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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Towards Real Energy Economics: Energy Policy Driven By Life-Cycle Carbon Emission, R. Kenny, C. Law, Joshua M. Pearce
Towards Real Energy Economics: Energy Policy Driven By Life-Cycle Carbon Emission, R. Kenny, C. Law, Joshua M. Pearce
Joshua M. Pearce
Alternative energy technologies (AETs) have emerged as a solution to the challenge of simultaneously meeting rising electricity demand while reducing carbon emissions. However, as all AETs are responsible for some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during their construction, carbon emission “Ponzi Schemes” are currently possible, wherein an AET industry expands so quickly that the GHG emissions prevented by a given technology are negated to fabricate the next wave of AET deployment. In an era where there are physical constraints to the GHG emissions the climate can sustain in the short term this may be unacceptable. To provide quantitative solutions to this …
Utilization Of Virtual Globes For Open Source Industrial Symbiosis, William Doyle, Joshua M. Pearce
Utilization Of Virtual Globes For Open Source Industrial Symbiosis, William Doyle, Joshua M. Pearce
Joshua M. Pearce
Several proprietary industrial symbiosis software tools have been developed, however, without long term financial commitments these endeavors fall short of creating generalizable and sustainable tools. The recent development of virtual globes such as Google Earth (GE), an information service that provides imagery and three dimensional data depicting the entire physical earth, provides an opportunity to use a new sustainable method of navigating information to save energy and use materials more efficiently in the real world. To test this open source methodology, a data set was used from the Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania, which has mandated reporting the location …
Quantifying Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential For Regional Renewable Energy Policy, L. K. Winginton, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce
Quantifying Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential For Regional Renewable Energy Policy, L. K. Winginton, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce
Joshua M. Pearce
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has matured to become a technically viable large-scale source of sustainable energy. Understanding the rooftop PV potential is critical for utility planning, accommodating grid capacity, deploying financing schemes and formulating future adaptive energy policies. This paper demonstrates techniques to merge the capabilities of geographic information systems and object-specific image recognition to determine the available rooftop area for PV deployment in an example large-scale region in south eastern Ontario. A five-step procedure has been developed for estimating total rooftop PV potential which involves geographical division of the region; sampling using the Feature Analyst extraction software; extrapolation using …
Expanding Photovoltaic Penetration With Residential Distributed Generation From Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic Combined Heat And Power Systems, Joshua M. Pearce
Expanding Photovoltaic Penetration With Residential Distributed Generation From Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic Combined Heat And Power Systems, Joshua M. Pearce
Joshua M. Pearce
The recent development of small scale combined heat and power (CHP) systems has provided the opportunity for in-house power backup of residential-scale photovoltaic (PV) arrays. This paper investigates the potential of deploying a distributed network of PV + CHP hybrid systems in order to increase the PV penetration level in the U.S. The temporal distribution of solar flux, electrical and heating requirements for representative U.S. single family residences were analyzed and the results clearly show that hybridizing CHP with PV can enable additional PV deployment above what is possible with a conventional centralized electric generation system. The technical evolution of …
Appropedia As A Tool For Service Learning In Sustainable Development, Joshua M. Pearce
Appropedia As A Tool For Service Learning In Sustainable Development, Joshua M. Pearce
Joshua M. Pearce
Numerous studies have demonstrated that university students are capable of contributing to sustainable development while improving their academic skills. Unfortunately for many institutions, the expense of sending large cohorts of students on international service learning trips is prohibitive. Yet, students remain enthusiastic and well equipped to assist in sustainable development. This article reports on two pedagogical experiments in service learning that overcame this challenge by providing solutions to sustainable development problems using Appropedia.org, the site for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development. The course successfully used Appropedia (1) as a forum for students who were geographically dispersed, …
Accelerating Applied Sustainability Of Utilizing Return On Investment For Energy Conservation Measures, Joshua Pearce, D. Denkenberger, H. Zielonka
Accelerating Applied Sustainability Of Utilizing Return On Investment For Energy Conservation Measures, Joshua Pearce, D. Denkenberger, H. Zielonka
Joshua M. Pearce
Many energy conservation measures (ECMs) that utilize energy more efficiently thanstandard devices or practices will save money in the long term; however, decision makers oftenfail to deploy ECMs because of what is viewed as a prohibitively long payback time. This paperprovides a graphical tool to determine the return on investment (ROI) of any ECM from only thesimple payback and device lifetime, which corrects this common economic error. Utilizing thismethod will encourage the increased deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energytechnologies, while improving the economic performance of the companies and individuals thatutilize the method.
Solar Photovoltaic Energy For Mitigation Of Climate Change: A Catalytic Application Of Catholic Social Thought, Joshua M. Pearce, Anna L. Santini, Jennifer M. Desilva
Solar Photovoltaic Energy For Mitigation Of Climate Change: A Catalytic Application Of Catholic Social Thought, Joshua M. Pearce, Anna L. Santini, Jennifer M. Desilva
Joshua M. Pearce
This paper explores an application of Catholic theology to mitigate the current destruction of God's creation underway due to global climate destabilization. Specifically it describes the possibility of the U.S. Catholic Church adopting a systematic plan to catalyze the world energy market to shift to solar photovoltaic energy, a non-polluting renewable energy source. The science behind the ecological crisis and climate change in the context of the Catholic basis for environmental stewardship is summarized to provide a moral foundation for the plan. Then, the viability and ramifications of integrating solar photovoltaic systems in all U.S. Catholic Churches is analyzed from …