Decentralized energy supply and electricity market structures

Small decentralized power generation units (DG) are politically promoted because of their potential to reduce GHG-emissions and the existing dependency on fossil fuels. A long term goal of this promotion should be the creation of a level playing field for DG and conventional power generation. Due to the impact of DG on the electricity grid infrastructure, future regulation should consider the costs and benefits of the integration of decentralized energy generation units. Without an adequate consideration, the overall costs of the electricity generation system will be unnecessarily high. The present paper analyses, based on detailed modelling of decentralized demand and supply as well as of the overall system, the marginal costs or savings resulting from decentralized production. Thereby particular focus is laid on taking adequately into account the stochasticity both of energy demand and energy supply. An efficient grid pricing system should then remunerate long-term grid cost savings to operators of decentralized energy production or/and charge long-term additional grid costs to these operators. With detailed models of decentralized demand and supply as well as the overall system, the marginal costs or savings resulting from decentralized production are determined and their dependency on characteristics of the grid and of the decentralized supply are discussed.electricity markets, decentralized power production, demand side management

Modelling the impact of different permit allocation rules on optimal power plant portfolios

The electricity generation mix of many European countries is strongly dominated by fossil fuelled power plants. Given that CO2-emissions are responsible for a major part of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, emission trading has been introduced in the EU in 2005. Under the European emissions trading scheme (ETS), the emission quantities of major industry branches, most notably the electricity industry are capped and a system of tradable CO2 emission permits is established. Although the effects of emission trading on emissions, industry structure and investment had been analysed on beforehand by a number of models, the impact of rules for primary permit allocation has so far hardly been focused on. This was mostly seen as a distributional issue not affecting the efficiency of the market mechanism itself. However a closer look at the permit allocation rules shows that the number of permits allocated to new plants often depends on their fuel and technology (e. g. in Germany). This may consequently have distorting effects on market prices and investment decisions, which so far have been hardly investigated quantitatively. In order to analyse such effects, a mixed complimentary programming (MCP) model is developed, which allows to model investment incentives in the electricity sector. It takes into account major power generation technologies, emission constraints, endogenous investment allocation rules and price elasticity of demand. In particular also the time-varying structure of electricity demand is accounted for and the corresponding distinction of base- and peak-load technologies. The model is applied to the EU-27 focusing on the year 2015, i.e. on the third trading period, where so far no decision has been made on the allocation rules to be applied. From this analysis we derive the average market prices for emission allowances and electricity and the optimal power plant capacities under different allocation schemes. In a pure environmental perspective the auctioning of permits is expected to be a first-best solution, but it could endanger the competitiveness and the security of supply of the European Union. The reason for the latter is that the generation mix becomes biased in favour of gas fuelled plants, which are associated with the least specific CO2-emissions, but have to be imported to a large extent from politically unreliable regions like Russia or the Middle East. The results of our analysis however show that allocating emissions for free, based on expected full-load hours and fuel specifics, will lead to higher CO2-prices whilst the effect of securing supply is only limited. Also electricity prices will only be slightly lower, so that the contribution of free allocation schemes to economic competitiveness is also limited.climate protection, security of supply, emission trading, allocation of emission permits, electricity markets, power plant portfolio

Long-term Effects of Crop-tree Release on the Growth and Quality of Upland White Oak Stands

The alteration of historical disturbance regimes, forest parcelization, and varying goals among landowners all present challenges to oak management in the eastern U.S. Foresters and landowners need tools to promote oak sustainability that are applicable on small forestland holdings and within complex management plans. From this perspective, this research evaluates a crop-tree release study installed in southeastern Kentucky in 1983. The experiment includes four, 2-acre replications of three treatment levels: 20 crop-trees per acre, 34 crop-trees per acre, and a control treatment in which crop-trees were selected but not released. Half-acre measurement plots were installed at the outset of the study. Crown class, dbh, and crop-tree grade were measured in year 0, 5, 10, 17, and 35 following treatment. Using these data, two facets of crop-tree release were analyzed: 1) how a crop-tree release affects white oak crop-trees in terms of tree growth rate and stem quality, 2) how a crop-tree release alters stand structure and per acre volume and value. Results indicate that crop-tree release applied to small sawtimber sized stands increases crop-tree diameter growth and the proportion of crop-trees reaching their maximum potential grade while promoting stand-wide growth

Synthesis, characterisation and olefin oligomerization over nickel, cobalt and zinc substituted synthetic mica montmorillonite

Nickel, cobalt and zinc were substituted for structural octahedral aluminium in SMM. X-ray diffraction, together with elemental analysis, confirmed that a 2: 1 layered aluminosilicate had been formed. The inclusion of these metals facilitated the crystallisation of the SMM structure in the synthesis process as was shown by their more well-defined X-ray diffraction patterns over unsubstituted SMM synthesized in this work. The 2: 1 layer spacings increased at nickel contents of 16 and 34wt%, indicating a more montmorillonite-like structure. Cobalt levels at 33wt% were seen to disrupt the basal spacing. The opposite effect was seen with zinc, where increased zinc loadings caused the 2: 1 layers to be drawn closer together. This was indicative of a more micalike structure

Peril and Possibility: Wilderness as a Space of Becoming in Tolkien\u27s The Children of Húrin and Whedon\u27s Firefly and Serenity

A tension between wilderness as place of peril and as a place of purity has existed throughout the history of Western civilization. While the Puritan minister Cotton Mather described the wilderness as a habitation of “Dragons,” “Droves of Devils,” and “Fiery Flying Serpents,” Henry David Thoreau maintained that in order to draw near to God, one must draw near to nature. A spectrum of perspectives about wilderness exists within the tension between these two opposing ideas. As a refugee from civilization who makes his home in the wilderness on the borders of society, the Wild Man archetype, famously expressed in the monster Grendel and the noble outlaw Robin Hood, inhabits this spectrum. Both Tolkien’s The Children of Húrin and Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity unfold in settings characterized by being on the border. Furthermore, their heroes are noble outlaws, who choose to live outside of the boundaries of civilization. With these settings and heroes, Tolkien and Whedon make similar contributions to the nuances found in Western traditions of wilderness by emphasizing wilderness as a place of becoming, rich with possibility yet fraught with peril

Protein Family Expansions and Biological Complexity

During the course of evolution, new proteins are produced very largely as the result of gene duplication, divergence and, in many cases, combination. This means that proteins or protein domains belong to families or, in cases where their relationships can only be recognised on the basis of structure, superfamilies whose members descended from a common ancestor. The size of superfamilies can vary greatly. Also, during the course of evolution organisms of increasing complexity have arisen. In this paper we determine the identity of those superfamilies whose relative sizes in different organisms are highly correlated to the complexity of the organisms. As a measure of the complexity of 38 uni- and multicellular eukaryotes we took the number of different cell types of which they are composed. Of 1,219 superfamilies, there are 194 whose sizes in the 38 organisms are strongly correlated with the number of cell types in the organisms. We give outline descriptions of these superfamilies. Half are involved in extracellular processes or regulation and smaller proportions in other types of activity. Half of all superfamilies have no significant correlation with complexity. We also determined whether the expansions of large superfamilies correlate with each other. We found three large clusters of correlated expansions: one involves expansions in both vertebrates and plants, one just in vertebrates, and one just in plants. Our work identifies important protein families and provides one explanation of the discrepancy between the total number of genes and the apparent physiological complexity of eukaryotic organisms

Wizards and Woods: The Environmental Ethics of Tolkien’s Istari

Tolkien’s wizards are some of the most interesting and impactful characters in The Lord of the Rings, sent to Middle-earth to inspire the free peoples to resist Sauron. Principal among the Istari are Gandalf and Saruman, both of whom feature prominently in the events of The Lord of the Rings. A much more minor role, however, is played by Radagast the Brown, who appears only in passing mentions in The Hobbit and serves almost as a messenger in The Lord of the Rings. These three Istari enable an interesting discussion of environmental relationships, with Radagast and Saruman portrayed as failures and Gandalf alone successful. Radagast is said to have forsaken Men and Elves for the birds and beasts and thus fails in his mission. Saruman also fails, but because of his lust for power and consequent subjugation of people and landscapes, especially Isengard, the Shire, and Fangorn. Gandalf alone succeeds, caring both for the landscapes of Middle-earth and for its peoples. In an environmental ethical framework, Saruman aligns in an extreme anthropocentric position, prioritizing his own preferences over the health of others and their ecosystems. Conversely, Radagast seems to align more with the ecocentric side of the spectrum, considering the Free Peoples relatively unimportant and giving himself instead to the birds and the beasts. In contrast to both, Gandalf understands himself as accountable to the Valar for the accomplishment of his mission to stir up the Free Peoples in opposition to Sauron, alongside care of nonhuman organisms and their environment. Tolkien’s framing of Gandalf as the only successful wizard underscores this theocentric approach as his preferred resolution of the tension between humans and the nonhuman—rightly relating all of them to one another in the service of their Creator