• Energy Research

Abstract Regional systems, increased competition, and environmental imperatives are forcing a reallocation of state and federal regulatory responsibilities for the US electric power sector. The great extent of regional diversity in the sector raises a policy relevant empirical question. Is this diversity due to choice or circumstance? This paper finds circumstance to be a more significant determinant of fundamental performance than choice, but also finds evidence that decisions at the margin reflect the diverse preferences of regional policies. This suggests a continued role for (more responsive) state level regulation in order to satisfy diverse preferences. Uncertainty about the optimal endpoint of restructing reinforces the value of continued state regulatory experimentation.

There are several widely recognized tests for determining whether government should intervene in the marketplace. Does the public policy improve efficiency, equity, or stability, or does it pursue widely accepted social objectives? This paper examines the formulation of public policies toward new energy carriers such as hydrogen, in terms of what they ought to be and what they are in actuality. It goes on to examine policy implementation issues, which will be strongly affected by the hydrogen economy's likely development trajectory. Hydrogen, as currently conceived, can be expected to evolve from a local market to a continental market over time, implying that state and local policies will strongly influence its development. The paper closes with strategic policy recommendations

Abstract This paper addresses the challenge of incorporating occupant behavior into building performance simulation models used during the design process—that is, before the actual occupants are known. It proposes the use of synthetic population data, an approach that is novel in building performance modeling although common in urban planning and public health. A simpler approach embodied in the ASHRAE Fundamentals volume is to report standard distributions of values for behavioral variables, assuming that parameters vary independently of one another when in fact many co-vary or are interdependent. An alternative approach calibrates models of occupant behavior against actual occupants in specific existing buildings, but this raises questions of transferability. Needed is a database of “generic” occupants that designers can use prospectively during the design process. This paper documents a process of combining disparate field studies of commercial buildings into a larger occupant behavior database and generating a statistically similar synthetic data set that can be shared without compromising confidentiality requirements associated with field studies. The synthetic data set successfully incorporates much of the covariance structure of the underlying field data and supports multivariate modeling. Its scope and structure necessarily serve the needs of the associated modeling framework. Cooperative and systematic sharing of data by field researchers is crucial for building large enough data sets to serve as a behaviorally-robust basis for building design.

A desire to shift from fossil fuels to non-carbon-emitting energy sources has become an imperative supported by national, state, and local policies. In the U.S., a diverse array of policies at multiple levels of government have helped the solar industry achieve exponential growth. These advancements, however, are mediated by local implementation processes, which might be expected to have a large impact in the context of U.S. federalism. This paper investigates the effects of two countervailing forces – policy incentives and implementation disincentives – on residential solar adoption in New Jersey. The New Jersey case study includes two complementary analyses designed to illuminate policy incentives and implementation disincentives, respectively. The first is an interrupted time-series analysis that evaluates the effects of federal and statewide renewable energy policies on residential photovoltaic (PV) growth. The second is a set of semi-structured in-depth interviews with solar industry experts, providing implementation insights from the solar industry and indirectly portraying residential customers’ experiences. Results confirm that market-based instruments at the state-level play a crucial role in increasing the relative financial advantage of these systems and, thus, the attraction of residential solar PV to adopters. In addition, the behaviours of future adopters and the valuation of this technology as an investment in the housing market will impact the spread of residential PV systems in the future. Unfortunately, case study findings also confirm that an absence of standardized solar application procedures and outdated interconnection standards is a significant drag on the adoption rate. This highlights a need for policymakers to place greater emphasis on local implementation pathways in solar policy design. Options to achieve this include more robust ex-ante coordination among state and local levels of government and with industry to standardize implementation processes. While U.S. federalism may at times be constraining, our results suggest that even minimal levels of ex-ante coordination can lead to implementation gains that will have a large impact on solar diffusion outcomes. Federal and state-level financial incentives significantly impact the residential photovoltaic solar adoption rate.The absence of streamlined interconnection application procedures and outdated interconnection standards for the grid limit the residential PV adoption in New Jersey.Our findings underline the importance of paying equal attention to both policy design and to technical standards to underpin implementation processes, especially in the decentralized context of U.S. federalism. Federal and state-level financial incentives significantly impact the residential photovoltaic solar adoption rate. The absence of streamlined interconnection application procedures and outdated interconnection standards for the grid limit the residential PV adoption in New Jersey. Our findings underline the importance of paying equal attention to both policy design and to technical standards to underpin implementation processes, especially in the decentralized context of U.S. federalism.

The small land footprint of nuclear power has been one of its attractions, especially in comparison to land-intensive renewable energy sources that have begun entering widespread use. But what happens to that footprint when nuclear accidents are included? Adding the land impacts of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents doubles nuclear's km2/GWh footprint, though it remains slightly less land-intensive than other energy sources. However, one more accident will put it on par with solar, and the long-term trend favors renewables.

Problem: Emerging energy technologies are bringing planners a new set of issues. The supply-oriented framework from engineering economics within which energy planning has traditionally been conducted may be useful for siting large refineries, power plants, and transmission corridors, but it is not helpful for mitigating conflicts at the site level, encouraging new technology adoptions, managing the demand for energy, or, especially, coordinating the diverse users of smaller, local energy facilities. Purpose: I provide an alternative conceptual framework for thinking about emerging energy planning tasks. I highlight factors not considered in the traditional model, and introduce terminology for characterizing key characteristics of the changing energy economy. Methods: I draw on concepts from industrial ecology, urban metabolism, and ecological economics, and apply my new framework to a set of examples illustrating its advantages relative to the traditional approach to energy planning. Results and conclusio...

This paper discusses the evaluation of risk management strategies as a part of integrated resource planning. Value- and scope-related uncertainties can be addressed during the process of planning, but uncertainties in the operating environment require technical analysis within planning models. Flexibility and robustness are two key classes of strategies for managing the risk posed by these uncertainties. This paper reviews standard capacity expansion planning models and shows that they are poorly equipped to compare risk management strategies. Those that acknowledge uncertainty are better at evaluating robustness than flexibility, which implies a bias against flexible options. Techniques are available to overcome this bias. >

Abstract This paper analyzes the 1992 and 2003 US Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey microdata files to show the extent to which certain heating, cooling, lighting, and window technologies are entering use, and the resulting impacts on the intensity of energy use. Excepting the case of fluorescent lights, no technology dominates the entire market but instead each conquers a specific niche. Most of the buildings in which these technologies are installed do not have lower-than-average energy intensity, measured as annual energy use per square meter of floor space. The exceptional technology that does measurably correlate with reduced energy intensity is daylighting. These results suggest that technologies are adopted to serve comfort or quality objectives rather than to save energy, or that buildings’ users confound the designers’ intentions. Decision makers thus should improve operating and maintenance practices, invest in building commissioning, and rely more heavily on passive design features to save energy.