Browsing by Subject "Carbon emissions"
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF NUCLEAR RETIREMENT ON CARBON EMISSIONS(2019-04-25) Li, Qinling; Wang, Mengdi; Gu, YaofengDecreased economic competitiveness and increased safety concerns of nuclear power plants with the introduction of renewable energy have led to decisions to retire nuclear plants earlier than licensed. Though not renewable, nuclear power enjoys the advantage of low-carbon emission and early retirement of nuclear power may exacerbate the existing environmental crisis. The knowledge of retirement impact in terms of emissions informs the planning of decision-makers and provides accessible knowledge to the public. The study explores the impact on carbon emission with both a multivariate linear regression model and a comprehensive energy model under different future scenarios of natural gas prices and retirement rates. Differences in the systems are calculated as changes in total system cost and emissions. Results indicate that early retirements lead to variations in cost and emission with specific respective to scenarios, but the differences are minuscule in scale compared with the business-as-usual scenario.Item Open Access Capacity Investment in Renewable and Conventional Energy Sources(2016) Yucel, SafakThis dissertation studies capacity investments in energy sources, with a focus on renewable technologies, such as solar and wind energy. We develop analytical models to provide insights for policymakers and use real data from the state of Texas to corroborate our findings.
We first take a strategic perspective and focus on electricity pricing policies. Specifically, we investigate the capacity investments of a utility firm in renewable and conventional energy sources under flat and peak pricing policies. We consider generation patterns and intermittency of solar and wind energy in relation to the electricity demand throughout a day. We find that flat pricing leads to a higher investment level for solar energy and it can still lead to more investments in wind energy if considerable amount of wind energy is generated throughout the day.
In the second essay, we complement the first one by focusing on the problem of matching supply with demand in every operating period (e.g., every five minutes) from the perspective of a utility firm. We study the interaction between renewable and conventional sources with different levels of operational flexibility, i.e., the possibility
of quickly ramping energy output up or down. We show that operational flexibility determines these interactions: renewable and inflexible sources (e.g., nuclear energy) are substitutes, whereas renewable and flexible sources (e.g., natural gas) are complements.
In the final essay, rather than the capacity investments of the utility firms, we focus on the capacity investments of households in rooftop solar panels. We investigate whether or not these investments may cause a utility death spiral effect, which is a vicious circle of increased solar adoption and higher electricity prices. We observe that the current rate-of-return regulation may lead to a death spiral for utility firms. We show that one way to reverse the spiral effect is to allow the utility firms to maximize their profits by determining electricity prices.
Item Open Access Carbon Price Pass-Through in the Chinese Emissions Trading Scheme: Lessons from Korea and the European Union(2021-12) Murphy, JuliaOn July 16, 2021, the Chinese Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) opened trading. Covering more than 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide, the ETS accounts for 40% of China’s national carbon emissions and is the largest carbon market in the world by volume. However, as it stands, the cost of carbon is not being reflected in electricity prices for consumers due to government regulation of the Chinese power market. This study examines the relationship between the Chinese ETS design and power market design to make a recommendation to facilitate the pass-through of carbon costs to consumers. Specifically, the study confronts the feasibility of two potential reform pathways for price pass-through, (1) power market deregulation, and (2) evolution in design of the Chinese emissions trading scheme. Comparative case study analysis of price-signaling methods in the Republic of Korea and the European Union informs the ultimate recommendation. The findings indicate that Chinese ETS design should optimize long-term coordination and mutual efficiency between the Chinese ETS and power market by implementing the regulation of indirect emissions with an upstream coefficient in the short-term to respond to the long-term gradual deregulation of the Chinese power market.Item Open Access Environmental and Economic Impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative on Pakistan’s Energy Sector(2018-04-27) Reynolds, Carley; Stout, Tara; Wang, XiaoguanIn 2013, China announced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which broadly aims to interconnect over 65 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa through infrastructure investment and economic development. A flagship component of BRI, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has a strong focus on energy infrastructure development. Currently, coal-fired plants constitute half of announced CPEC energy generation projects and 69% of capacity, throwing doubt on the environmentally friendly rhetoric surrounding the BRI initiative. This paper seeks to understand the cost and feasibility of using alternative technologies and a different energy mix as compared to emission-intensive CPEC energy projects. The levelized cost of electricity, CO2 emissions, and SO2 emissions were calculated for current CPEC projects using information gathered from Pakistan generation licenses and tariff documents. Generalized plants, based on current projects and other Pakistan power projects, were then used to build an optimization model around LCOE and emissions under different constraints Model results show that there were more cost effective and less polluting options using large re-gasified liquid natural gas plants and hydro projects. A literature review suggests that political and economic situations originating in China, as well as political factors in Pakistan, contribute to the use of coal over other technologies.