Monitoring and management of power transmission dynamics in an industrial smart grid

This article is a position paper whose purpose is to give the context for presentations in a special session at PowerTech 2013. The special session is being proposed by the EU FP7 Real-Smart Consortium, a Marie Curie Industry-Academic Pathways and Partnerships project. The paper gives an overview of topics on modeling, monitoring and management of power transmission dynamics with participation from large industrial loads. © 2013 IEEE

Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Summarizes estimates of the costs and impact on greenhouse gas emissions of transportation strategies that raise fuel efficiency, lower fuel carbon content, reduce vehicle travel, and improve the transportation network and of combinations of strategies

The Effect of Allowance Allocations on Cap-and-Trade System Performance

We examine an implication of the “Coase Theorem” which has had an important impact both on environmental economics and on public policy in the environmental domain. Under certain conditions, the market equilibrium in a cap-and-trade system will be cost-effective and independent of the initial allocation of tradable rights. That is, the overall cost of achieving a given aggregate emission reduction will be minimized, and the final allocation of permits will be independent of the initial allocation. We call this the independence property. This property is very important because it allows equity and efficiency concerns to be separated in a relatively straightforward manner. In particular, the property means that the government can establish the overall pollution-reduction goal for a cap-and-trade system by setting the cap, and leave it up to the legislature – such as the U.S. Congress – to construct a constituency in support of the program by allocating the allowances to various interests without affecting either the environmental performance of the system or its aggregate social costs. Our primary objective in this paper is to examine the conditions under which the independence property is likely to hold – both in theory and in practice. A number of factors can call the independence property into question theoretically, including market power, transaction costs, non-cost-minimizing behavior, and conditional allowance allocations. We find that, in practice, there is support for the independence property in some, but not all cap-and-trade applications.Cap-and-Trade System, Tradable Permits, Coase Theorem, Allowance Allocation

Deregulation Using Stealth “Science” Strategies

In this Article, we explore the “stealth” use of science by the Executive Branch to advance deregulation and highlight the limited, existing legal and institutional constraints in place to discipline and discourage these practices. Political appointees have employed dozens of strategies over the years, in both Democratic and Republican administrations, to manipulate science in ends-oriented ways that advance the goal of deregulation. Despite this bald manipulation of science, however, the officials frequently present these strategies as necessary to bring “sound science” to bear on regulatory decisions. To begin to address this problem, it is important to reconceptualize how the administrative state addresses science-intensive decisions. Rather than allow agencies and the White House to operate as a cohesive unit, institutional bounds should be drawn around the scientific expertise lodged within the agencies. We propose that the background scientific work prepared by agency staff should be firewalled from the evaluative, policymaking input of the remaining officials, including politically appointed officials, in the agency

Can the U.S. Get There from Here?

Climate change impacts in the United States are increasingly evident and come with steep economic and social costs. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has increased in recent years, bringing record-breaking heat, heavy precipitation, coastal flooding, severe droughts, and damaging wildfires.According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), weather-related damages in the United States were $60 billion in 2011, and are expected to be significantly greater in 2012.The mounting costs convey an unmistakable urgency to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). This report examines pathways for GHG reductions in the United States through actions taken at the federal and state levels without the need for new legislation from the U.S. Congress

Recommendations concerning energy information model documentation, public access, and evaluation

In this study we provide an analysis of the factors underlying Congressional concern regarding model documentation, policies for public access, and evaluation procedures of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and its predecessor agencies; we also develop and present recommendations designed to improve current practice. This study reviews the history of Congressional concern; surveys current EIA organization and policies; provides an analysis of the model evaluation process; and presents recommendations to improve organizational efficiency and responsiveness, the model documentation process, public access policies, and model evaluation

PIPELINE SAFETY Systematic Process Needed to Evaluate Outcomes of Research and Development Program

OPS distributes its R&D budget among four main areas. For example, in fiscal year 2003, the office plans to allocate its $8.7 million budget as follows: • 46 percent ($4.0 million) to developing new technologies to prevent damage to pipelines and prevent leaks; • 21 percent ($1.9 million) to improving technologies for operating, controlling, and monitoring the condition of pipelines; • 19 percent ($1.7 million) to improved pipeline materials, such as materials that are resistant to damage and defects; and • 14 percent ($1.2 million) to efforts to improve data on the location and safety performance of pipelines. On the basis of our work, we believe that OPS’s R&D funding is generally aligned with its mission and pipeline safety goals. OPS has taken a number of steps to ensure this alignment. For example, it obtained the views of a variety of experts and stakeholders in deciding on its R&D priorities and has described in various plans how its R&D efforts can lead to new and improved technologies that can help achieve its safety performance goals, such as reducing the impacts of pipeline accidents. The pipeline safety R&D priorities of the experts we surveyed are generally consistent with OPS’s R&D priorities. For example, most assigned a high priority to the two areas of R&D that receive the highest amount of funding from OPS. OPS’s efforts to evaluate the outcomes of its R&D have been limited. The agency has taken some preliminary steps toward developing an evaluation process for its R&D program, such as identifying possible measures of program results. Leading research organizations, the Office of Management and Budget, and GAO have identified a number of best practices for systematically evaluating the outcomes of federal R&D programs, such as setting clear R&D goals, measuring progress toward goals, and reporting periodically on evaluation results. These best practices can help OPS to determine the effectiveness of its R&D program in achieving desired outcomes, such as the development and use of new and improved technologies that can enhance pipeline safety