Optimal management of an energy-water-carbon nexus employing carbon capturing and storing technology via downside risk constraint approach

Abstract

The development of infrastructures in a sustainable manner ensures the preservation of human life. It means that societies should have constant access to clean energy and water resources. The focus on nexus planning and operation including renewable energy sources has covered the requirements for the development of sustainable integrated systems to provide secure energy and water while minimizing carbon footprint. However, the uncertainty of renewable energy resources challenges the operation of such integrated nexuses. In this regard, this paper proposes a risk-constrained operation of a sustainable energy-water nexus with the aim to reduce operational costs as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions amount (t CO2). To supply the energy and water demands, a combination of renewable energy sources and desalination systems are considered. The downside risk constraint is proposed to investigate the impacts of risks of uncertainties associated with renewable energy production and electricity consumption as well as water demands. Electrical and water storage infrastructures are involved to increase the flexibility of scheduling and ensure affordability and sustainability. The problem is modeled as a mixed-integer programming problem resulting in optimal decision-making to manage the energy/water resources and storage systems to provide clean and safe energy and water with the minimum CO2 emission. For the emission sector, the carbon capturing and storing (CCS) technology is proposed to capture the CO2 defusing by the energy sector and resolve the carbon-related issues. To restrict carbon production, both CO2 taxes and cap policies are examined and the results showed that the latter has a considerable effect to incentivize the decision-maker to use CCS technology.