Allocation of GHG emissions in a paper mill, an application tool to reduce emissions

El sector de pasta i paper és considerat un dels set sectors industrials més intensius en consum energètic. La producció i consum d'electricitat i de vapor esdevenen les fonts majoritàries d'emissions de gasos d'efecte hivernacle en aquest sector industrial. Les fàbriques papereres poden assolir objectius de reducció d'emissions mitjançant reducció en origen (substitució de combustibles, introducció d'energies renovables) o bé a partir de mesures d'eficiència energètica en el propi procés. En aquest context, s'ha desenvolupat un mètode de distribució d'emissions que permet assignar a cada unitat d'operació del procés paperer, el seu grau de responsabilitat en emissions. També s'han avaluat diferents mètodes de càlcul de factors d'emissió de vapor i electricitat, tant per plantes de cogeneració com per sistemes individuals. A partir d'aquesta avaluació s'han proposat nous mètodes alternatius als analitzats. Aquests mètodes i els factors d'emissions s'han aplicat a dues fàbriques papereres catalanes.

Bahrain's Formula-1 racing circuit: energy and environmental considerations

The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and complex, at latitude 26.00N and longitude 51.54E, was built in 483 days and cost 150 million US$. The circuit consists of six different individual tracks with a 3.66 km outer track (involving 10 turns) and a 2.55 km inner track (having six turns). The complex has been designed to host a variety of other sporting activities. Fifty thousand spectators, including 10,500 in the main grandstand, can be accommodated simultaneously. State-of-the art on-site media and broadcast facilities are available. The noise level emitted from vehicles on the circuit during the Formula-1 event, on April 4th 2004, was acceptable and caused no physical disturbance to the fans in the VIP lounges or to scholars studying at the University of Bahrain's Shakeir Campus, which is only 1.5 km away from the circuit. The sound-intensity level (SIL) recorded on the balcony of the VIP lounge was 128 dB(A) and was 80 dB(A) inside the lounge. The calculated SIL immediately outside the lecture halls of the University of Bahrain was 70 dB(A) and 65 dB(A) within them. Thus racing at BIC can proceed without significantly disturbing the academic-learning process. The purchased electricity demand by the BIC complex peaked (at 4.5 MW) during the first Formula-1 event on April 4th 2004. The reverse-osmosis (RO) plant at the BIC provides 1000 m(3) of desalinated water per day for landscape irrigation. Renewable-energy inputs, (i.e., via solar and wind power), at the BIC could be harnessed to generate electricity for water desalination, air conditioning, lighting as well as for irrigation. If the covering of the BIC complex was covered by adhesively fixed modern photovoltaic cells, then similar to 1.2 MW of solar electricity could be generated. If two horizontal-axis, at 150 m height above the ground, three 75m bladed, wind turbines were to be installed at the BIC, then the output could reach 4 MW. Furthermore, if 10,000 Jojoba trees (a species renowned for having a low demand for water, needing only five irrigations per year in Bahrain and which remain green throughout the year) are planted near the circuit, then the local micro-climate would be improved with respect to human comfort as well as the local environment becoming cleaner.

Techno-economic modelling and cost functions of CO2 capture processes

The paper presents the techno-economic modelling of CO2 capture process in coal-fired power plants. An overall model is being developed to compare carbon capture and sequestration options at locations within the UK, and for studies of the sensitivity of the cost of disposal to changes in the major parameters of the most promising solutions identified. Technological options of CO2 capture have been studied and cost estimation relationships (CERs) for the chosen options calculated. Created models are related to the capital, operation and maintenance cost. A total annualised cost of plant electricity output and amount of CO2 avoided have been developed. The influence of interest rates and plant life has been analysed as well. The CERs are included as an integral part of the overall model.

Saving the planet but losing the landscape: the impact of renewable energy policies on rural Britain

The main instrument of the Government's renewable energy policy is to promote wind power through regulation and subsidy. This gives rise to anomalies in rural planning when turbines are erected in sensitve areas in which other forms of development are strictly controlled. The situation is reviewed in the context of economic viability and considered also against the alternative of growing fuel crops. The latter are currently hampered by lack of Government support but could fulfil a useful secondary role of sustaining the agricultural sector and with it the management of lowland landscapes.

The elasticity of demand is about occupancy, not prices: building European demand curves based on occupancy elasticity

The peak congestion of the European grid may create significant impacts on system costs because of the need for higher marginal cost generation, higher cost system balancing and increasing grid reinforcement investment. The use of time of use rates, incentives, real time pricing and other programmes, usually defined as Demand Side Management (DSM), could bring about significant reductions in prices, limit carbon emissions from dirty power plants, and improve the integration of renewable sources of energy. Unlike previous studies on elasticity of residential electricity demand under flat tariffs, the aim of this study is not to investigate the known relatively inelastic relationship between demand and prices. Rather, the aim is to assess how occupancy levels vary in different European countries. This reflects the reality of demand loads, which are predominantly determined by the timing of human activities (e.g. travelling to work, taking children to school) rather than prices. To this end, two types of occupancy elasticity are estimated: baseline occupancy elasticity and peak occupancy elasticity. These represent the intrinsic elasticity associated with human activities of single residential end-users in 15 European countries. This study makes use of occupancy time-series data from the Harmonised European Time Use Survey database to build European occupancy curves; identify peak occupancy periods; draw time use demand curves for video and TV watching activity; and estimate national occupancy elasticity levels of single-occupant households. Findings on occupancy elasticities provide an indication of possible DSM strategies based on occupancy levels and not prices.

How well do coupled models replicate ocean energetics relevant to ENSO?

Accurate replication of the processes associated with the energetics of the tropical ocean is necessary if coupled GCMs are to simulate the physics of ENSO correctly, including the transfer of energy from the winds to the ocean thermocline and energy dissipation during the ENSO cycle. Here, we analyze ocean energetics in coupled GCMs in terms of two integral parameters describing net energy loss in the system using the approach recently proposed by Brown and Fedorov (J Clim 23:1563–1580, 2010a) and Fedorov (J Clim 20:1108–1117, 2007). These parameters are (1) the efficiency c of the conversion of wind power into the buoyancy power that controls the rate of change of the available potential energy (APE) in the ocean and (2) the e-folding rate a that characterizes the damping of APE by turbulent diffusion and other processes. Estimating these two parameters for coupled models reveals potential deficiencies (and large differences) in how state-of-the-art coupled GCMs reproduce the ocean energetics as compared to ocean-only models and data assimilating models. The majority of the coupled models we analyzed show a lower efficiency (values of c in the range of 10–50% versus 50–60% for ocean-only simulations or reanalysis) and a relatively strong energy damping (values of a-1 in the range 0.4–1 years versus 0.9–1.2 years). These differences in the model energetics appear to reflect differences in the simulated thermal structure of the tropical ocean, the structure of ocean equatorial currents, and deficiencies in the way coupled models simulate ENSO.

‘Nudging’ energy users: regulatory measures to address the risk of aggregate peak demand in European electricity markets

For decades regulators in the energy sector have focused on facilitating the maximisation of energy supply in order to meet demand through liberalisation and removal of market barriers. The debate on climate change has emphasised a new type of risk in the balance between energy demand and supply: excessively high energy demand brings about significantly negative environmental and economic impacts. This is because if a vast number of users is consuming electricity at the same time, energy suppliers have to activate dirty old power plants with higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher system costs. The creation of a Europe-wide electricity market requires a systematic investigation into the risk of aggregate peak demand. This paper draws on the e-Living Time-Use Survey database to assess the risk of aggregate peak residential electricity demand for European energy markets. Findings highlight in which countries and for what activities the risk of aggregate peak demand is greater. The discussion highlights which approaches energy regulators have started considering to convince users about the risks of consuming too much energy during peak times. These include ‘nudging’ approaches such as the roll-out of smart meters, incentives for shifting the timing of energy consumption, differentiated time-of-use tariffs, regulatory financial incentives and consumption data sharing at the community level.

The role of conventional generation in managing variability

As electricity systems incorporate increasing levels of variable renewable generation, conventional plant will be required to operate more flexibly, with potential impacts for economic viability and reliability. Northern Ireland is pursuing an ambitious target of 40% of electricity to be supplied from renewable sources by 2020. The dominant source of this energy is anticipated to come from inherently variable wind power, one of the most mature renewable technologies. Conventional thermal generators will have a significant role to play in maintaining security of supply. However, running conventional generation more flexibly in order to cater for a wind led regime can reduce its efficiency, as well as shortening its lifespan and increasing O&M costs. This paper examines the impacts of variable operation on existing fossil fuel based generators, with a particular focus on Northern Ireland. Access to plant operators and industry experts has provided insight not currently evident in the energy literature. Characteristics of plant operation and the market framework are identified that present significant challenges in moving to the proposed levels of wind penetration. Opportunities for increasing flexible operation are proposed and future research needs identified.

The value of a saved tree : The lifecycle of CO2-emissions associated with the combination of printing paper and electricity production of wood in the U.S. and Sweden

The pulp- and paper production is a very energy intensive industry sector. Both Sweden and the U.S. are major pulpandpaper producers. This report examines the energy and the CO2-emission connected with the pulp- and paperindustry for the two countries from a lifecycle perspective.New technologies make it possible to increase the electricity production in the integrated pulp- andpaper mill through black liquor gasification and a combined cycle (BLGCC). That way, the mill canproduce excess electricity, which can be sold and replace electricity produced in power plants. In thisprocess the by-products that are formed at the pulp-making process is used as fuel to produce electricity.In pulp- and paper mills today the technology for generating energy from the by-product in aTomlinson boiler is not as efficient as it could be compared to the BLGCC technology. Scenarios havebeen designed to investigate the results from using the BLGCC technique using a life cycle analysis.Two scenarios are being represented by a 1994 mill in the U.S. and a 1994 mill in Sweden.The scenariosare based on the average energy intensity of pulp- and paper mills as operating in 1994 in the U.S.and Sweden respectively. The two other scenarios are constituted by a »reference mill« in the U.S. andSweden using state-of-the-art technology. We investigate the impact of varying recycling rates and totalenergy use and CO2-emissions from the production of printing and writing paper. To economize withthe wood and that way save trees, we can use the trees that are replaced by recycling in a biomassgasification combined cycle (BIGCC) to produce electricity in a power station. This produces extra electricitywith a lower CO2 intensity than electricity generated by, for example, coal-fired power plants.The lifecycle analysis in this thesis also includes the use of waste treatment in the paper lifecycle. Both Sweden and theU.S. are countries that recycle paper. Still there is a lot of paper waste, this paper is a part of the countries municipalsolid waste (MSW). A lot of the MSW is landfilled, but parts of it are incinerated to extract electricity. The thesis hasdesigned special scenarios for the use of MSW in the lifecycle analysis.This report is studying and comparing two different countries and two different efficiencies on theBLGCC in four different scenarios. This gives a wide survey and points to essential parameters to specificallyreflect on, when making assumptions in a lifecycle analysis. The report shows that there arethree key parameters that have to be carefully considered when making a lifecycle analysis of wood inan energy and CO2-emission perspective in the pulp- and paper mill in the U.S. and in Sweden. First,there is the energy efficiency in the pulp- and paper mill, then the efficiency of the BLGCC and last theCO2 intensity of the electricity displaced by BIGCC or BLGCC generatedelectricity. It also show that with the current technology that we havetoday, it is possible to produce CO2 free paper with a waste paper amountup to 30%. The thesis discusses the system boundaries and the assumptions.Further and more detailed research, including amongst others thesystem boundaries and forestry, is recommended for more specificanswers.

Vindkraft i Dalarna : Från acceptans och lokalisering till planering och eftertanke

This thesis examines prerequisites for wind power diffusion in a county in Sweden that quite recently was concidered to be of interest for electricty production from renewable energy sources. Three different municipalities: Falun, Mora and Orsa in the county of Dalarna are highlighted.  Their view on permitting processes of wind power installations are investigated. Other actors, such as exploiters and local citizens are also being analysed. This study shows that the local acceptance was very high when the first wind power parks were built, much thanks to local politicians and local citizens. For the politicians the wind power symbolised a key to a better green society, for the local citizens the wind power meant some economical advantages. The first wind power parks were localised to areas because of good wind conditions and social factors, especially from local communities. However, results from this study shows that the acceptance for wind power the last few years, in generel, has decreased.  The local authorities have also been conscious of some negative consequenses from already built wind power parks.  As a response they started to add planning tools to the permitting process.

Fjärrvärmedrivna vitvaror : Erfarenheter från utveckling, installationer och kostnadsberäkningar

Värmedrivna vitvaror eller HWC-maskiner som de kallas av tillverkaren värms med varmt vatten från en cirkulerande krets via en värmeväxlare inbyggd i maskinen, till skillnad från konventionella maskiner som värms med el. Denna teknik skall inte förväxlas med maskiner som är anslutna till varmvattenledningen och fylls på med varmt vatten och som därmed begränsas till disk- och tvätt. Syftet med fjärrvärmedrivna vitvaror är alltså att använda fjärrvärme, som har lägre kvalitet och pris än elenergi för uppvärmning och torkning och på så sätt spara el och utöka fjärrvärmeunderlaget. En jämförelse av koldioxidutsläpp och primärenergianvändning mellan konventionella vitvaror och fjärrvärmedrivna vitvaror visar att både koldioxidutsläpp och primärenergianvändning blir lägre för fjärrvärmedrivna vitvaror om biobränsle anses koldioxidneutralt och den el som ersätts är producerad i kolkraftverk eller gaskombikraftverk.   Denna rapport beskriver utveckling och kommersialisering av värmedrivna vitvaror (disk- och tvättmaskiner samt torktumlare och torkskåp) och hur de kan anslutas mot fjärrvärmesystem i olika systemlösningar. Dessutom har de energimässiga och ekonomiska förutsättningarna för tekniken undersökts. Erfarenheterna från fältprovning är dock mycket begränsade, eftersom de byggen där fälttesterna skulle ske försenades. Under 2013 färdigställs ett flerbostadshus med värmedrivna vitvaror i 160 lägenheter i Västerås.   De utvecklade maskinernas värmeanvändning som andel av total energianvändning vid 60 graders framledningstemperatur har uppmätts till ca 50 % för diskmaskinen, 67 % för tvättmaskinen, 80 % för torktumlaren och 93 % för torkskåpet. I det studerade flerbostadshuset av passivhusstandard uppgår lasten från värmedrivna vitvaror komfortgolvvärme och handdukstorkar till upp mot 30 % av husets totala värmeanvändning. För småhus är motsvarande siffra upp mot 20 %. Att använda fjärrvärme istället för elvärme till dessa installationer som normalt är elvärmda kan allts minska elbehovet betydligt i lågenergibebyggelse vilket också minskar både koldioxidutsläppen och primärenergianvändningen.   Ekonomiska analyser har genomförts för två olika systemkoncept (separat vitvarukrets och Västeråsmodellen) för nybyggda småhusområden och flerfamiljshus där fjärrvärme inte bara används till vitvaror utan också till handdukstorkar och komfortgolvvärme. De ekonomiska analyserna visar att Västeråsmodellen är den mest ekonomiskt intressanta systemlösningen med värmedrivna vitvaror, handdukstork och komfortgolvvärme. I flerfamiljshus kan den vara konkurrenskraftig mot de elvärmda alternativen (konventionellt system med eldrivna vitvaror, komfortgolvvärme och handdukstorkar) om prisskillnaden mellan el och fjärrvärme är större än 0,7 kr/kWh. En parameterstudie visar att kapitalkostnaden blir ganska hög jämfört med energikostnaden, vilket betyder att lång livslängd och många cykler är viktigt för att förbättra de ekonomiska förutsättningarna för värmedrivna vitvaror. För passiva småhus blir kostnaden för Västeråsmodellen med värmedrivna vitvaror, handdukstork och komfortgolvvärme likvärdig med de elvärmda alternativen vid energiprisskillnader på 0,7 kr/kWh inklusive moms, medan det krävs prisskillnader på 0,9 kr/kWh inklusive moms för normalisolerade småhusområden.   Sammanfattningsvis kan sägas att i kommuner med ett konkurrenskraftigt fjärrvärmepris finns det viss lönsamhet för hela konceptet enligt Västeråsmodellen med värmedrivna vitvaror, komfortgolvvärme, och handdukstorkar. Om man däremot ser på konkurrensen för enskilda vitvaror är det främst torktumlaren som är konkurrenskraftig i bostäder. Målpriset på 1000 kr extra för värmedrift har inte kunnat uppnås inom projektet för diskmaskiner och tvättmaskiner. Det krävs lägre priser och låga anslutningskostnader för att räkna hem diskmaskinen och tvättmaskinen som enskilda komponenter.   Värmedrivna tvättmaskiner och torktumlare är konkurrenskraftiga i flerfamiljstvättstugor. Speciellt i de fall där beläggningen är god och flera maskiner delar på anslutningskostnaden till fjärrvärmecentralen kan värmedrift bli riktigt lönsam. Torkskåpens konkurrenskraft har inte kunnat utvärderas, då priset ännu inte fastställts. Att använda VVC-systemet för värmedistribution till värmedrivna vitvaror kan vara mycket intressant, men det kräver att legionellaproblematiken kan lösas. I nuläget finns ingen lösning som uppfyller formuleringarna i boverkets byggregler. Ett annat distributionssätt som kan vara intressant, men som inte undersökts i studien är att använda VVC för varmvattendistribution och en gemensam radiator- och vitvarukrets med konstant framledningstemperatur. Den aktör som förväntas ha störst ekonomiskt intresse av att tekniken implementeras är sannolikt fjärrvärmebolagen som får sälja mer värme och det ligger därmed främst på deras ansvar att marknadsföra tekniken i mötet med sina kunder.

Solar Energy assessment based on weather station data for direct site monitoring in Indonesia

This thesis evaluates different sites for a weather measurement system and a suitable PV- simulation for University of Surabaya (UBAYA) in Indonesia/Java. The weather station is able to monitor all common weather phenomena including solar insolation. It is planned to use the data for scientific and educational purposes in the renewable energy studies. During evaluation and installation it falls into place that official specifications from global meteorological organizations could not be meet for some sensors caused by the conditions of UBAYA campus. After arranging the hardware the weather at the site was monitored for period of time. A comparison with different official sources from ground based and satellite bases measurements showed differences in wind and solar radiation. In some cases the monthly average solar insolation was deviating 42 % for satellite-based measurements. For the ground based it was less than 10 %. The average wind speed has a difference of 33 % compared to a source, which evaluated the wind power in Surabaya. The wind direction shows instabilities towards east compared with data from local weather station at the airport. PSET has the chance to get some investments to investigate photovoltaic on there own roof. With several simulations a suitable roof direction and the yearly and monthly outputs are shown. With a 7.7 kWpeak PV installation with the latest crystalline technology on the market 8.82 MWh/year could be achieved with weather data from 2012. Thin film technology could increase the value up to 9.13 MWh/year. However, the roofs have enough area to install PV. Finally the low price of electricity in Indonesia makes it not worth to feed in the energy into the public grid.

Testing Seasonal Unit Roots in Data at Any Frequency, an HEGY approach

This paper generalizes the HEGY-type test to detect seasonal unit roots in data at any frequency, based on the seasonal unit root tests in univariate time series by Hylleberg, Engle, Granger and Yoo (1990). We introduce the seasonal unit roots at first, and then derive the mechanism of the HEGY-type test for data with any frequency. Thereafter we provide the asymptotic distributions of our test statistics when different test regressions are employed. We find that the F-statistics for testing conjugation unit roots have the same asymptotic distributions. Then we compute the finite-sample and asymptotic critical values for daily and hourly data by a Monte Carlo method. The power and size properties of our test for hourly data is investigated, and we find that including lag augmentations in auxiliary regression without lag elimination have the smallest size distortion and tests with seasonal dummies included in auxiliary regression have more power than the tests without seasonal dummies. At last we apply the our test to hourly wind power production data in Sweden and shows there are no seasonal unit roots in the series.

Integração de dados geofísicos e geológicos na avaliação ambiental e epidemiológica de radiações naturais (radônio) no escudo Sul-Riograndense (RS-Brasil)

Os efeitos provocados por radiações são conhecidos na literatura por meio dos estudos em usinas nucleares e em testes bélicos. Entretanto, os efeitos da radiação natural vêm despertando a atenção das autoridades da saúde, dentre as quais se destaca a Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nos Estados Unidos e a National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) no Reino Unido. Os efeitos epidemiológicos ocasionados por radiação de origem natural, mais especificamente a radiação emanada pelo gás radônio que fica acumulado em residências enclausuradas por muito tempo, tem sido alvo de intensas investigações. Nessa dissertação, foi realizada uma avaliação ambiental preliminar da radiação natural devida ao radônio como elemento epidemiológico no Escudo Sul-riograndense. Os dados utilizados para determinar o risco epidemiológico foram: neoplasias, radiação, geologia e população. O banco de dados dos casos de óbitos por neoplasias do estado foi obtido da Secretaria da Saúde, por meio do Núcleo de Informação em Saúde. A radiação natural devida ao radônio foi determinada a partir dos dados gamaespectrométricos obtidos de levantamento aerogeofísico da CPRM no Escudo Sul-riograndense, nos projetos Camaquã e Extremo Sudeste do Brasil realizados nos anos de 1973 e 1978, respectivamente. Os dados geológicos foram obtidos do Mapa Geológico do Estado de 1989. Os dados de população foram obtidos junto ao Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). A integração de dados foi realizada usando a metodologia de matriz de sobreposição entre os dados de casos de óbitos por neoplasia e de gamaespectrometria. Os dados de população foram empregados para normalizar os dados de neoplasias, e o dado de geologia para correlacionar com a gamaespectrometria. Os resultados da integração são mapas classificados pelo grau de risco epidemiológico, nos quais é apresentada a relação entre os casos de neoplasias pela intensidade de radiação devida ao radônio. Nesse sentido, uma boa relação foi assinalada e são recomendados estudos adicionais sobre esse mesmo banco de dados.

Responsabilidade social corporativa : a memória do Programa de Reassentamento dos Atingidos pela Barragem da Usina Hidrelétrica Luiz Gonzaga (ex-Itaparica)

No Brasil, água e energia têm uma forte e histórica nterdependência, de forma que a contribuição da energia hidráulica ao desenvolvimento econômico do País tem sido expressiva, seja no atendimento às diversas demandas da economia, ou da própria sociedade, melhorando o conforto das habitações e a qualidade de vida das pessoas. Também desempenha papel importante na integração e desenvolvimento de regiões distantes dos grandes centros urbanos e industriais. A década de 70 registrou um crescimento elevado da demanda por energia elétrica no Brasil; reflexo de políticas desenvolvimentistas de governos anteriores que promoveram o crescimento industrial do País atraindo e criando indústrias de uso alto intensivo da letricidade. No caso da região Nordeste, o crescimento econômico trouxe consigo o risco de um grave racionamento de energia. Para eliminar tal risco, o Estado por intermédio do Sistema Eletrobras realizou a construção de grandes usinas hidrelétricas interligando-as ao sistema nacional. Não há como negar que esta solução provocou um grande benefício para grande parte da população brasileira, mas trouxe, para uma parcela do povo brasileiro, um custo social bastante elevado. Essas pessoas ficaram então conhecidas como os “atingidos por barragens”. Para eles, a construção das barragens de usinas como Itaipu, Tucuruí, Sobradinho e Itaparica significou o deslocamento compulsório dos locais aonde viviam e tinham suas tradições e referência culturais e afetivas. Esta pesquisa objetiva resgatar a memória deste período de grandes obras, promessas de desenvolvimento e marcas deixadas em milhares de famílias brasileiras. O estudo em questão é também uma tentativa de mostrar como o Programa de Reassentamento de Itaparica, projeto conduzido pela Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco – CHESF foi o marco de uma nova dinâmica para tratamento das questões sociais envolvendo a reparação de danos causados aos atingidos por barragens e se constitui talvez, no primeiro caso de Responsabilidade Social Corporativa do setor elétrico brasileiro.