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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Environmental Studies

Scripps Senior Theses

Policy

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Grain-Washing: The Issue With Corn Ethanol As A Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Emily J. Rinn Jan 2023

Grain-Washing: The Issue With Corn Ethanol As A Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Emily J. Rinn

Scripps Senior Theses

Decarbonizing the aviation sector remains one of the most prevalent obstacles in reducing the United States’ significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Launched in 2021, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge aims to supply enough fuel to meet 100% of demand by 2050 through reducing its production costs and enhancing its sustainable practices. Corn ethanol feedstock has been proposed to make up as much as half of all SAF production in the 2030 benchmark. This thesis explores the assemblage of corn ethanol – from its true environmental impacts, role in the future SAF market, to research claiming corn …


County Walkability And Small Business Receipts, Talia Perluss Jan 2022

County Walkability And Small Business Receipts, Talia Perluss

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the correlation between county walkability and small business receipts, as well as other possible demographic variables that could explain the success of small businesses, by using a fixed-effect panel regression model. Using county-level data in the years 2012 and 2017, this paper finds that there is a significant correlation between an increase in walkability and an increase in receipts. When running the fixed-effect regressions, this paper found that there is a moderately high positive correlation between walkability and per capita income, suggesting that the effects of an increase in walkability may also capture the effects of an …


A Western Interconnection Regional System Operator: Benefits And Barriers, Siena Hacker Jan 2018

A Western Interconnection Regional System Operator: Benefits And Barriers, Siena Hacker

Scripps Senior Theses

A Regional System Operator in the Western Interconnection would create significant environmental and economic benefits. California alone could realize annual savings of up to 1.5 billion dollars while cutting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by eight to ten percent in 2030. However, many stakeholders have rejected development of a Regional System Operator both historically and in recent California Legislative sessions. Ultimately, key stakeholders’ fears of repeating the California Electricity Crisis, relinquishing state authority, allowing greater interference from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and sacrificing legislative environmental progress in California have created political opposition and legislative failures blocking efforts to develop …