Cost Of CO2 Emissions Research Articles

Evaluating the CO2 emissions reduction potential and cost of power sector re-dispatch

Prior studies of the U.S. electricity sector have recognized the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by substituting generation from coal-fired units with generation from under-utilized and lower-emitting natural gas-fired units; in fact, this type of “re-dispatch” was invoked as one of the three building blocks used to set the emissions targets under the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. Despite the existence of surplus natural gas capacity in the U.S., power system operational constraints not often considered in power sector policy analyses, such as transmission congestion, generator ramping constraints, minimum generation constraints, planned and unplanned generator outages, and ancillary service requirements, could limit the potential and increase the cost of coal-to-gas re-dispatch. Using a highly detailed power system unit commitment and dispatch model, we estimate the maximum potential for re-dispatch in the Eastern Interconnection, which accounts for the majority of coal capacity and generation in the U.S. Under our reference assumptions, we find that maximizing coal-to-gas re-dispatch yields emissions reductions of 230 million metric tons (Mt), or 13% of power sector emissions in the Eastern Interconnection, with a corresponding average abatement cost of $15–$44 per metric ton of CO2, depending on the assumed supply elasticity of natural gas.

Optimizing the green open vehicle routing problem with time windows by minimizing comprehensive routing cost

With the rapid development of the sharing economy, outsourcing logistics operations to third party logistics has become an efficient way of reducing costs in freight transportation. It can be modeled as a variant of the open vehicle routing problem (OVRP), where the vehicles do not return to the depot after servicing customers. However, very few papers have studied fuel consumption in the context of third party logistics. In this work, the mathematical model of the green open vehicle routing problem with time windows (GOVRPTW) was described based on the comprehensive modal emission model (CMEM). A hybrid tabu search algorithm involving several neighborhood search strategies was designed to solve this problem. Computational experiments were performed on realistic instances based on the real road conditions of Beijing, China. The effect of empty kilometers is analyzed through comparing different cost components. Compared with closed routes, the open routes reduced the total cost by 20% with both the fuel emissions costs and the CO2 emissions cost down by nearly 30%. For the experiments with congested nodes, the fuel and emissions cost rose by 12.3%, and the driver cost even increased by 31.3%.

Flexibility potentials of a combined use of heat storages and batteries in PV-CHP hybrid systems

Due to the 2012 change in the renewable energy act the feed-in tariffs and as result the number of newly installed photovoltaic systems decreased dramatically in Germany. Therefore, there was the need, particularly, in the residential sector to develop new business ideas for photovoltaic systems. In context of this development, combined photovoltaic and heat-power systems were analyzed, which provide not only electricity but also heat throughout one entire year. Flexibilities are provided in form of thermal and electrical storage systems leading to many possible setting options requiring an elaborated control management. In this paper, a new optimized control algorithm is proposed that in contrast to standard strategies can operate optimal even under incorrect weather and load forecasts. A predictive controller based on a mixed integer optimization problem and an additional so called secondary, rule-based controller are combined. The controller is based on several input data. Depending on the choice of these data the PV-CHP hybrid system can be used for different control strategies, like maximum self-consumption, minimum CO2 emission or minimum operational costs. The main focus in this paper is to study if the flexibility potentials of the combined thermal and electrical storage systems can ensure a market oriented or a grid-friendly behavior. This is studied in five control options. As a result we found that the control algorithm is stable and able to adapt to the different conditions. In conclusion, it was discovered that the storage systems play a crucial role in terms of forecast differences and parameter changes. Storage systems are as expected the key-element for the flexibility of PV-CHP hybrid systems.

Marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions in the thermal power sector: A regional empirical analysis from China

Quantifying marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions are beneficial to estimate mitigation potentials and costs of China's regional thermal power sector. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces from 2004 to 2013, this study estimates the technical efficiency, reduction potential, and marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions from the thermal power sector in China using a parametric quadratic directional output distance function. A regression analysis is undertaken to identify the factors that drive marginal abatement costs. The main results are: (1)The mean value of directional output distance function in China's thermal power sector is 0.0449, indicating that inefficient production of Chinese thermal power sector accounts for 4.49%. CO2 emissions could be mitigated by accumulated 1.22 billion ton in the past ten year, which is approximate 4.49% of total CO2 emissions; (2)The national weighted average marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions are 316.51 Yuan/ton which is far higher than carbon price in the current ETS (emission trading system) pilots in China, implying that carbon price does not inflect supply and demand of carbon allowance; (3)The regression results show that the marginal abatement costs positively connect with regional power scale, namely a 1% increase in power scale will result in a 13.8% increase. Technology level, coal supply and power structure are negatively correlated with marginal abatement costs, namely a 1% increase in technology level, coal supply and power structure will result respectively in a 30.41%, 4.38% and 77.7% decrease.

Marginal abatement costs of carbon dioxide emissions and its influencing factors: A global perspective

Reducing CO2 emissions has become a major and urgent environmental goal worldwide. In this paper, we sample the data of 41 regions (including 165 countries) from 2000 to 2014 and adopt a gravity model to obtain an overview of the global flows of CO2 emissions, energy consumption, the global economy and capital stock since the beginning of the 21st century. We then investigate global technical efficiency, reduction potential, shadow prices and factors influencing the marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions based on a quadratic directional output distance function. The empirical results show the following: (1) the global centres of gravity for CO2 emissions, energy consumption and capital stock have accelerated their shift to the Asian inland in the 21st century, but the global centre of gravity for the economy did not show the same trend. (2) Global technical inefficiency demonstrates a U-shape, with a turning point in 2007. Average annual total global CO2 emissions could be reduced by 4482.28 Mt, and the global marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions are approximately 673.74–697.73 USD/t. (3) The relationship between economic development and marginal abatement costs is represented by a U-shaped curve. The world is currently in the climbing phase of this curve, implying that controlling CO2 emissions is becoming more costly. Moreover, energy structure, industrial structure, and CO2 emissions are negatively correlated with marginal abatement costs. Finally, the financial crisis has had a significant effect on marginal abatement costs.

A multimodal logistics service network design with time windows and environmental concerns.

The design of a multimodal logistics service network with customer service time windows and environmental costs is an important and challenging issue. Accordingly, this work established a model to minimize the total cost of multimodal logistics service network design with time windows and environmental concerns. The proposed model incorporates CO2 emission costs to determine the optimal transportation mode combinations and investment selections for transfer nodes, which consider transport cost, transport time, carbon emission, and logistics service time window constraints. Furthermore, genetic and heuristic algorithms are proposed to set up the abovementioned optimal model. A numerical example is provided to validate the model and the abovementioned two algorithms. Then, comparisons of the performance of the two algorithms are provided. Finally, this work investigates the effects of the logistics service time windows and CO2 emission taxes on the optimal solution. Several important management insights are obtained.

CO2 emissions from the industrialization and urbanization processes in the manufacturing center Tianjin in China

Curbing the rapid CO2 emissions and reaching the emission peak before 2030 under socioeconomic transition is a great challenge facing China. Therefore, in–depth understanding of the impact of industrialization and urbanization processes on CO2 emissions is essential for the achievement of China's CO2 emission reduction targets. In this study, we apply an analysis framework based on input–output analysis and structural decomposition analysis to analyze the CO2 emissions cost of the industrialization and urbanization processes from 1997 to 2012, using the manufacturing center Tianjin as an example. The CO2 emissions of Tianjin tripled during the 15-year studied period. The industrialization process strongly increased CO2 emissions through the rapid growth of the final demand level, while energy intensity improvement played an important role in curbing the rapid emission growth from 1997 to 2012. With respect to specific industries, with a growing share in economic structure, construction was the largest source in the overall CO2 emissions structure. As the pillar industry, transport equipment and information technology (IT) machinery industry were the largest sources in net export-related CO2 emissions, and the IT machinery industry also contributed the most to CO2 emissions growth related to production structure changes. Growing importance of tertiary industry, services (including producer services and consumer services) led to CO2 emissions growth through the growing share in net export and final demand structure during the 2007–2012 period. Besides the influence of industrialization, the rapid urbanization process resulted in a 74.1% growth in household consumption-related CO2 emissions, and the gaps between rural and urban continued to increase. The high demand for city infrastructure and building construction originated from investment also caused a great CO2 emission growth (142.5 Mt, 86.6% CO2 emission growth in Tianjin caused by investment). These results also provide policy implications for curbing the CO2 emissions increase in Tianjin as well as in other cities.

Preferences for Energy Efficiency vs. Renewables: How Much Does a Ton of CO2 Emissions Cost?

Concerns about climate change are growing, and so is the demand for information about the costs and benefits of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This paper seeks to estimate the benefits of climate change mitigation, as measured by the public’s willingness to pay for such policies. We investigate the preferences of Italian and Czech households towards climate change mitigation policy options directly related to residential energy use. We use discrete choice experiments, which are administered in a standardized fashion to representative samples in the two countries through computer-assisted web interviews. The willingness to pay per ton of CO2 emissions avoided is €132 Euro for the Italians and 94 Euro for the Czech respondents (at 2014 purchasing power parity). We find evidence of considerable heterogeneity in WTP driven by income. The two samples differ in their “domestic” income elasticities of WTP, but comparison across the two countries suggests an income elasticity of WTP of one.

Comparison of CO2 Capture Approaches for Fossil-Based Power Generation: Review and Meta-Study

This work is a meta-study of CO2 capture processes for coal and natural gas power generation, including technologies such as post-combustion solvent-based carbon capture, the integrated gasification combined cycle process, oxyfuel combustion, membrane-based carbon capture processes, and solid oxide fuel cells. A literature survey of recent techno-economic studies was conducted, compiling relevant data on costs, efficiencies, and other performance metrics. The data were then converted in a consistent fashion to a common standard (such as a consistent net power output, country of construction, currency, base year of operation, and captured CO2 pressure) such that a meaningful and direct comparison of technologies can be made. The processes were compared against a standard status quo power plant without carbon capture to compute metrics such as cost of CO2 emissions avoided to identify the most promising designs and technologies to use for CO2 emissions abatement.

Does California's CO2 price affect wholesale electricity prices in the Western U.S.A.?

Using a sample of daily market data, we quantify the effect of California's CO2 cap-and-trade program on the wholesale electricity prices of four interconnected market hubs in the Western U.S.A.: North of Path 15 (NP15) and South of Path 15 (SP15) in California, Mid-Columbia (Mid-C) in the Pacific Northwest, and Palo Verde (PV) in the Desert Southwest. A $1/metric ton increase in California's CO2 price is estimated to have increased the electricity prices by $0.41/MWh (p-value < 0.0001) for NP15, $0.59/MWh (p-value < 0.0001) for SP15, $0.41/MWh (p-value = 0.0056) for Mid-C, and $0.15/MWh (p-value = 0.0925) for PV. These estimates reflect: (a) the NP15 and SP15 sellers’ pricing behavior of fully including the CO2 price in their intra-state transactions; (b) the Mid-C price's 100% pass-through of the CO2 price in the Pacific Northwest's hydro export to California; and (c) the statutory obligation of paying the CO2 emissions cost by California's buyers of the electricity imported from the Desert Southwest. The policy implication is that internalization of CO2's externality in the Western U.S.A. requires a cap-and-trade program with a regional scope that encompasses all four hubs, thereby remedying the California program's limited geographic coverage which introduces distortions in neighboring markets.

Electricity price behavior and carbon trading: New evidence from California

The incidence of climate change policy is of great interests to economists, policy makers, producers and consumers. Using the daily market data for a 65-month period of 01/01/2011–05/31/2016, this empirical paper documents that the California Independent System Operator’s day-ahead prices have a CO2 premium approximately equal to natural-gas-fired generation’s marginal cost of CO2 emissions. This finding prevails in the six time-of-day periods developed to match the pricing periods used by the state’s local distribution companies and the bilateral trading of wholesale electricity in the Western Interconnection, a large electricity grid serving the western portion of North America and a Mexican state. Our findings suggest that the California cap-and-trade (C&T) program is effective in internalizing CO2 emission costs of the in-state natural-gas-fired generation. However, the program’s economic efficiency is compromised by the unintended consequence of power laundering under inter-regional trading of wholesale electricity. While the program encourages the Pacific Northwest’s hydro export that displaces California’s natural-gas-fired generation, it also induces output increases by non-California coal- and natural-gas-fired generators in the Western Interconnection. Hence, reducing the overall CO2 emissions in the Western Interconnection requires expanding the program’s geographic scope to meaningfully address the global warming problem.

Dynamic green bike repositioning problem – A hybrid rolling horizon artificial bee colony algorithm approach

This paper introduces a new dynamic green bike repositioning problem (DGBRP) that simultaneously minimizes the total unmet demand of the bike-sharing system and the fuel and CO2 emission cost of the repositioning vehicle over an operational period. The problem determines the route and the number of bikes loaded and unloaded at each visited node over a multi-period operational horizon during which the cycling demand at each node varies from time to time. To handle the dynamic nature of the problem, this study adopts a rolling horizon approach to break down the proposed problem into a set of stages, in which a static bike repositioning sub-problem is solved in each stage. An enhanced artificial bee colony (EABC) algorithm and a route truncation heuristic are jointly used to optimize the route design in each stage, and the loading and unloading heuristic is used to tackle the loading and unloading sub-problem along the route in a given stage. Numerical results show that the EABC algorithm outperforms Genetic Algorithm in solving the routing sub-problem. Computation experiments are performed to illustrate the effect of the stage duration on the two objective values, and the results show that longer stage duration leads to higher total unmet demand and total fuel and CO2 emission cost. Numerical studies are also performed to illustrate the effects of the weight and the loading and unloading times on the two objective values and the tradeoff between the two objectives.

Measuring the impact of alternative and nuclear energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and oil rents on specific growth factors in the panel of Latin American countries

This study examines the impact of alternative and nuclear energy consumption (NE), fossil fuel energy consumption (FFUEL), carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and oil rent (OILRENT) on economic growth (GDPPC) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the panel of nine Latin American countries, for the period of 1975–2013. The result of pooled seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) indicates the importance of NE, FFUEL and CO2 emissions that positively contributed to increasing GDP per capita, while oil rents fail to promote economic growth in the region. Similar results have been obtained with the FDI in which the role of energy sources amplified the foreign investment on the cost of CO2 emissions in the region. With respect to individual countries, CO2 emissions exert the positive association with the GDP per capita of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, while, NE significantly increases GDP per capita of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Fossil fuel energy consumption increases along with the increase in GDP per capita in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela, however, it decreases the economic growth of Argentina and Peru respectively. Oil rents have a negative relationship with GDP per capita of Argentina, while it possesses significant and positive impact in Ecuador and Venezuela. Finally, the panel causality tests confirmed the following four causality hypothesis in between the different variables i.e., feedback hypothesis, energy conservation hypothesis, growth hypothesis and neutrality hypothesis, both in the short and long-run.

Profit-based unit commitment of integrated CHP-thermal-heat only units in energy and spinning reserve markets with considerations for environmental CO2 emission cost and valve-point effects

For the purposes of lowering environmental emission cost and increasing economic profit, energy efficient combined heat and power (CHP) units can be integrated with conventional separate heat and power production units to meet heat and power demands. The goal of this study is to develop and examine a novel heuristic and deterministic optimization algorithm for solving the profit-based unit commitment (PBUC) problem for a generation company with integrated CHP-thermal-heat only system for (i) satisfying demands for heat and power, (ii) selling spinning reserve for power, (iii) reducing environmental CO2 emission cost, and (iv) accounting for valve-point effects for steam turbines. For validation, the developed optimization algorithm is applied to power systems examined in other studies for a 24 h operation period, where reduction of 2.54–5.86% in environmental CO2 emission and improvements of 2.91–5.67% in economic profit are achieved. When environmental CO2 emission cost and valve-point effects are considered, the utilization of CHP units in an integrated CHP-thermal-heat only system results in environmental CO2 emission reduction and economic profit improvement by and 29.45 and 15.41%, respectively, as compared with those resulting from operating thermal and heat only units separately.

The shadow price of CO2 emissions in China's iron and steel industry

As China becomes the world's largest energy consumer and CO2 emitter, there has been a rapidly emerging literature on estimating China's abatement cost for CO2 using a distance function approach. However, the existing studies have mostly focused on the cost estimates at macro levels (provinces or industries) with few examining firm-level abatement costs. No work has attempted to estimate the abatement cost of CO2 emissions in the iron and steel industry. Although some have argued that the directional distance function (DDF) is more appropriate in the presence of bad output under regulation, the choice of directions is largely arbitrary. This study provides the most up-to-date estimate of the shadow price of CO2 using a unique dataset of China's major iron and steel enterprises in 2014. The paper uses output quadratic DDF and investigates the impact of using different directional vectors representing different carbon mitigation strategies. The results show that the mean CO2 shadow price of China's iron and steel enterprises is very sensitive to the choice of direction vectors. The average shadow prices of CO2 are 407, 1226 and 6058Yuan/tonne respectively for the three different direction vectors. We also find substantial heterogeneity in the shadow prices of CO2 emissions among China's major iron and steel enterprises. Larger, listed enterprises are found to be associated lower CO2 shadow prices than smaller, unlisted enterprises.

Integration of smart grid mechanisms on microgrids energy modelling

Due to security reasons, when assessing long-term planning in isolated microgrids, it is crucial to consider, the system's short-term variability. In this way, the need to develop modelling and planning decision-aid tools for grid managers, towards an optimal integration of renewable energy in isolated microgrids, is emerging. These tools shall combine short-term variability with long-term planning, while addressing multiple smart grid integration challenges.The present work proposes the evolution of an economic dispatch model to an integrated modelling tool, adding planning features. These consist in the implementation and sizing of different renewable and storage energy systems, and the development of demand scenarios, as the introduction of electric vehicles, demand response strategies, and/or residential efficiency measures. Levelized cost of electricity, operation costs, CO2 emissions and renewable shares are quantified.Terceira Island in Azores, is adopted as case study to validate the model. Results show that this tool has a great potential for supporting planning decisions, obtaining valuable parameters to analyze the proposed strategies, as the storage suitability, need of renewable curtailment or cost increase due to electric vehicles deployment. The integrated features allow understanding whether a new technology, besides being technically feasible, is economically viable with respect to the existing system.

Pyrolysis Gas as a Renewable Reducing Agent for the Recycling of Zinc- and Lead-Bearing Residues: A Status Report

The topic “Zero Waste” has been in existence for several years in the industry, and the metallurgical industry has also made efforts to reduce the amounts of residues occurring and have started several investigations to cut down on metallurgical by-products which have to be landfilled. Especially, the additional costs for CO2 emissions in different metallurgical steps have led to investigations into alternative carbon carriers. Charcoal has been identified to serve as an ideal substitute due its CO2-neutrality. For the applications of this renewable carbon carrier in metallurgical processes, charcoal production by means of a carbonization process needs to be optimized. As a by-product during the heating of agricultural wastes or wood by excluding air, pyrolysis gas occurs. Due to the existence of combustible compounds in this gas, an application as a reduction agent instead of fossil carbon carriers in metallurgy is possible. Based on the prevention of dumping metallurgical by-products, an investigation has been developed to treat zinc- and lead-containing materials. To realize this, a dedicated process concept has been designed and developed. As the main focuses, the usage of the pyrolysis gas from charcoal production for the Waelz kiln process and the recycling of zinc- and lead-containing Waelz slag, resulting from the processing of steel mill dust in a vertical retort, have to be mentioned. Within this research, the process concept was executed from laboratory-scale up to pilot-scale testing, described in this article.

A mathematical/physics carbon emission reduction strategy for building supply chain network based on carbon tax policy

Abstract Under the background of a low carbon economy, this paper examines the impact of carbon tax policy on supply chain network emission reduction. The integer linear programming method is used to establish a supply chain network emission reduction such a model considers the cost of CO2 emissions, and analyses the impact of different carbon price on cost and carbon emissions in supply chains. The results show that the implementation of a carbon tax policy can reduce CO2 emissions in building supply chain, but the increase in carbon price does not produce a reduction effect, and may bring financial burden to the enterprise. This paper presents a reasonable carbon price range and provides decision makers with strategies towards realizing a low carbon building supply chain in an economical manner.

Scenario-based stochastic framework for coupled active and reactive power market in smart distribution systems with demand response programs

In this paper, an efficient stochastic framework is proposed to develop a coupled active and reactive market in smart distribution systems. Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) can offer active powers to the market and also offer their reactive powers via a multi-component bidding framework constructed based on their reactive power capability diagrams. Distribution Company (Disco) buys active and reactive powers from a wholesale market and sells them via this market. Aggregators on behalf of responsive loads can participate in the market using a demand buyback program (DBP). The uncertainties of forecasted loads and wind power generation are considered in the proposed framework. To model the stochastic variables, the scenario tree is created using the Weibull and the Gaussian probability density functions (PDFs). The cost objective function of the stochastic coupled market clearing consists of the expected costs of energy and reactive power purchased from the DERs and Disco, the expected penalty cost of CO2 emissions of DERs and the main grid as well as the expected cost of running DBP. The proposed market is cleared through a mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem solved in GAMS software. The effectiveness of the proposed method is investigated based on a 22-bus 20-kV radial distribution test system.

Study on highway transportation greenhouse effect external cost estimation in China

This paper focuses on estimating highway transportation greenhouse gas emission volume and greenhouse gas external cost in China. At first, composition and characteristics of greenhouse gases were analysed about highway transportation emissions. Secondly, an improved model of emission volume was presented on basis of highway transportation energy consumption, which may be calculated by virtue of main affecting factors such as the annual average operation miles of each type of the motor vehicles and the unit consumption level. the model of emission volume was constructed which considered not only the availability of energy consumption statistics of highway transportation but also the greenhouse gas emission factors of various fuel types issued by IPCC. Finally, the external cost estimation model was established about highway transportation greenhouse gas emission which combined emission volume with the unit external cost of CO2 emissions. An example was executed to confirm presented model which ranged from 2011 to 2015 Year in China. The calculated result shows that the highway transportation total emission volume and greenhouse gas external cost are growing up, but the unit turnover external cost is steadily declining. On the whole overall, the situation is still grim about highway transportation greenhouse gas emission, and the green transportation strategy should be put into effect as soon as possible.