Building Blocks: Investment in Renewable and Non-Renewable Technologies

Over the last several years, there has been a nation-wide intensification of policies directed at increasing the level of renewable sources of electricity.  These environmental policy changes have occurred against a backdrop of shifting economic regulation in power markets that has fundamentally redefined the mechanisms through which investors in power plants earn revenues. Rather than base payments upon costs, revenues in many regions are now based upon fluctuating energy prices and, in some cases, supplemental payments for installed capacity. This paper studies the interaction between these two major forces that are currently dominating the economic landscape of the electricity industry.  Using data from the western U.S., we examine how the large-scale expansion of intermittent resources of generation could influence long-run equilibrium prices and investment decisions under differing wholesale power market designs.  We find that as the level of wind penetration increases, the equilibrium investment mix of other resources shifts towards less baseload and more peaking capacity.  As wind penetration increases, an “average” wind producer earns increasingly more revenue under markets with capacity payments than those that base compensation on energy revenues.   Investment; Renewable Energy; Capacity Markets

Recent turbulent drag reduction research at Langley Research Center

Three areas are discussed: oscillatory longitudinal curvature, large eddy breakup devices, and small longitudinal surface striations. The first two concepts produced sizable local turbulent skin friction reductions, but further research is required to optimize the effect, reduce parasitic device drag, and provide a net increase in vehicle performance. The surface striations, due to large wetted area increased for a given planform, have not yet yielded a planform-averaged skin friction reduction. Heat transfer data indicated such surfaces may have useful application in heat exchangers

Calculation of turbulent free mixing: Status and problems

An overview of turbulence closure methods is presented along with discussions concerning which method works where and which approaches deserve further development. A table is given which lists the various computational techniques together with their prime usage areas. In addition, free mixing phenomena which were not specifically included in the basic data considered for the conference are summarized

Enforcement of Vintage Differentiated Regulations: The Case of New Source Review

�This paper analyzes the effects of the New Source Review (NSR) environmental regulations on coal-fired electric power plants. �Regulations that grew out of the Clean Air Act of 1970 required new electric generating plants to install costly pollution control equipment but exempted existing plants with a grandfathering clause. �Existing plants lost their grandfathering status if they made ``major modifications'' to their plants. �We examine whether this caused firms to invest less in their old plants, possibly leading to lower efficiency and higher emissions. We find some evidence that the risk of NSR enforcement reduced capital expenditures at plants. However, we find no discernable effect on the operating costs, fuel efficiency or emissions of these plants.�New Source Review; Environmental Regulations; productivity; and Electricity

Allocation and Leakage in Regional Cap-And-Trade Markets for CO2

The allocation or assignment of emissions allowances is among the most contentious elements of the design of emissions trading systems. �Policy-makers usually try to satisfy a range of goals through the allocation process, including easing the transition costs for high-emissions firms, reducing leakage to unregulated regions, and mitigating the impact of the regulations on product prices such as electricity. �In this paper we develop a detailed representation of the US western electricity market to assess the potential impacts of various allocation proposals. �Several proposals involve the ``updating'' of allowance allocation, where the allocation is tied to the ongoing output of plants. �These allocation proposals are designed with the goals of limiting the pass-through of carbon costs to product prices, mitigating leakage, and of mitigating the costs to high-emissions firms. �However, �some forms of allocation updating can also inflate allowance prices, thereby limiting the benefits of such schemes to high emissions firms. � Thus, the anticipated benefits from allocation updating can be diluted and further distortions introduced into the trading system.electricity markets; Cap-and-Trade; Emissions Leakage

Powder fed sheared dispersal particle generator

A particle generating system is described which is capable of breaking up agglomerations of particles and producing a cloud of uniform, submicron-sized particles at high pressure and high flow rates. This is achieved by utilizing a tubular structure which has injection microslits on is periphery to accept and disperse the desired particle feed. By suppling a carrying fluid at a pressure, of approximately twice the ambient pressure of the velocimeter's settling chamber, the microslits operate at choked flow conditions. The shearing action of this choked flow is sufficient to overcome interparticle bonding forces, thereby breaking up the agglomerates of the particles feed into individual particles

The battle for the whistleblower : an interview with John Kiriakou

Whistleblowing, or speaking truth to power, is complex. How truth telling is shaped is an important issue, as is the legitimacy of the individual who speaks out. Both the person who blows the whistle, and the disclosure itself, may be framed differently depending upon the agendas of others. This is further shaped and complicated by the various mediums through which disclosures are made. In what follows we present an interview with CIA whistleblower, John Kiriakou, and discuss its implications for theories of whistleblowing including those drawing on the concept of parrhesia. This case demonstrates the complexities involved in establishing a voice and gaining legitimacy amid contemporary forms of media, alongside the effects of this for the whistleblower