Energy Policy Commons^™

Examining Policy Capacity Initiatives Within Climate Change Frameworks In Three Us And Canadian Sectors Using Nvivo Content Analysis, Mehjabeen Rahman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The climate change narrative has changed from one of mitigation to one of adaptation. Governments around the world have created climate change frameworks which address how the country can better cope with the expected and unexpected changes due to global climate change. In an effort to do so, federal governments of Canada and the United States, as well as some provinces and states within these countries, have created detailed documents which outline what steps must be taken to adapt to these changes. However, not much is mentioned about how these steps will be translated in to policy, and how that …

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …

Automated Daily Pattern Filtering Of Measured Building Performance Data, Clayton Miller, Zoltán Nagy, Arno Schlueter

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The amount of sensor data generated by modern building systems is growing rapidly. Automatically discovering the structure of diurnal patterns in this data supports implementation of building commissioning, fault detection and retrofit analysis techniques. Additionally, these data are crucial to informing design professionals about the efficacy of their assumptions and strategies used in performance prediction simulation models. In this paper, we introduce DayFilter, a day-typing process that uses Symbolic Aggregate approXimation (SAX), motif and discord extraction, and clustering to detect the underlying structure of building performance data. Discords, or infrequent daily patterns, are filtered and tagged for deeper, detailed analysis …

Security Of The Central Asian Energy System Through Regional-Level Energy Governance Innovations, Farkhod Aminjonov

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Central Asian energy system (CAES) was built during the Soviet period and designed without concern for what are today national borders. The resource sharing mechanism ensured the security of the CAES—reliable and stable energy supplies to meet the needs of both the people and the economy. However, following the breakup of the Soviet Union this mechanism came under pressure from emergent geopolitical and economic challenges such as the monetization of energy trade (oil products, gas and electricity) and tensions between domestic water and energy needs. Since the Central Asian energy sectors were initially designed to operate within a unified …

Does Thorium Have A Place In The Future U.S. Electricity Mix?, Danny West

Master's Projects and Capstones

Thorium is an alternative fuel source for nuclear energy. Coupled with its use in a new reactor design, called a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, the two have the ability to disrupt the nuclear industry and power sector. Nuclear energy is a clean and reliable source of energy; however, it generates hazardous waste that must be stored away for hundreds of thousands of years and power plants are at risk of a catastrophic incident that can lead to a wide scale release of radiation. These drawbacks to nuclear energy can be mitigated using thorium in a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor. These …

China's Nine-Dashed Map: Maritime Source Of Geopolitical Tension, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The South China Sea (SCS) is becoming an increasingly contentious source of geopolitical tension due to its significance as an international trade route, possessor of potentially significant oil and natural gas resources, China’s increasing diplomatic and military assertiveness, and the U.S.’ recent and ongoing Pacific Pivot strategy. Countries as varied as China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other adjacent countries have claims on this region’s islands and natural resources. China has been particularly assertive in asserting its SCS claims by creating a nine-dash line map claiming to give it de facto maritime control over this entire region without regard to …

Getches Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Fall 2014, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Balancing Envelope And Heating System Parameters For Zero Emissions Retrofit Using Building Sensor Data, Zoltán Nagy, Dino Rossi, Christian Hersberger, Silvia Domingo Irigoyen, Clayton Miller, Arno Schlueter

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Retrofit measures are an effective means to improve both the heating energy and carbon footprint of a building. On one hand, reducing the losses through the envelope reduces the energy consumption. On the other hand, updating the heating from a fossil-fuel based system to an emission-free one bears the potential for CO2-emission free operation. The latter can be achieved if the supply temperature of the heating system can be sufficiently reduced, such that the operation of a heat pump with a high coefficient of performance becomes feasible. For this, typically the heating area is increased to facilitate the heat transfer. …

Palm Oil-Based Biofuels And Sustainability In Southeast Asia: A Review Of Indonesia, Malaysia, And Thailand, Ishani Mukherjee, Benjamin K. Sovacool

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

By extensively reviewing the current state of knowledge, this paper explores the sustainability implications of palm oil biodiesel in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Both ecological and environmental vitality as well as socio-economic equity are emphasized in the authors' exploration of sustainability in the three country cases. The article observes that the main environmental sustainability considerations of palm oil biodiesel include its capacity to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, its carbon debt and its repercussions on forestry, biodiversity, and soil and water quality. Issues surrounding socio-economic sustainability encompass how palm oil biodiesel affects food security in …

Multiscale Co-Simulation Of Energyplus And Citysim Models Derived From A Building Information Model, Daren Thomas, Clayton Miller, Jérôme Kämpf, Arno Schlueter

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We present an approach for rapidly assessing the performance of early design stage building information models (BIM) from both the building and urban systems scale. This effort builds upon two previously developed tools, the Design Performance Viewer (DPV) and the CitySim urban simulation engine. It couples them to produce a more informed model. The DPV is a plugin for Autodesk Revit Architecture that creates a model for the EnergyPlus building performance engine based on information contained in the BIM. We combine the two simulation engines using the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) co-simulation framework to improve the accuracy of both simulations. …

Analysis Of Energy-Based Carbon Emission From Landside Operations Of Container Terminal And Its Abatement Strategies, Dwi Astuti

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Explaining Nuclear Energy Pursuance: A Comparison Of The United States, Germany, And Japan, Lauren Emily Mckee

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Energy is critical to the functioning of the global economy and seriously impacts global security as well. What factors influence the extent to which countries will pursue nuclear energy in their overall mix of energy approaches? This dissertation explores this critical question by analyzing the nuclear energy policies of the United States, Germany and Japan. Rather than citizen opposition or proximity to nuclear disasters, it seems that a country's access to other resources through natural endowments or trading relationships offers the best explanation for nuclear energy pursuance.

A Seed Dataset For A Public, Temporal Data Repository For Energy Informatics Research On Commercial Building Performance, Clayton Miller, Zoltán Nagy, Arno Schlueter

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Building performance research using various informatics techniques has progressed extensively in the last twenty years by advancing the fields of automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD), commissioning, data mining, and visualization for commercial buildings. Despite this effort, it has been difficult to understand the effectiveness of different approaches as compared to each other as there is a lack of general, public benchmarking datasets for this industry. We propose a repository in which researchers can release their detailed raw datasets for the purpose of repeatability, benchmarking, and utilization by other researchers. We start this effort through the public release of a …

A Form In The Road: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Path Toward Globalization In The Middle East, 1945-2014, Joshua P. Brotka

History Theses

This thesis examines the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since 1945. From the start of the Cold War immediately following the conclusion of WWII and up to the present day (2014), U.S. policy has been subject to many revisions and simultaneously, upheld national security measures. As the world heads toward an era where globalization is most prevalent, the United States will have to make drastic decisions regarding its foreign policy in the Middle East. Its alliance with Israel, oil interests, Islamic fundamentalism, an evolving Muslim society, and supporting a national security agenda has forced the United …

Sensible Bytes: States Need A New Approach To Justify Their Recruitment Of Internet Data Centers, Michael F. Kaestner

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Examining The Target Levels Of State Renewable Portfolio Standards, Laurence D. Helwig

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

At present 37 US states have passed Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or have a legislative driven goal that supports investment in renewable energy (RE) technologies. Previous research has identified economic, governmental, ideological and infrastructural characteristics as key predictors of policy adoption and renewable energy deployment efforts (Carley, 2009; Davis & Davis, 2009; Bohn & Lant, 2009; Lyon & Yin, 2010). To date, only a few studies have investigated the target levels of renewable portfolio standards. Carley & Miller (2012) found that policies of differing stringencies were motivated by systematically different factors that included governmental ideology. The purpose of this study …

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

Understanding The Global Energy Crisis, Eugene D. Coyle, Richard A. Simmons

Purdue University Press Books

We are facing a global energy crisis caused by world population growth, an escalating increase in demand, and continued dependence on fossil-based fuels for generation. It is widely accepted that increases in greenhouse gas concentration levels, if not reversed, will result in major changes to world climate with consequential effects on our society and economy. This is just the kind of intractable problem that Purdue University’s Global Policy Research Institute seeks to address in the Purdue Studies in Public Policy series by promoting the engagement between policy makers and experts in fields such as engineering and technology.

Major steps forward …

Slides: “Human Sustainability” In Natural Resources Industries: The New Frontier In Compliance, Social Responsibility, Disclosure, And Transparency, T. Markus Funk

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

Presenter: T. Markus Funk, Partner, Perkins Coie

21 slides