Everything Under the Sun: A Guide to Siting Solar in the Lone Star State

Encouraging energy production using renewable resources is a widely recognized public policy that is promoted by both the federal and state governments in the U.S., and with recent technological advances, renewable-electricity generation is rapidly becoming economically viable. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that electricity production from all renewable sources will increase 72% between 2013 and 2040, with the renewable share of total U.S. electricity generation growing from 13% to 18%.1 The future of solar power is especially bright with a projected growth rate of 6.8% per year between 2013 and 2040. If this projection holds true, solar power will far outpace the growth of other renewables. Combined with the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) introduced in 2006, rapid improvements in photovoltaic (PV) solar panel efficiency and dramatic reductions in PV costs are driving a veritable solar boom in the U.S. In fact, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports a 73% decrease in the cost of installing solar since the implementation of the ITC, and anticipates an additional 20,000 Megawatts (MW) of solar generation capacity will come online in the next two years, doubling current U.S. solar capacity. Likewise, the EIA projects that solar power will account for nearly half of the total 109,000MW of renewable-generation-capacity that is expected to be added to the U.S. electricity grid by 2040.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Shuttle remote manipulator system mission preparation and operations

The preflight planning, analysis, procedures development, and operations support for the Space Transportation System payload deployment and retrieval missions utilizing the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System are summarized. Analysis of the normal operational loads and failure induced loads and motion are factored into all procedures. Both the astronaut flight crews and the Mission Control Center flight control teams receive considerable training for standard and mission specific operations. The real time flight control team activities are described

Environmental Issues for the \u2790s: Golden-Cheeked Warblers and Yellowfin Tuna

Environmental issues have transformed the areas of law that I have taught for the last thirty-one years. A decade ago environmental law went virtually unmentioned in courses in property, domestic oil and gas law, and international transactions. By 1995 environmental concerns had moved from the periphery to center stage in these legal fields. To someone who teaches and writes about these subjects, the clearest manifestation of this development has been that virtually every first-year property casebook, mining or oil and gas law casebook, and international business transactions casebook, written in the last five years now includes segments on environmental law. In many older casebooks that have been revised within this period, environmental coverage frequently has appeared for the first time. But correspondingly, as environmental law and regulations have assumed greater importance, resistance and opposition to them also have increased. One form of that opposition has come from analogous theoretical sources: absolutist claims of freedom from external interference in making decisions within one\u27s own territory. Domestically, the opposition has been based on constitutional protection of property rights; internationally, it has been based on protection and vindication of national sovereignty. To both practicing lawyers and academic theoreticians, these parallel developments will present some of the most significant environmental issues of the decade -- within our nation and beyond

Intelligent Systems Technologies for Ops

As NASA supports International Space Station assembly complete operations through 2020 (or later) and prepares for future human exploration programs, there is additional emphasis in the manned spaceflight program to find more efficient and effective ways of providing the ground-based mission support. Since 2006 this search for improvement has led to a significant cross-fertilization between the NASA advanced software development community and the manned spaceflight operations community. A variety of mission operations systems and tools have been developed over the past decades as NASA has operated the Mars robotic missions, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station. NASA Ames Research Center has been developing and applying its advanced intelligent systems research to mission operations tools for both unmanned Mars missions operations since 2001 and to manned operations with NASA Johnson Space Center since 2006. In particular, the fundamental advanced software development work under the Exploration Technology Program, and the experience and capabilities developed for mission operations systems for the Mars surface missions, (Spirit/Opportunity, Phoenix Lander, and MSL) have enhanced the development and application of advanced mission operation systems for the International Space Station and future spacecraft. This paper provides an update on the status of the development and deployment of a variety of intelligent systems technologies adopted for manned mission operations, and some discussion of the planned work for Autonomous Mission Operations in future human exploration. We discuss several specific projects between the Ames Research Center and the Johnson Space Centers Mission Operations Directorate, and how these technologies and projects are enhancing the mission operations support for the International Space Station, and supporting the current Autonomous Mission Operations Project for the mission operation support of the future human exploration programs

Winds of Change: The Creation of Wind Law

This article discusses the beginnings of wind law and national development in judiciary and state law. Identifying it as the state standing at the forefront of wind law, the authors review the development of wind law in Texas. A review of wind-related statutes provides insight into how those statutes (and the lack of others) lead to growth in the wind industry. This article also discusses select wind cases and statutes from other states to further explore how wind law is developing, and it examines areas where case law is lacking, but likely to appear soon.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

CREDIT CREATION BY COMMERCIAL BANKS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SIERRA LEONE (1992-2022) AN AUTOREGRESSIVE DISTRIBUTED LAG TECHNIQUE

The study examined the nexus between credit creation and economic growth by commercial banks in Sierra Leone's for the period 1992 to 2022. Specifically, it focused on the influence of commercial bank lending on private sector growth and development. Variables such as interest rate, real exchange rate and inflation are used as independent variables. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was the chosen metric to represent economic growth, serving as the dependent variable. To ensure uniformity in data analysis, all variables were logged. The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique as the primary analytical model. The findings of the regression analysis revealed a direct and positive impact of commercial bank lending on Sierra Leone's economic growth. However, it is noteworthy that the study identified inflation and interest rates as factors exerting negative effects on economic growth.JEL: E44, E51, G21, O16, O40 Article visualizations