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Cost Minimizing Energy Management Control Scheme For Microgrids Considering Dynamic Electricity Prices, Levi T. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

As countries develop and technology improves, the world is using more energy than ever before. This fact along with several other political, social, and economic factors has resulted in simultaneous energy and climate crises. A partial solution to both problems is bringing clean energy sources of electricity closer to the customers who use that energy. A microgrid is a smaller version of the national electric grid where smaller electricity generators are networked with local consumers and controlled independently of the main grid. Because control of electricity sources and loads are transferred to local controllers, the flexibility with which they can …

Tracking Emissions In Power Systems, Kenji Santacruz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing in concentration in the atmosphere, which poses risks to the environment. Since 2011, the 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 emissions reached an average of 410 parts per million (ppm). The burning of fossil fuels for energy production was identified as the primary source of these emissions, making up 25% of global emissions by sector in 2010. To promote sustainable practices, there is an increasing need to accurately track greenhouse gas emissions in power systems. To accomplish this, an emission tracking method that can provide emission information for each load point in real-time is needed. In addition, certain indices …

Bitcoin's Technical Foundation And Its Potential For A Decentralized And Environmentally Friendly Future, Iqtiar Md Siddique

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research examines a systematic analysis of Bitcoin, employing a Coefficient of Variation (CV) approach to gauge its degree of decentralization. Bitcoin, an innovative decentralized digital currency, has received much attention for its potential to revolutionize traditional financial systems. This study employs the Coefficient of Variation (CV) to acquire insights into the wealth distribution and concentration among Bitcoin users. This research demonstrates how decentralized the network of Bitcoin is. The methodology uses real data on Bitcoin addresses and their holdings to compute the Coefficient of Variation (CV). This approach provides valuable insights into the ongoing discourse surrounding Bitcoin's decentralization, offering …

“Increasing Renewable Energy Potential Of Landfill Gas By Electrocatalytic Conversion Of Carbon Dioxide To Methane At Low Temperature.”, Asma Akter Rony

Civil Engineering Dissertations

The conversion of carbon dioxide into methane at a low temperature has great potential to reduce current international environmental issues like global warming and will create new sources of renewable energy. The overall goal of this research is to increase renewable energy production from landfill gas using an unconventional process – electrocatalytic methanation of carbon dioxide – which has not been implemented for landfill gas yet. The electrocatalytic methanation follows the Waseda process, which applies an electric field in the presence of a Ruthenium-supported cerium oxide (CeO2) catalyst. The specific objectives of this research were: 1. To explore the impact …

Research On Renewable Energy Project Opposition Selected For Environmental Law And Policy Annual Review Award, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

A publication co-authored by Indiana University Maurer School of Law Dean Christiana Ochoa and 2021 Law School alumna Kacey Cook has been selected to appear in the 17th edition of the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review.

“Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help” was authored by Ochoa, Cook, and University of Minnesota Law School third-year student Hanna Weil and was published in January 2023 in the Minnesota Law Review.

Study On The Performance Of Solar Cells Cooled With Heatsink And Nanofluid Added With Aluminum Nanoparticle, Rouhollah Salehi, Ahmad Jahanbakhshi, Jong B. Ooi, Abbas Rohani, Mahmood R. Golzarian

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The cooling of photovoltaic (PV) panels based on nanofluids is one of the emerging cooling methods to improve the efficiency of PV panels. In this study, the effects of aluminum nanoparticles on the cooling performance and conversion efficiency of PV panels were investigated experimentally. The surface temperature, output power, and efficiency of the PV panels were assessed in Mashhad, Iran on a sunny winter day in November 2020 under ambient temperatures between 10 and 17 °C. Experimental results indicated that the nanofluid with aluminum nanoparticle improved the solar panel efficiency and solar PV panel's output power by an average of …

Economic And Environmental Investigation Of Renewable Energy Sources For Micro-Grids Coastal Areas, Samir Dawoud

Journal of Engineering Research

The standalone power generating units in Marsa-alam coastal areas depend on fossil fuel to feed electrical loads. This causes many side effects like green gas emissions and high fuel costs, which leads to weak economic growth in this region. While the global interest increases to utilize renewable resources due to several benefits and renewable technologies in solar energy and wind turbine. The objective of this article is to design a tecno-economic and feasibility study of using hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) over the conventional resources. Eight different types of models including solar photovoltaic (SPVs) /wind turbines (WTs)/ power converter /diesel/battery …

Qualterra – Scalable Biomass Processing Technologies For Sustainable Agriculture, Seanna Hewitt, David Drinkard, Amit Dhingra

Bio-Char III: Production, Characterization and Applications

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Exploring Expansion Of Biogas Energy Production On Homesteads, Small-Scale, And Large-Scale Farms, Morgan Powell

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Community Benefit Sharing And Renewable Energy And Green Hydrogen Projects: Policy Guidance For Governments, Perrine Toledano, Chris Albin-Lackey, Maria Diez Andres, Martin Dietrich Brauch

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

The massive and rapid expansion of renewable energy is needed to limit global warming, so its social acceptance must be assured. While not a silver bullet, well-designed and governed benefit-sharing arrangements can lead to beneficial outcomes in ways that speak to affected communities’ needs and interests.

In partnership with the Green Hydrogen Organization and to support the efforts of the Planning for Climate Commission, this report offers high-level guidance to governments that seek to ramp up the development of renewable energy projects, including power generation and grid infrastructure. The report emphasizes that governments need a strong and coherent policy approach …

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Small Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines And Natural Gas Facility At An Urban University, Mary Kate Ranii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fossil fuels generate the majority of the electricity in the United States and generate pollutants that negatively affect public and environmental health. Renewable energy projects serve as an opportunity for low-pollution and low-carbon electricity; small-scale projects, such as vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs), provide opportunities for generation in urban areas close to consumers. Researchers collected wind speed and directional data from a potential turbine installation site at Duquesne University to better demonstrate the potential benefits in an urban university location. The data was used in a life cycle assessment framework and a social review to better understand the value of …

Impacts Of High Renewable Power Grids On System Planning And Monitoring, Zhihao Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

To achieve the goal of a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 proposed by Biden’s Administration, the U.S. power grids are expecting a dramatic transformation in the resource mix of electricity generation. This dissertation will present related research in several different aspects that will be largely affected by the clean energy transition.

The increasing size and complexity of the bulk power systems have made it more computationally burdensome to simulate the power system in full-size. As an alternative to traditional model-based methods, Chapter 2 proposes a measurement-based model reduction approach using system identification techniques. Chapter 3 presents a parameter fine-tuning …

Consensus-Based Active And Reactive Power Control And Management Of Microgrids, Shruti Singh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microgrids incorporating distributed generation and renewable energy sources offer potential solutions to the energy crisis while modernizing traditional grids. Despite cost-effectiveness in some technologies, financial support remains crucial for expensive ones like PV, fuel cells, and storage technologies. Microgrids bring economic benefits, efficiency, reduced emissions, and improved power quality. Their success hinges on cost reductions in renewables, storage, reliability, and energy management systems, enabling operation both with and without the utility grid.

Economic Dispatch optimizes system costs, considering all constraints. Various methods tackle this problem, including quadratic convex functions, Lagrangian relaxation, and quadratic programming. For microgrids with distributed generators, seamless …

Achieving High Renewable Energy Integration In Smart Grids With Machine Learning, Yaze Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The integration of high levels of renewable energy into smart grids is crucial for achieving a sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure. However, this integration presents significant technical and operational challenges due to the intermittent nature and inherent uncertainty of renewable energy sources (RES). Therefore, the energy storage system (ESS) has always been bound to renewable energy, and its charge and discharge control has become an important part of the integration. The addition of RES and ESS comes with their complex control, communication, and monitor capabilities, which also makes the grid more vulnerable to attacks, brings new challenges to the cybersecurity. …

Quantifying The Value Of Renewable Energy As A Hedge Against The Volatility Of Natural Gas Prices In Wisconsin, Miodrag Petrovic

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research study investigated whether adding renewable energy to the grid in Wisconsin would lower or maintain electricity prices through 2050. Since Wisconsin adopted a plan to become carbon neutral by 2050, this study explored different paths to achieving this goal. This study examined three different paths or scenarios, specifically base case, optimal, and carbon-free, using an Excel-built toolkit. The toolkit allowed the researcher to customize all major assumptions, making it a practical tool that could assist electric utilities in the future in determining whether additional renewable energy would indeed lower and stabilize electricity prices. Applying different statistical tools to …

Feminizing Decentralized Renewable Energy Programs: A Study Of A Community Renewable Energy Project From India, Aritra Chakrabarty

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

The increasing impact of global forces on local communities in the 21st century has necessitated a shift in focus from macro narratives to the micro-politics of planning. One of the critical areas of such micro-politics is energy policy-making in the Global South. It is argued that a bottom-up approach to energy intervention would increase the control and access of the end consumer to the sites of production, shift away from colonial energy production systems, and create more avenues for equitable community development. Within this context, this study critically evaluates a community-based renewable energy project from a feminist perspective. The study …

The Intertwined Renewable Energy–Water–Environment (Rewe) Nexus Challenges And Opportunities: A Case Study Of California, Shahryar Jafarinejad, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Sajjad Bigham, Bryan S. Beckingham

Michigan Tech Publications

In our built environment, societal production of energy and clean water is inextricably linked to the natural resources from which they are derived. Acknowledgement and consideration of the coupling of energy, water, and the environment (the energy–water–environment nexus) will be critical to a sustainable future. This is particularly true as we transition away from historical energy sources (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas) and into the widespread adaptation of renewable energy (RE) sources (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, bioenergy) as a strategy to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and consequently slow global climate change. This transition is fraught with both challenges and …

Analysis Of Filipinos’ Preference On Electric Vehicles Post-Evida, Ricablanca A. Barrosa, Rona Marie A. Decepida, Yzza Veah P. Esquivel, Joseph Micolo S. Razon

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the future of transportation and have the potential to reduce pollution and emissions drastically. EVs use electric motors to power their wheels and are fueled by electricity. This qualitative case study aims to analyze the choice factors in buying an electric vehicle in the Philippines. The researchers employed surveys and interviews in order to obtain data from key respondents such as car owners, car enthusiasts, and government officials. Through the use of a fit regression analysis, the researchers found out that factors such as price, monthly salary, and parking availability affected the willingness of people to …

Energy And Economic Growth Nexus: A Long-Run Relationship In Indonesia, Kelvan Darrian, Patricia Scholastica, Yohanes B. Kadarusman, Dandy Rafitrandi

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Energy plays an important role in economic growth in which it affects total factor productivity (TFP). Energy conservation efforts to address global climate change may adversely affect economic growth, particularly in the long run. This study analyses the short- and long-run relationship between energy consumption (both non-renewable (NREC) and renewable (REC)) and economic growth in Indonesia within the period of 1985 to 2019. Using the vector-error correction model (VECM), the paper discovered a short-run unidirectional causality from NREC and REC to economic growth. Economic growth in Indonesia is dependent on energy consumption. The finding proves the growth hypothesis in the …

An Integrated Resource Plan For Tucson Electric Power Company, 2020-2050, Timothy Gary Sheehan Jr, Danny Alexander Zepeda

Master's Projects and Capstones

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States electric power industry is responsible for 25% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, many utilities face state mandates which force electric utilities to reduce their emissions by decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is the primary method by which electric utilities plan all aspects of future electricity supply and demand, presenting how the company will deliver reliable and affordable energy while meeting statutory requirements. We propose three IRP scenarios through 2050 for Tucson Electric Power (TEP), an electric utility in southern Arizona. The first …

Macroproblems Require Microsolutions: The Case For Microgrids In The U.S. Energy Infrastructure, David Howie

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the shortcomings of the modern United States Power Grid in the face of climate change and worsening climate conditions, and seeks to explore how alternative styles of power grids could be viable replacements for current designs. The power grid is one of the most fundamental aspects of modern life, without it there would be no reliable energy supply to power devices and machinery. Oftentimes when energy generation is discussed in the United States, it only focuses on the source of generation for the energy, not the transmission of the energy. The lack of complete discussion around this …

Renovating America's Electrical Grid: Renewable Sources And Resilient Delivery, Justin O'Hare Giffee

Student Theses 2015-Present

Since the late 1800s, America’s electrical grid systems have relied primarily upon fossil fuels for sources of electricity. Due to the outdated structural foundations and glaring holes in distribution networks, the existing electrical grids struggle with electricity escaping, and modern issues such as cybersecurity, resilience, and weather-related events associated with climate change. This essay discusses ongoing problems with current electric grid systems and aims at explaining the importance of incorporating renewables as a solution for these problems into a new grid system. In the first chapter, a detailed explanation is provided regarding the current issues present in America's grid systems. …

A Greener Shade Of Blue And Yellow: Sweden's Path To Environmental Leadership, Katherine Delfay

Student Theses 2015-Present

In 2021, Sweden was identified as the world’s most sustainable country and coined as a leader in global climate action. This paper analyzes the approach that Sweden takes to maintaining their sustainability as a nation and establishing environmentalism as a core value. Sustainability has deep roots in the country’s political and economic sectors, giving Sweden potential to be the world’s first net-zero nation. The first chapter demonstrates Sweden’s proportionately low environmental impact compared to other developed nations. The United States is used as a point of comparison throughout this paper in order to emphasize the progressiveness of the Swedish government …

The Neighborhood As An Energy-Generating Community The Case Of El-Banafseg Residential Neighborhood, East Cairo, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Mona Helmy Dr.

Centre for Advanced Materials

Nowadays, energy consumption is a global challenge. This is due to the shortage of several energy sources, and consequently, to their increasing prices. This paper argues that by using an integrative approach for using various energy harvesting techniques, a typical residential neighborhood can be operated as a self-generator of its needed energy, or part of it.

The paper follows a mixed qualitative, experimental, and numerical simulation approaches to examine the practicality of the paper hypothesis. It uses Space syntax modeling theory (a socio-spatial software) to analyze the pedestrian flow to indicate the potential locations of the kinetic energy harvesting Piezoelectric …

Linear Waltz With Nature: A Self-Supporting Infrastructure In Nature, Shangkun Zhong

Architecture Senior Theses

This project aims to create a sustainable system that addresses waste management issues in urban areas by examining the functionality of recycling infrastructures and how they can be integrated. The system will absorb waste and convert it into renewable energy to support a field station in Tibet, where self-sustainability is critical, due to the remote location. Architects often demonstrate their understanding of sustainability through various means such as integration, passive/energy-saving, and natural architecture. This thesis argues that a sustainable system such as CopenHill, can exemplify the combination of green-manifested design and recycle content as a sustainable cycle that supports human-nature …

Opposition To Renewable Energy Facilities In The United States: May 2023 Edition, Matthew Eisenson

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Achieving lower carbon emissions in the United States will require developing a very large number of wind, solar, and other renewable energy facilities, as well as associated storage, distribution, and transmission, at an unprecedented scale and pace. Although host community members are often enthusiastic about the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy facilities, local opposition often arises. This report updates and considerably expands two previous Sabin Center reports, published in September 2021 and March 2022, and documents local and state restrictions against, and opposition to, siting renewable energy projects for the period from 1995 to May 2023. Importantly, the …

Compositional Engineering Of Precursor Inks For Intense Pulsed Light Compatible Deposition Of Perovskite Solar Cells., Blake Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology offers a promising alternative to silicon-based photovoltaics (PVs), but challenges of stability, module efficiency, and scalability hinder commercialization. This study aims to explore potential solutions to overcome scalability and cost limitations of PSCs, addressing technical barriers to commercialization. We adapt the conventional three-stage perovskite deposition process (deposition, translational phase formation, and annealing) for scalable platforms using wide-area depositions, meniscus coating methods, forced laminar airflow drying, and radiative annealing methods, making it more suitable for roll-to-roll fabrication. A technoeconomic analysis shows that large-scale operations can produce solar films at a cost of $0.04-$0.10 per watt, making …

Students Attitudes In A Post-Pandemic World: Findings From The Spring 2023 Scsu Survey, St. Cloud State University

Student and Campus Surveys

The Spring 2023 St. Cloud State University Survey findings are based on online surveys using Qualtrics for data collection with a final sample of 587 completed surveys with 387 via telephone and 200 via Qualtrics.

Voltage And Reactive Power Combinational Evaluation Of Regional Power Grid Based On Ewm-Ahp-Bp Neural Network, Yuqi Ji, Huan Xie, Shaoyu Shi, Ping He, Nan Jin, Huili Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In order to quantitatively evaluate the influence of renewable energy access on voltage and reactive power operation, a combinational evaluation method of voltage and reactive power based on EWM-AHP-BP neural network is proposed to carry out the multi-objective evaluation weight calculation. Considering voltage qualified rate, voltage fluctuation, power factor qualified rate and reactive power reserve, the comprehensive evaluation model is established. The operation data of renewable energy and power load are clustered to divide the typical scenarios and the evaluation model under multiple scenarios is scored by the combination method of entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process. The …

Privacy Preservation In Smart Meters: Current Status, Challenges And Future Directions, Jonathan Kua, Mohammad Belayet Hossain, Iynkaran Natgunanathan, Yong Xiang

Student and Faculty Publications

Recent years have seen the rapid development of technologies in Smart Grids (SGs) to enhance electricity networks with digital and data communication technologies. SGs can proactively detect, react, and respond to dynamic changes in the network. SGs can also enhance the efficiency and reliability of electricity supplies and promote the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Meters (SMs) are often seen as the first step to a successful implementation of SGs. While SMs enable Utility Providers and consumers to obtain near real-time information of energy consumption, they can also be exploited to infer sensitive consumer data. Therefore, privacy preservation in …