Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons^™

Effectiveness Of Air Sealing Measures And Other Energy Retrofit Measures In Lafayette Energy Improvement Program, Jia Ye

Open Access Theses

From September 2011 to March 2013, the City of Lafayette, IN implemented Lafayette Improvement Program. The goal of this project was to "increase energy efficiency of existing homes through retrofitting, thereby lowering the costs of home ownership within the Vinton and Glen Acres Neighborhood Target Area (The City of Lafayette, 2011)." Energy audit companies carried out before blower door test and after blower door test to identify air tightness of subjects. This paper finds out there was an improvement in air tightness in the population of 85 houses and the degree of improvement was between 16.85% and 17.85%.

Change point …

Usability Testing Of The M.A.E.G.U.S. Serious Game, James He

Open Access Theses

Interpreting raw data in serious games and simulations can be a time consuming and uninteresting task without visualizations. This study proposes one possible solution for an interface that incorporates data visualizations for Whittinghill and Nataraja's (2013) MAEGUS simulation, a serious game used to increase the retention of wind energy and solar energy concepts in students, while still being fun. After the interface was designed and developed, a think aloud usability test was conducted to answer the following research questions: how do students use a series of information visualizations to operate a multi-variate game-based simulation and what are some the usability …

M.A.E.G.U.S: Measuring Alternate Energy Generation Via Unity Simulation, Kavin Muhilan Nataraja

Open Access Theses

This paper presents the MAEGUS serious game and a study to determine its efficacy as a pedagogical tool. The MAEGUS serious game teaches sustainable energy concepts through gameplay simulating wind turbines and solar arrays. Players take the role of an energy manager for a city and use realistic data and information visualizations to learn the physical factors of wind and solar energy generation. The MAEGUS serious game study compares game assisted learning to a more traditional teaching method such as reading material in a crossover study, the results of which can inform future serious game development for educational purposes.

Cztsse Thin Film Solar Cells : Surface Treatments, Chinmay S. Joglekar

Open Access Theses

Chalcopyrite semiconducting materials, specifically CZTS, are a promising alternative to traditional silicon solar cell technology. Because of the high absorption coefficient; films of the order of 1 micrometer thickness are sufficient for the fabrication of solar cells. Liquid based synthesis methods are advantageous because they are easily scalable using the roll to roll manufacturing techniques.

Various treatments are explored in this study to enhance the performance of the selenized CZTS film based solar cells. Thiourea can be used as a sulfur source and can be used to tune band gap of CZTSSe. Bromine etching can be used to manipulate the …

Improving Indoor Air Quality Through Botanical Air Filtration In Energy Efficient Residences, Daniel William Newkirk

Open Access Theses

According to the U.S. EPA, the average American spends 90% of their time indoors where pollutants are two to five times more prevalent than outside. The consequences of these pollutants are estimated to cost the U.S. 125 billion dollars in lost health and productivity. Background literature suggests botanical air filtration may be able to solve this problem by leveraging the natural ability of plants to purify indoor air. By improving indoor air quality, energy consumption can also be reduced by bringing in less outside air to dilute contaminants within the space. A botanical air filter, called the Biowall, was designed …

Determinants Of Energy Efficiency Across Countries, Guolin Yao

Open Access Theses

With economic development, environmental concerns become more important. Economies cannot be developed without energy consumption, which is the major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Higher energy efficiency is one means of reducing emissions, but what determines energy efficiency?

In this research we attempt to find answers to this question by using cross-sectional country data; that is, we examine a wide range of possible determinants of energy efficiency at the country level in an attempt to find the most important causal factors. All countries are divided into three income groups: high-income countries, middle-income countries, and low-income countries. Energy intensity is used …

Uncertainties In Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From U.S. Beef Cattle, Quentin M. Dudley, Adam Liska, Andrea K. Watson, Galen E. Erickson

Adam Liska Papers

Beef cattle feedlots are estimated to contribute 26% of U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and future climate change policy could target reducing these emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) of GHG emissions from U.S. grain-fed beef cattle was conducted based on industry statistics and previous studies to identify the main sources of uncertainty in these estimations. Uncertainty associated with GHG emissions from indirect land use change, pasture soil emissions (e.g. soil carbon sequestration), enteric fermentation from cattle on pasture, and methane emissions from feedlot manure, respectively, contributed the most variability to life cycle GHG emissions from beef production. Feeding of …

A New Day For Nuclear: The Impact Of Nuclear Energy And Its Effects, Hannah G. Hilliard

Senior Honors Theses

Energy is a resource on which civil society is built. It affects every aspect of life and is vital to the survival of the modern world. This paper explores nuclear power and the effects it has on a national and global scale. The research looks at both the positive and negative aspects of nuclear energy, giving weight to both sides of the argument to present a detailed look at this resource. The research is compiled from a wide range of authors from scientists and nuclear experts to reporters and strategic intelligence agents. A proposed technology for the advancement of nuclear …

Energizing Europe: The Geopolitics Of Energy Security And Energy Diversification In The European Union, Gabriel Alfredo Uribe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Europe has always had an interesting relationship with Russia, be it social, political, or economic. From the days of the Cold War, when there was the ideological battle of communism versus capitalism, with the alliance of NATO representing a front against the Iron Curtain, certain remnants of this dynamic have still survived. Russia has not always had the best of relations with the European Union (EU), which has not made it easy for the EU to have fully functioning foreign relations with them. This is problematic specifically because of the importance that Russia has on EU energy security, as it …

Current Issues: Doe's Nuclear Energy Programs, Peter Lyons

NSTec UNLV Symposium

• Secretary Moniz on Nuclear Energy
• Secretary Moniz Announces $6.5 Billion Vogtle Loan Guarantee
• Role of U.S. Department of Energy for Sustainable and Innovative Nuclear Energy
• Overview
• Why is the U.S. Government Interested in Supporting SMR Technologies?
• DOE Program to Support SMR Design Certification & Licensing
• Status of SMR Licensing Technical Support Program
• Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendations
• Administration Strategy for Used Fuel Management
• Congressional Activity
• Uranium Extraction from Seawater
• Supercritical CO₂ Energy Conversion
• HUBS AND NEAMS – PARTNERSHIP AND COMPLEMENTARITY
• Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling & Simulation (NEAMS)
• NE Modeling and Simulation Energy Innovation Hub Highlights
• Nuclear …

Co2 Recycling Using Microalgae For The Production Of Fuels, Michael H. Wilson, John Groppo, Andrew Placido, S. Graham, S. A. Morton Iii, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Aubrey Shea, Mark Crocker, Czarena Crofcheck, Rodney Andrews

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

CO₂ capture and recycle using microalgae was demonstrated at a coal-fired power plant (Duke Energy’s East Bend Station, Kentucky). Using an in-house designed closed loop, vertical tube photobioreactor, Scenedesmus acutus was cultured using flue gas as the CO₂ source. Algae productivity of 39 g/(m² day) in June–July was achieved at significant scale (18,000 L), while average daily productivity slightly in excess of 10 g/(m² day) was demonstrated in the month of December. A protocol for low-cost algae harvesting and dewatering was developed, and the conversion of algal lipids—extracted from the harvested biomass—to diesel-range hydrocarbons via catalytic …

Agenda: Fracking, Water Quality And Public Health: Examining Current Laws And Regulations, Network For Public Health Law, American Society Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Public Health Law Research Program

Fracking, Water Quality and Public Health: Examining Current Laws and Regulations (March 20)

Improved technology developments in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking," have resulted in an oil and gas production boom nationwide. Fracking involves pumping pressurized water, sand, and chemicals down wells to crack bedrock, freeing petroleum and natural gas. Wastewater discharges, hydraulic fracturing fluid releases, and other accidental spills pose potential water quality risks, sparking concern for public health.

This webinar will examine the laws and regulations governing water quality issues related to fracking, recent state court decisions affecting regulations, and implications for public health.

Slides: Best Management Practices For Oil And Gas Development And Comparative Water Quality Database Of Regulations Relating To Shale Oil And Gas, Matt Samelson, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project

Fracking, Water Quality and Public Health: Examining Current Laws and Regulations (March 20)

Presenter: Matt Samelson, J.D., Attorney, Consultant for Intermountain Oil and Gas Best Management Practices (BMP) Project, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment, University of Colorado Law School

34 slides

Coastal And Ocean Economic Summaries Of The Coastal States 2014, Pat Johnston

Publications

The following summaries of the ocean and coastal economies were prepared by the National Ocean Economics Program as a companion the State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2014. The U.S. report, its appendices, and these state summary reports are available on the NOEP website at www.OceanEconomics.org/download.

Know Where To Go, Kirstin Duffin

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

Assessing library article databases for efficient access to multidisciplinary research – A case study in bioenergy

Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Pretreatment Of Biomass To Enhance Solvent Production In Subsequent Bacterial Solid-Substrate Cultivation, Wanying Yao, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigated pretreatment of corn stover using solid substrate cultivation (SSC) of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) to improve subsequent accessibility to cellulose. Thereafter, Clostridium thermocellum (C. thermocellum) was directly inoculated onto the pretreated biomass to accomplish hydrolysis, followed by solventogenesis by introducing Clostridium beijerinckii (C. beijerinckii).

An enzyme suite containing laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activity was detected during the cultivation of P. chrysosporium on corn stover within 288 h at an initial moisture content 𝓌_H2O = 80% (mass of water/total mass). Incubation factors, such as substrate moisture content and cultivation …

Agenda: Natural Resource Industries And The Sustainability Challenge, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

"An International Conference hosted by The Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative."

For more than two decades, sustainability has gained currency as a broad organizing principle for efforts to develop and use energy, natural resources, and the environment in ways that allow society to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. More recently, sustainability has been embraced by businesses across multiple sectors as part of a broader movement of corporate social responsibility. Hardly a day goes by without news of another corporate initiative …

Slides: Comments Of Jeff Bingaman, Jeff Bingaman

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Jeff Bingaman, former Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and U.S. Senator from New Mexico

6 slides

Organizational Fields, Transnational Business Governance Interactions And The Diffusion Of Csr, Melanie Coni-Zimmer

Transnational Business Governance Interactions Working Papers

The paper analyzes the process of global diffusion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the oil industry and how interactions between different actors have contributed to this outcome. It starts from the empirical puzzle that CSR has spread globally among transnational corporations since the mid 1990s (diffusion of CSR as a dependent variable). To explain this phenomenon, the paper presents a theoretical argument based on insights from sociological neo-institutionalism. It uses the concept of organizational fields as social spaces where organizations interact with one another. The structuration of an organizational field leads to processes of homogenization among the organizations belonging …

Sustainable Energy In The Galapagos, Sean Dove

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

As the global population continues to grow, so does the dependency and need for energy. For decades, the solution to satisfy the world's demand has been the use of cheap, abundant, and inefficient sources such as coal and oil, but these sources are contributing to massive amounts of environmental degradation and the emission of greenhouse gases. The Galapagos Islands have pledged to do away with fossil fuels in an innovative "Zero Fuels Initiative" in order to help combat environmental damage to its own pristine habitats that make Galapagos one of the most sought out destinations in the world for scientific …