Methane: A Neglected Greenhouse Gas

Methane is a greenhouse gas that gets far less public attention than carbon dioxide. This is entirely unwarranted. Being 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere, methane accounts for about one-sixth of all anthropogenic (i.e. human-induced) greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is also overlooked when it comes to taking concrete measures for climate protection, despite the fact that reducing methane emissions is potentially cheap. Major sources of methane emissions are livestock farming, the natural gas sector, landfills, wetland rice cultivation and coal mining. In many cases, it is possible to mitigate substantial amounts of methane in a cost-effective way. Moreover, captured methane can be used for generating heat and power. In other words, abating one ton of methane emissions is sometimes cheaper than abating an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. The challenge is to effectively incorporate cutbacks of methane gas emissions into climate policy strategies.Methane, Mitigation, Climate policy

Incorporating life cycle external cost in optimization of the electricity generation mix

The present work aims to examine the strategic decision of future electricity generation mix considering, together with all other factors, the effect of the external cost associated with the available power generation technology options, not only during their operation but also during their whole life cycle. The analysis has been performed by integrating the Life Cycle Assessment concept into a linear programming model for the yearly decisions on which option should be used to minimize the electricity generation cost. The model has been applied for the case of Greece for the years 2012-2050 and has led to several interesting results. Firstly, most of the new generating capacity should be renewable (mostly biomass and wind), while natural gas is usually the only conventional fuel technology chosen. If externalities are considered, wind energy increases its share and hydro-power replaces significant amounts of biomass-generated energy. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis has been performed. One of the most important findings is that natural gas increases its contribution when externalities are increased. Summing-up, external cost has been found to be a significant percentage of the total electricity generation cost for some energy sources, therefore significantly changing the ranking order of cost-competitiveness for the energy sources examined

The Stumbling Block of Net Profit Margin: A Case Study of PT PLN Batubara

PT PLN Batubara is a subsidiary of PT PLN (Persero), which has the role of Security of Supply for PLTU and Contributing to cost efficiency. The company shows a positive trend about securing business sustainability by an upward trend of coal delivery year by year. However, the increase in revenue was not followed by a remarkable increase in profit margin. Based on the last three years of financial statement data, the company never meets the net profit margin target, which has planned on its corporate planning. This research objective is to answer the root cause of this problem, develop possible solutions to improve net profit margin and choose the optimum alternative to be implemented. This research is based on rational decision-making framework combined with internal and external analysis to define factor impacting net profit margin of PT PLN Batubara. This research is conducted using Mixed-Method, both qualitative and quantitative methods. Research shows that there are some internal and external factors that deterrent the increasing of profit margin. Regarding to internal factors, business model which relies on suppliers made the company struggling in controlling the cost production. Furthermore, it is getting worse with the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy. Therefore, in order to address those stumbling factors, the company should optimize supply chain management by looking for an alternative supplier. Keywords: net profit margin, rational decision, decision analysis, coal, potential problem analysi

Optimal operation of MEA-based post-combustion carbon capture for natural gas combined cycle power plants under different market conditions

Carbon capture for fossil fuel power generation attracts an increasing attention in order to address the significant challenge of global climate change. This study aims to explore the optimal operation under different market conditions for an assumed existing natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant integrated with MEA-based post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) process. The steady state process models for NGCC power plant, PCC process and CO₂ compression train were developed in Aspen Plus® to give accurate prediction of process performance. Levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is formulated as the objective function in optimization studies. Economic evaluation was carried out for the base case of the integrated system including CO₂ transport and storage (T&S). The optimal operations were investigated for the carbon capture level under different carbon price, fuel price and CO₂ T&S price. The study shows that carbon price needs to be over €100/ton CO₂ to justify the total cost of carbon capture from the NGCC power plant and needs to be €120/ton CO₂ to drive carbon capture level at 90%. Higher fuel price and CO₂ T&S price would cause a higher operating cost of running carbon capture process thus a higher carbon price is needed if targeted carbon capture level is to be maintained

Power Utility Re-regulation in East European and CIS Transformation Countries (1990-1999): An Institutional Interpretation

This paper analyzes the process of power utility re-regulation in Eastern Europe and the CIS during the decade of systemic transformation (1990-1999); in particular, it explores reasons why early attempts to introduce competition-oriented reform models have not succeeded. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of various reform models from an institutional economic perspective. The approaches to and results of power sector reform in Eastern Europe are assessed; quantitative indicators are wholesale and retail prices, cost coverage ratios, investment levels, and the degree of unbundling and privatization. The paper concludes that a gradual approach to reforms may have been appropriate for the first years of systemic transformation, but that today, ten years later, there is no reason to delay market-oriented reforms any longer.Power sector, institutions, transition, Eastern Europe

A Framework for Globally Optimizing Mixed-Integer Signomial Programs

Mixed-integer signomial optimization problems have broad applicability in engineering. Extending the Global Mixed-Integer Quadratic Optimizer, GloMIQO (Misener, Floudas in J. Glob. Optim., 2012. doi:10.1007/s10898-012-9874-7), this manuscript documents a computational framework for deterministically addressing mixed-integer signomial optimization problems to ε-global optimality. This framework generalizes the GloMIQO strategies of (1) reformulating user input, (2) detecting special mathematical structure, and (3) globally optimizing the mixed-integer nonconvex program. Novel contributions of this paper include: flattening an expression tree towards term-based data structures; introducing additional nonconvex terms to interlink expressions; integrating a dynamic implementation of the reformulation-linearization technique into the branch-and-cut tree; designing term-based underestimators that specialize relaxation strategies according to variable bounds in the current tree node. Computational results are presented along with comparison of the computational framework to several state-of-the-art solvers. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

CCS Networks for the UK: Benefits, Impacts and Regulation

What benefits might be offered by developing well planned CCS networks? A review of the drivers for and barriers to the coherent development of CCS networks in the UK is used to synthesise a limited set of possible network topologies. The benefits offered by each topology for UK carbon dioxide and other atmospheric emissions are estimated. Other potential benefits are considered qualitatively, and a range of uncertainties identified. The complexity of CCS networks means that addressing these uncertainties is a challenging task, and the need for a whole systems approach is evaluated. Finally, implications for CCS regulation and policy are highlighted

Nuclear Energy Complexes: Prospects for Development and Cooperation

1. 2005–2006 was a critical period in the development of the nuclear complexes of Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. These years have ushered in a “nuclear renaissance”. Russia’s nuclear sector was subject to a total systemic review; the Federal Target Program (FTP) allocated to it funds totaling more than USD 55 billion. A decision was taken to consolidate all nuclear assets within one state corporation. Kazakhstan implemented the “15000 tons uranium by 2010” state development program. Its development programs for reactors and nuclear power plants are worked out jointly with Russia. Closer cooperation is also being pursued with other leaders in the field, primarily Japanese companies. Cooperation agreements between the two countries were adopted. The foundation of three joint ventures (JV) was the first tangible outcome of above agreements. 2. Meanwhile Kazakh uranium has become a focus of attention and fierce competition between the world’s largest consumers, including France, Canada, USA, Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia. Early this decade, Russia’s substantial production capacity and highly competitive uranium ore conversion technologies added to calls for the country to renew its economic links with Kazakhstan in the uranium mining and nuclear industries. Given Russia’s ambitious plans to develop nuclear energy, and the fact that its uranium stocks are practically depleted, the benefits of closer cooperation with Kazakhstan are clear. However, Russia will have to compete with well-established players on Kazakhstan’s uranium market. 3. Kazakhstan has aspirations to become a world leader in uranium mining and to focus production at the highly processed end of the nuclear fuel cycle. This was the backdrop for a recent transaction which will have a significant impact on the country’s nuclear industry. In the autumn of 2007, KazAtomProm purchased Toshiba’s 10% share in Westinghouse Electrics, a leading producer of nuclear reactors, for USD 540 million. This transaction has secured a permanent nuclear alliance between KazAtomProm, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electrics. For Kazakhstan, this creates new opportunities to develop a hi-tech nuclear industry and to market its output in the West. Supplying high-end nuclear products to Western markets is one of KazAtomProm’s development priorities, along with continued cooperation with Russia in supplying Soviettype reactors. 4. The need to integrate the nuclear power complexes of Kazakhstan and Russia along the entire production chain is a logical response to their urgent need to reduce their energy deficit, and to the synergies which exist between their production capacities and technologies at each stage of the nuclear fuel production chain: (1) uranium mining, (2) uranium enrichment, (3) production of fuel pellets and fuel elements, (4) reactor design and production, primarily 300 MW VBER-300 power reactors, (5) construction and operation of nuclear power plants, and (6) nuclear waste processing and disposal. 5. Kazakhstan has plans to develop its own nuclear power industry and is likely to base this on 300 MW Russian-Kazakh reactors and, in the longer-term, 1000 MW Westinghouse reactors. 6. The development of this capital-intensive sector will require extensive financing based on credit from a number of sources. International and national development banks are one promising potential source of such funding. The ability to secure this capital from international and national development banks rests entirely upon the nuclear energy industry’s potential for development, innovation, diversification and integration. The Eurasian Development Bank, VEB (Russian Development Bank) and the Development Bank of Kazakhstan have indicated their recognition of this. E.g., the EDB has extended credit to the Russian-Kazakh Zarechnoye JV.nuclear industry, economic cooperation, economic development, Russia, Kazakhstan, Eurasian Economic Community, CIS