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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Sciences

Energy Audits In Malta, Trustin Farrugia Cann Dec 2012

Energy Audits In Malta, Trustin Farrugia Cann

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Energy is the driving force of our society. Industry, economy and the general public, all depend on safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy. But at the same time, energy related emissions account for almost 80% of the European Union’s total green house gas emissions. The European Union has set itself a great challenge and a target was set in 2007 to reduce by 20% of its primary energy consumption, to increase the share of renewable energy by 20% and to reduce the green house gasses by 20% until 2020. Energy auditing is an effective energy management tool which identifies and …


Assessing The Feasibility Of Small Hydropower In Northern California, Andrea Peterson Dec 2012

Assessing The Feasibility Of Small Hydropower In Northern California, Andrea Peterson

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Small hydropower is an underutilized form of clean energy generation. In order for any potential for small hydropower to be developed or utilized, the amount of potential power needs to be estimated accurately. A number of studies have been conducted, though none of these studies have taken local climate into account, which affects the accuracy of their results. A number of places in Northern California have potential that has not yet been utilized, but a more accurate assessment of that potential is called for. Although studies can be conducted through a number of different methodologies, most use GIS technology to …


Blackstarting The North American Power Grid After A Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (Emp) Event Or Major Solar Storm, Joshua Good May 2012

Blackstarting The North American Power Grid After A Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (Emp) Event Or Major Solar Storm, Joshua Good

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The electric power grid is our most critical infrastructure. This key resource provides the energy required for all other infrastructures to function. In modern times, electricity has become necessary to sustain life. The power grid in the U.S. is a target for terrorists and is vulnerable to naturally-occurring events. Numerous assessments have been performed on the vulnerability of our national power grid to both manmade and natural events.1 Two significant wide-area threats against our power grid are solar storms and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks. Solar storms are naturally-occurring events that have the potential to create large-scale blackouts that could potentially …


A Business Case For Electric Power Distributors Using Simulation: Investigating The Combined Use Of The Strategies Of Feed-In-Tariffs, Distributed Generation, Time Of Use Rates, And Efficiency, Brooks E. Taylor May 2012

A Business Case For Electric Power Distributors Using Simulation: Investigating The Combined Use Of The Strategies Of Feed-In-Tariffs, Distributed Generation, Time Of Use Rates, And Efficiency, Brooks E. Taylor

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Numerous references found in the academic and trade literature discuss the availability and applicability of certain technologies and policies to allow the U.S. electrical grid to address the future challenges of continued growth and aging infrastructure. However, the existing utility companies seem reluctant to adopt these new measures. This thesis will describe some of these strategies and develop a model using Stella system dynamics software that will explore the potential financial impact to the utilities from using these strategies in combination. The four strategies to be investigated are feed in tariffs, time of use rates, distributed generation, and demand-side energy …


Metocean Data Management And Modeling To Support U.S. Offshore Wind Power Development In The Mid-Atlantic, Whitney Amanda West May 2012

Metocean Data Management And Modeling To Support U.S. Offshore Wind Power Development In The Mid-Atlantic, Whitney Amanda West

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Efforts to encourage more conservative electricity consumption, through public awareness campaigns and government-mandated energy efficiency standards, have consistently been overshadowed by population increase and increased standards of living, leading to higher electricity demand, year after year. Sufficient resources and technology exist to support the development of a robust offshore wind industry to help meet this rising demand, but a number of barriers unique to the U.S. have hindered progress. Addressing many of these obstacles involves resolving uncertainty issues related to development. Not only is there a general lack of data to provide stakeholders, developers, and governing authorities with sufficient information …