Green Power Plant Research Articles

Increasing consumer participation rates for green pricing programs: A choice experiment for South Korea

This study examines the factors that can increase consumer participation rates in green pricing programs by conducting a choice experiment in South Korea. Estimation results were obtained from a conditional logit, conditional logit with interaction terms, random parameter logit, random parameter logit with correlation, and individual-level coefficient models. A novelty of our analysis was the consideration of monetary and non-monetary incentives as factors influencing consumer uptake in green pricing programs. The estimation results show that increased consumer participation in green pricing programs is positively linked with green energy sources that produce fewer externalities, more jobs, and monetary incentives such as tax credits or green mileage. However, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between participation rates and the share of green electricity in total electricity supply. Mean willingness to pay for fuel cells is highest, followed by solar and wind energy. Estimation from the random parameter logit with allowing for correlations among random coefficients of attributes reveals that consumers are divided into ‘green (pro-environment) consumers’ and ‘blue (growth-oriented) consumers’. Green consumers prefer a higher green electricity share, solar or fuel cell to wind, a greater proximity of green power plants to their homes, and green mileage or green parks to tax credits. In comparison, ‘blue consumers’ favor a lower green electricity share, green power plants that are far from their homes, and monetary incentives rather than non-monetary incentives. The results of this study suggest guidelines for the design of successful green pricing programs. Green pricing programs that are designed with information on types of green energy sources, consider the distance of power plants to consumers' residences, focus on the share of green electricity, and incorporate monetary incentives are likely to have increased consumer participation rates.

Utilization of the Hydroelectric Potential of the Pomorskie Voivodship

One of the sources of electricity used by man is water. Currently the idea of hydroelectric power plants is increasingly appreciated by local governments. Sustainable development and EU directives have required the construction of green power plants. The article outlines the energy situation of the Pomorskie Voivodship. As a result, it was found that more than half of the energy consumed in the region is produced outside its area. Considering the transmission losses, this is a disadvantage. Hydropower installations are increasingly appearing in the voivodship, but there are relatively few of them. The natural and anthropogenic conditions of more than 300 potential hydropower plants have been analyzed. Based on the conducted research, the hydroelectric potential of the voivodship was estimated and the best locations for hydropower were identified.

Large eddy simulation of the tidal power plant deep green using the actuator line method

Tidal energy has the potential to provide a substantial part of the sustainable electric power generation. The tidal power plant developed by Minesto, called Deep Green, is a novel technology using a ‘flying’ kite with an attached turbine, moving at a speed several times higher than the mean flow. Multiple Deep Green power plants will eventually form arrays, which require knowledge of both flow interactions between individual devices and how the array influences the surrounding environment. The present study uses large eddy simulations (LES) and an actuator line model (ALM) to analyze the oscillating turbulent boundary layer flow in tidal currents without and with a Deep Green power plant. We present the modeling technique and preliminary results so far.

Performance Enhancement and Environmental Impact Analysis of a Solar Chimney Power Plant: Twenty-four-hour Simulation in Climate Condition of Isfahan Province, Iran

The aims of this study are to enhance the performance of a solar chimney power plant (SCPP), investigate utilization of thermal energy storage (TES) and analyze the environmental impact of the SCPP in providence of Isfahan, Iran. To achieve these goals, multi-stage numerical simulations during twenty-four hours of a day are performed in climate condition of Isfahan province (central region of Iran). Isfahan province has proper environmental condition for utilization of SCPP as a source of electricity and the environmental crises during the last decade in Iran have made utilization of green power plants a necessity. Performance enhancement of the SCPP is carried out by improvement in geometrical characteristics of collector and chimney of the SCPP. Considered factors for performance enhancement of SCPP are height, ceiling slop and radius of the collector as well as height, radius and throat shape of the chimney. Then a TES is employed to produce power in the absence of solar radiation in new proposed optimal configurations. In continue carbon dioxide emission and water consumption of enhanced configurations of SCPP are compared with shale gas, coal, hydroelectric and biomass power plants for same output power to investigate environmental impact of the SCPP. Results illustrate that improved collector of the SCPP increases the output power by almost 139% and enhanced chimney of the SCPP improves performance of the power plant by approximately 68.1%. Results also show that the SCPP with the TES would produce power during night hours in a stable range and TES has higher performance in SCPP with optimal proposed configurations. The results confirm that the SCPP is a proper choice for power generation in province of Isfahan (central region of Iran) and the enhanced SCPP with TES improves the output power range and environmental benefits considerably.

A comparative study on the design of an environmentally friendly RoPax ferry using CFD

RoPax ferries are designed for maximum efficiency, enabling smooth loading and unloading of cars, cargo and passengers. When optimising successful RoPax design, a compromise is always made between a light and compact hull geometry with diminished power requirement whilst providing substantial car and passenger capacities.In response to recent computational developments, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a widely-used design tool amongst naval architects owing to its more accurate results compared to conventional potential flow theory based techniques. By combining CFD tools with Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, it is possible to obtain useful results at an early stage of a typical ship design process.The key objective of this paper is to design an environmentally friendly RoPax ferry utilising CAD and CFD tools. This aim was achieved by developing a new RoPax design with a new green power plant configuration releasing less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. The performance of the green power plant was assessed through making a comparison to other power plant options. It is clearly shown in the paper that the hybrid LNG turbine is the most environmentally-friendly power option amongst the two other power plants investigated in this piece of research.

Assessment of the crack growth characteristics at the low fatigue limit of a multi-pass welded Ni-based alloy 617

It has become known that the most effective methodology for green power plant systems is to increase the generating efficiency of steam power plants. Among the materials developed to improve the performance, it is known that the most practical and applicable materials are Ni-based Alloys. However, it is necessary to first guarantee mechanical reliability of the weld for applying these Ni-based Alloys. In this study, firstly, the fatigue strength of multi-pass welded Ni-based Alloy 617 in as-welded and post weld heat-treated conditions were assessed. And then the crack growth characteristics at the low fatigue limit of them were assessed. From the results, fatigue strength of the welds those were post weld heat treated did not show large difference compare to not heat-treated ones. These results mean that the weld of Ni-based Alloy 617 is not influenced remarkably by post weld heat treatment in the metallurgical and mechanical changes. However, it was found that the fatigue crack grew at the low fatigue limit, which was about 48.4% (327 MPa) of the static tensile strength (675.1 MPa) of the weld, and 43.1% of the base material (759.4 MPa).

An analysis of a feed-in tariff in Taiwan’s electricity market

For the earth’s sustainable development, the proportion of power generated by renewable resources has risen, whereas the proportion of power generated by fossil fuel has fallen. Many small-sized power plants that generate power through renewable resources sell power to large-size traditional power plants that generate power using fossil fuel. In this study we employ the Stackelberg framework to analyze the feed-in tariff (FIT) regime in which a traditional power plant purchases power from a small-size green power plant. We conclude that such a FIT regime causes social welfare to decrease when the marginal cost of the public power plant decreases and the public power plant purchases too much renewable power.

Deep coalbed methane in Alberta, Canada: A fuel resource with the potential of zero greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract A huge incentive to develop Alberta's deep coalbed methane (CBM) resources is found in evolving enhanced gas recovery (EGR) technologies using CO2 injection, somewhat similar to enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, unlike CO2-EOR where CO2-breakthru eventually occurs, the injected CO2 is sequestered in the reservoir by sorption to the coal surface. The mechanism is that the CO2 displaces the sorbed CH4 from the coal surface, two molecules of CO2 being trapped for every molecule of CH4 released. Already this CO2-EGR process, although in an embryonic stage, has shown increased yields of produced CH4 over conventional CBM recovery. Future successful tuning of the process may allow the design of efficient null-greenhouse-gas-emission power plants which are fuelled by CBM from deep coal beds. In this closed CO2-cycle process, the waste CO2 produced by CH4-fuelled power plants is injected into CBM reservoirs to produce more CH4. Other scenarios are possible using offsets. A simple mass balance argument, based on a 2 to 1 coal-sorption-selectivity for CO2 over CH4, supports the feasibility of building and operating fossil-fuelled green power plants.