Browsing by Subject "allocation"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Allowance Allocation Options under the Clean Power Plan Proposed Mass-Based Model Rule
    (2016-04-28) Thompson, Dacia
    The Clean Power Plan is a major element of the United States’ strategy to combat climate change. The Clean Power Plan addresses carbon emissions from existing power plants by setting emissions limits for each state. Under the Clean Power Plan, states are supposed to develop their own plans to meet the goal that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set. When EPA published the final version of the Clean Power Plan, the Agency also proposed model rules for the states. These model rules establish a trading-ready scheme that states can adapt to their individual policy priorities. The EPA published a mass- and rate-based model rule, and this paper focuses on the mass-based rule because it raises the question of allowance allocation while a rate-based rule would not. This paper explores the policy priorities that states may want to pursue through their Clean Power Plan compliance efforts. It also reviews the allowance allocation choices that states with mass-based trading plans will have to make and how the states may incorporate their policy goals into those decisions.
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    Property Control of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Their Devices
    (2008-12-11) Yuan, Dongning

    Controlling the properties of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is the major challenge toward their future applications. This dissertation describes several contributions to this chanllenge.

    This dissertation begins with the brief review on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including discovery, structure, properties, challenges, synthesis and applications. The remaining parts can be divided into three sections. They demonstrate the control of SWNT properties as well as their devices by direct synthesis and metal decoration.

    Two studies are described on the control of SWNT properties by direct synthesis. The first demonstrates the controlled synthesis of SWNTs in terms of their diameter, uniformity, and density by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The approaches employed include using uniform nanoparticles with specific sizes as catalysts to grow different diameter SWNTs, specially small diameter tubes less than 1 nm; using laser irradiation to grow uniform and high quality SWNTs; and changing the gas flow pattern to obtain different density. The second study demonstrates the growth of aligned SWNTs by flow and substrate guidance. Horizontally aligned ultralong nanotubes are synthesized on Si substrate by both high flow and low flow. The guided growth by the quartz substrate is shown by a large variety of metal catalysts to further the understanding of the growth mechanism. Moreover, top gated FETs have been explored for the selective growth of purely semiconducting, horizontally aligned SWNTs grown on quartz by a ethanol/methanol mixture.

    The control of SWNT device performance is also described, in particular, the correlation between the SWNT field effect transistor (FET) configuration and its gate dependence response. The effects of FET channel length, nanotube density and diameter on the device performance are demonstrated. A model has been constructed in order to simulate the electronic behavior. An interesting metallic behavior has been observed.

    Finally, control of SWNT properties by Palladium decoration after growth is used to manipulate their properties. Moreover, two novel applications including improvement of carbon nanotube film conductivity and catalysis of nanostructure growth are developed.

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    Recommendations for a Surface Water Allocation System in North Carolina: The Upper Tar River Basin Perspective
    (2011-04-28) Schieffer, Emily
    North Carolina is a water-rich state, crisscrossed by more than 40,000 miles of rivers and streams and fed by an average of almost 50 inches of rain a year. Competition for the state’s water resources is increasing, however, and recent droughts and lawsuits have highlighted the fact that there is a limit to this wealth. A more proactive and comprehensive approach to managing water withdrawals is needed. One management tool that has received attention at the General Assembly, but has not yet been implemented, is a statewide allocation system for surface water. My research is a prospective policy analysis, which explores the perspective of four groups of water professionals (primarily) within the Upper Tar River basin, in order to predict the implications and consequences of implementing a statewide surface water allocation policy. Data was collected through a series of hour-long, semi-structured, in-person interviews. Informants included managers of municipal water systems in the Upper Tar River basin, water utility professionals from the private sector who work in the Upper Tar River basin, staff from state resource agencies, and environmental policy experts working on water issues in North Carolina. Data analysis, which drew from discourse analysis and grounded theory methods, explored the text of verbatim interview transcripts to identify the key themes in informants’ discourse related to a surface water allocation policy. From these themes, I articulated a list of the fundamental objectives that an allocation program must meet and then developed a set of policy recommendations to guide development of such a program. My analysis indicates that there is support for a statewide surface water allocation system, within the respondent group. In order to realize the potential benefits identified by informants and minimize their concerns, a successful surface water allocation program should (1) provide a fair process for determining allocations, (2) apply equitably to all user groups, (3) incorporate a comprehensive and integrated approach to understanding, managing, and regulating surface water use, (4) provide a broad planning and decision context, and (5) enable users to adequately plan and prepare for future water conditions. This study provides insight to the perspectives of four stakeholder groups in the Upper Tar River basin and could serve as the basis for larger, perhaps quantitative studies. Future research is needed to investigate the transferability of these findings to other river basins in the state and to explore the perspectives of other important stakeholder groups, including agriculture and electric power generation.