ESSAYS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

This dissertation has two chapters on environmental economics. Chapter one eval- uates an energy conservation program in China, the Top-1,000 Energy-Consuming Enter- prises Program. The second chapter, co-authored with my colleague Sharad KC, investigates China’s location choice of air quality monitors. Both chapters address the principal-agent issue between the central and local governments. Chapter one empirically evaluates the environmental impact of China’s energy con- servation program, the Top Thousand Energy-Consuming Enterprises Program. Launched at the beginning of the 11th five-year plan (2006), the program aims at reducing the energy intensity of economic growth by setting annual energy-saving targets on one thousand most energy-intensive companies in nine industries from 2006 to 2010. These companies account for about one-third of China’s total energy consumption. In 2011, the government reported an over 95% compliance rate of the energy-saving targets and about 50% overachievement of the national target. However, the environmental impacts of the program are ambiguous. This paper provides a thorough discussion and empirical evidence on whether the firms in- volved have affected the surrounding surface concentration of air pollutant sulfur dioxide. Since the program aims at energy savings instead of air quality improvement, the location choice of these companies serves as a random allocation of air quality. I was able to exploit this random aspect of the program by using a quasi-experimental (Difference-in-difference) approach to evaluate the air quality effect of this program. I find this program does not re- duce sulfur dioxide emissions in treated establishments, which is consistent with the spatial results. Older governors comply more with energy-saving programs due to concern about political reputation before retirement. Since 2013, China has added more than four thousand air quality monitoring stations that provide the public with real-time information on six airborne pollutants, i.e., particular matter (P.M.) 2.5, P.M.10, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). Authorities manage these monitors at four levels of the government: state, provincial, municipal, and county. Typically, pollution monitors are located where they could be deemed useful, for example, within air polluted areas or near schools, hospitals, road traffic, and industries. While the real-time information has helped individuals, firms and governments make decisions; it is unclear how a government body makes siting decisions. Chapter two aims to answer three questions: Where are the pollution monitors located? What drives the decision to add a new monitor in a particular location? Is there a difference in location choice behavior between central and local governments in China? We find that though central monitors currently locate in cleaner areas than local monitors, the correlation between P.M. 2.5 and monitor location is insignificant. We also find that local governments tend to choose cleaner areas to place monitors, while the effect of air pollution on adding new central monitors is ambiguous

Introduction to Control Engineering

This is an introductory level textbook for control engineering.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/etext/1000/thumbnail.jp

Multi-Agent Coverage Control with Energy Depletion and Repletion

We develop a hybrid system model to describe the behavior of multiple agents cooperatively solving an optimal coverage problem under energy depletion and repletion constraints. The model captures the controlled switching of agents between coverage (when energy is depleted) and battery charging (when energy is replenished) modes. It guarantees the feasibility of the coverage problem by defining a guard function on each agent's battery level to prevent it from dying on its way to a charging station. The charging station plays the role of a centralized scheduler to solve the contention problem of agents competing for the only charging resource in the mission space. The optimal coverage problem is transformed into a parametric optimization problem to determine an optimal recharging policy. This problem is solved through the use of Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis (IPA), with simulation results showing that a full recharging policy is optimal

Adaptive Consensus and Parameter Estimation of Multi-Agent Systems with An Uncertain Leader

In this note, the problem of simultaneous leader-following consensus and parameter estimation is studied for a class of multi-agent systems subject to an uncertain leader system. The leader system is described by a sum of sinusoids with unknown amplitudes, frequencies and phases. A distributed adaptive observer is established for each agent to estimate the unknown frequencies of the leader. It is shown that if the signal of the leader is sufficiently rich, the estimation errors of the unknown frequencies converge to zero asymptotically for all the agents. Based on the designed distributed adaptive observer, a distributed adaptive control law is synthesized for each agent to solve the leader-following consensus problem.Comment: 8 pag

A Real-Time Optimal Eco-driving for Autonomous Vehicles Crossing Multiple Signalized Intersections

This paper develops an optimal acceleration/speed profile for a single autonomous vehicle crossing multiple signalized intersections without stopping in free flow mode. The design objective is to produce both time and energy efficient acceleration profiles of autonomous vehicles based on vehicle to infrastructure communication. Our design approach differs from most existing approaches based on numerical calculations: it begins with identifying the structure of the optimal acceleration profile and then showing that it is characterized by several parameters, which are used for design optimization. Therefore, the infinite dimensional optimal control problem is transformed into a finite dimensional parametric optimization problem, which enables a real-time online analytical solution. The simulation results show quantitatively the advantages of considering multiple intersections jointly rather than dealing with them individually. Based on mild assumptions, the optimal eco-driving algorithm is readily extended to include interfering traffic

Formal Analysis and Application of the New Mode of "VR+ Education"

"VR+ education" is the development trend of educational technology in the future. Aiming at the difficult problem of combining virtual reality technology with educational technology, and based on the purpose of adapting to the future development needs, this paper uses formal logic method to analyze the promotion conditions of "VR+education", and puts forward the application strategies and impact evaluation, which can provide reference for the practical application of the new model in the field of teaching

Control of PMSG-based wind turbines for system inertial response and power oscillation damping

This paper investigates an improved active power control method for variable speed wind turbine to enhance the inertial response and damping capability during transient events. The optimized power point tracking (OPPT) controller, which shifts the turbine operating point from the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) curve to the virtual inertia control (VIC) curves according to the frequency deviation, is proposed to release the “hidden” kinetic energy and provide dynamic frequency support to the grid. The effects of the VIC on power oscillation damping capability are theoretically evaluated. Compared to the conventional supplementary derivative regulator-based inertia control, the proposed control scheme can not only provide fast inertial response, but also increase the system damping capability during transient events. Thus, inertial response and power oscillation damping function can be obtained in a single controller by the proposed OPPT control. A prototype three-machine system containing two synchronous generators and a PMSG-based wind turbine with 31% of wind penetration is tested to validate the proposed control strategy on providing rapid inertial response and enhanced system damping

Effect of electronic stimulation at Neiguan (PC 6) acupoint on gene expression of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channel and protein kinases in rats with myocardial ischemia

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the effects of electronic stimulation at acupoints Neiguan (PC 6) and Lieque (LU 7) on the gene expression of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-Sensitive potassium channel (KATP: Kir6.1, Kir6.2, SUR2A, and SUR2B) and protein kinases (PKA, PKG, and PKCβ2) in myocardial cells of rats with myocardial ischemia (MI) induced by isoproterenol (ISO).MethodsRats were randomly divided into a control, model, Neiguan (PC 6), Lieque (LU 7), and non-acupoint groups. The MI model was established by injecting rats with ISO. Electro-acupuncture treatment was given to the acupuncture groups, once a day for 7 days. Gene expression was analyzed with real-time PCR.ResultsThe gene expression of KATP and protein kinases in the model group was higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). After acupuncture treatment, the KATP and protein kinase expression levels were significantly lower in the Neiguan (PC 6) and Lieque (LU 7) groups compared with the model group (P < 0.05). The Neiguan (PC 6) group lowered these levels significantly more than that of the Lieque (LU 7) group (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the model and non-acupoint groups (P > 0.05).ConclusionOur findings suggest that electronic needling of Neiguan (PC 6) can both reduce the gene expression of KATP and protein kinases in rats with ISO-induced MI

Peer-to-peer solar and social rewards: evidence from a field experiment

Observability and social rewards have been demonstrated to influence the adoption of pro-social behavior in a variety of contexts. This study implements a field experiment to examine the influence of observability and social rewards in the context of a novel pro-social behavior: peer-to-peer solar. Peer-to-peer solar offers an opportunity to households who cannot have solar on their homes to access solar energy from their neighbors. However, unlike solar installations, peer-to-peer solar is an invisible form of pro-environmental behavior. We implemented a set of randomized campaigns using Facebook ads in the Massachusetts cities of Cambridge and Somerville, in partnership with a peer-to-peer company, which agreed to offer to a subsample of customers the possibility to share “green reports” online, providing shareable information about their greenness. We find that interest in peer-to-peer solar increases by up to 30% when “green reports,” which would make otherwise invisible behavior visible, are mentioned in the ad