converter only uses one controllable switch in each port to which a source is connected. Therefore, it has the advantages of simple topology and minimum number of power switches. A general topology of the proposed converter is first introduced. Its principle and operation are then analyzed. The proposed converter is applied for simultaneous maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of a wind/solar hybrid generation system consisting of one wind turbine generator …

Effect Of Pond Ash On Pen Surface Properties, B. L. Woodbury, R. A. Eigenberg, D. B. Parker, M. J. Spiehs

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

The maintenance of feedlot pen surfaces, which includes removal of manure and replacement of fill soil, is a time-consuming and expensive process. Pond ash (PA), a by-product of coal-fired electrical generation, has been proposed as a feedlot pen surface amendment because of its foundational support characteristics. A study was conducted to compare the performance of PA-surfaced pens to traditional soil-surfaced (SS) pens. Four of eight SS pens (7.3 m × 20.7 m) were excavated to a depth of 0.5 m and resurfaced with PA. The remaining four pens were kept as SS. Eight heifers were housed in each pen (19 …

The Economic Feasibility Of Solar Panels For The University Of Nebraska- Lincoln, Chris Schwarz

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract

The world runs on the electricity provided by gas, oil, and coal. These sources, while cheap, have some major drawbacks associated with them; they are polluting when burned, extraction damages the environment, and the resource reservoirs are limited. With this understanding, the world is turning to renewable energy sources as a means to alleviate its growing energy requirements. But there are problems associated with renewable energy sources preventing them from becoming major sources of electricity generation. These problems are usually monetary in nature.

The cost effectiveness of photovoltaic panels for use by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a means …

System Dynamics Modeling Of Corn Ethanol As A Bio Transportation Fuel In The United States, Deogratias Kibira, Guodong Shao, Stephen Nowak

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The production capacity of corn ethanol as a transportation fuel is experiencing rapid growth in the United States. The demand is driven by increased prices of gasoline, government mandates, incentives, desire for cleaner fuels, and the need to achieve energy independence. Continued strong growth of the corn ethanol industry will depend on profitability by both suppliers and producers. This in turn will be influenced by several factors such as demand, government incentives, feedstock availability and prices, processing plant capacity, and efficient farm and ethanol processing technologies. How and to what extent will the projected growth of the corn ethanol industry …

Socioeconomic Impacts Of Developing Wind Energy In The Great Plains, F. Larry Leistritz, Randal C. Coon

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Wind energy has been growing rapidly in the Great Plains because of the region’s favorable wind resources and because it has been stimulated by a federal production tax credit and by state renewable portfolio standards. Wind energy installations also offer economic development opportunities for rural areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the socioeconomic effects of the recent development of a wind energy center on nearby communities. Project construction occurred over a six-month period, with the workforce peaking at 269. Project operation supports 10 permanent jobs and expenditures to local businesses and households totaling $1.4 million annually. These …