The economics of photovoltaics in the commercial, institutional and industrical sectors

This paper describes the application of a model which computes system break-even capital costs, array break-even capital costs and profits from photovoltaic investments in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors. Several tax and accounting combinations are described and utilized in this paper. Results indicate that, at rates of return usually found in the industrial and commercial sectors, photovoltaic investments will not be attractive when the costs of those investments are based on the Department of Energy's cost goals for 1986

Simulation analysis of energy production in the B. C. pulp and paper industry

ABSTRACT This paper describes a dynamic simulation model of energy production and use by pulp and paper mills. The model can be used to assess the costs and benefits of the use of different proportions of wood waste (referred to as 'hog fuel') and fossil fuels to generate process steam and electricity, with the costs and benefits measured from several points of view, principally those of the mill management and of the economy as a whole. Using either point of view, the model has been fitted to the eighteen major pulp and paper mills in British Columbia, and used to assess the consequences of the size and nature of optimal hog fuel projects. Some results are reported in this paper and references are given to other papers containing more complete results of various aspects of the research project. INTRODUCTION Whenever there are big changes in technology or relative prices, many of the standard rules of thumb for optimal choices fall apart, and many new alternatives have to be considered in a systematic way. This offers great scope for the design and use of simulation models that capture the key elements of an industrial process and expose the key alternatives for This paper was presented to the conference on Simulation Modelling and Decision in Energy Systems, held in Montreal in June, 1978 and sponsored by the International Association of Science and Technology for Development. It represents early results of work also reported in [1], [2], [3] and [4]. While Helliwell is a continuing member of U.B.C.'s Department of Economics, Cox is currently at M.I.T.'s Energy Laboratory Cambridge, Mass

The impact on photovoltaic worth of utulity rate and reform and of specific market, financial, and policy variables : a commercialindustrialinstitution sector analysis

This work provides an assessment of the economic outlook for photovoltaic systems in the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors in the year 1986. We first summarize the expected cost and performance goals for photovoltaic technology, and then estimate aspects of the market and financial environment pertinent to assessment of a PV investment beginning in that year. Our analysis covers three geographic regions of the U.S., characterized by Boston, Madison, and Phoenix, and examines PV economic performance when operating against five different means for establishing utility backup rates. In addition, we assess the potential of a photovoltaic array to reduce a firm's monthly capacity charge.Our results break down as follows. For our initial analysis, utilizing a base case set of financial parameters, we find that a peak-shaving credit (reduction in monthly capacity charge) attributed to a photovoltaic array can be significant, but not so much as to prove photovoltaics economic in the commercial sector in 1986. The institutional sector will find photovoltaics profitable if they discount at rates reflective of the returns on long-term government bonds. In our extended analysis, we perform sensitivity studies and examine the impact of combinations of government incentives. We find that photovoltaics will just turn economic in 1986 for the commercial/industrial sector given an optimistic set of incentive policies. We finalize our analysis with an important list of caveats to our conclusions

Ontologies for the study of neurological disease

We have begun work on two separate but related ontologies for the study of neurological diseases. The first, the Neurological Disease Ontology (ND), is intended to provide a set of controlled, logically connected classes to describe the range of neurological diseases and their associated signs and symptoms, assessments, diagnoses, and interventions that are encountered in the course of clinical practice. ND is built as an extension of the Ontology for General Medical Sciences — a high-level candidate OBO Foundry ontology that provides a set of general classes that can be used to describe general aspects of medical science. ND is being built with classes utilizing both textual and axiomatized definitions that describe and formalize the relations between instances of other classes within the ontology itself as well as to external ontologies such as the Gene Ontology, Cell Ontology, Protein Ontology, and Chemical Entities of Biological Interest. In addition, references to similar or associated terms in external ontologies, vocabularies and terminologies are included when possible. Initial work on ND is focused on the areas of Alzheimer’s and other diseases associated with dementia, multiple sclerosis, and stroke and cerebrovascular disease. Extensions to additional groups of neurological diseases are planned. The second ontology, the Neuro-Psychological Testing Ontology (NPT), is intended to provide a set of classes for the annotation of neuropsychological testing data. The intention of this ontology is to allow for the integration of results from a variety of neuropsychological tests that assay similar measures of cognitive functioning. Neuro-psychological testing is an important component in developing the clinical picture used in the diagnosis of patients with a range of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, and following stroke or traumatic brain injury. NPT is being developed as an extension to the Ontology for Biomedical Investigations

The European dilemma:evaluating the implications of UEFA Europa League participation on English Premier League clubs

For clubs qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, participation generates a series of tensions. UEFA has provided financial rewards for those clubs, but with qualification comes additional pressures on playing squads which are often less able to deal with the performative demands of an extra competition, as they generally possess fewer financial resources compared with teams gaining Champions League qualification. This paper evaluates these conflicting tensions. The study takes a detailed quantitative analysis of the costs and benefits for four Premier League clubs that have repeatedly participated in the Europa League over eight seasons. It demonstrates a positive financial benefit of participation, but this is only significant if the club progresses to the later competition stages and has a robust playing squad. This research fills a gap in a lack of analysis based on reliable empirical data as to the impact of participation in this competition on clubs

Identification of Carbohydrate Metabolism Genes in the Metagenome of a Marine Biofilm Community Shown to Be Dominated by Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes

Polysaccharides are an important source of organic carbon in the marine environment and degradation of the insoluble and globally abundant cellulose is a major component of the marine carbon cycle. Although a number of species of cultured bacteria are known to degrade crystalline cellulose, little is known of the polysaccharide hydrolases expressed by cellulose-degrading microbial communities, particularly in the marine environment. Next generation 454 Pyrosequencing was applied to analyze the microbial community that colonizes and degrades insoluble polysaccharides in situ in the Irish Sea. The bioinformatics tool MG-RAST was used to examine the randomly sampled data for taxonomic markers and functional genes, and showed that the community was dominated by members of the Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Furthermore, the identification of 211 gene sequences matched to a custom-made database comprising the members of nine glycoside hydrolase families revealed an extensive repertoire of functional genes predicted to be involved in cellulose utilization. This demonstrates that the use of an in situ cellulose baiting method yielded a marine microbial metagenome considerably enriched in functional genes involved in polysaccharide degradation. The research reported here is the first designed to specifically address the bacterial communities that colonize and degrade cellulose in the marine environment and to evaluate the glycoside hydrolase (cellulase and chitinase) gene repertoire of that community, in the absence of the biases associated with PCR-based molecular techniques

Short communication: a hierarchy of items within Eysenck’s EPI

Based on the recent finding of a hierarchical scale for Neuroticism in the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, two further personality inventories: the Eysenck Personality Inventory and Goldberg’s International Personality Item Pool were analysed using the Mokken Scaling Procedure for hierarchical scales. Items from two dimensions of the Eysenck Personality Inventory: Neuroticism and Extraversion produced hierarchical scales of 12 and five items, respectively. The Neuroticism items ran from items expressing mild to more extreme worry and the Extraversion items ran from mild sociability to more extreme ‘showing off’. The utility of hierarchical scales in personality measurement is discussed in terms of furthering theoretical understanding of personality and also practical application. In addition, the reasons why only one of these scales should produce hierarchical sets of items is discussed

Site Characterization Using Integrated Imaging Analysis Methods on Satellite Data of the Islamabad, Pakistan, Region

We develop an integrated digital imaging analysis approach to produce a first-approximation site characterization map for Islamabad, Pakistan, based on remote-sensing data. We apply both pixel-based and object-oriented digital imaging analysis methods to characterize detailed (1:50,000) geomorphology and geology from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite imagery. We use stereo-correlated relative digital elevation models (rDEMs) derived from ASTER data, as well as spectra in the visible near-infrared (VNIR) to thermal infrared (TIR) domains. The resulting geomorphic units in the study area are classified as mountain (including the Margala Hills and the Khairi Murat Ridge), piedmont, and basin terrain units. The local geologic units are classified as limestone in the Margala Hills and the Khairi Murat Ridge and sandstone rock types for the piedmonts and basins. Shear-wave velocities for these units are assigned in ranges based on established correlations in California. These ranges include Vs30-values to be greater than 500 m/sec for mountain units, 200–600 m/sec for piedmont units, and less than 300 m/sec for basin units. While the resulting map provides the basis for incorporating site response in an assessment of seismic hazard for Islamabad, it also demonstrates the potential use of remote-sensing data for site characterization in regions where only limited conventional mapping has been done