• Energy Research

There are many descriptions and so-called definitions of Smart Grid reported in the literature. But perhaps the most descriptive yet succinct characterization of Smart Grid is given in the United States Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). This Smart Grid characterization is reproduced in this chapter.

Today, the United States Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 focuses on biofuels support research and development (R and D) needed to enable achieving respective volumetric and cost targets. Indeed, the worldwide objective is to bring us closer to independence from transportation fuels derived from fossil resources. This Special Issue highlights key areas of science and technology that impact the rollout of viable corn stover biofuels processes by 2012.

The United States Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel per year by 2022 in the United States, most of which will be met by biofuels. An essential component in meeting this challenge will be to produce biofuel feedstock in a sustainable manner, including quantifying the effects of biofuel production on water quality. Herein, the integration of several recently developed geographic information systems (GIS) datasets and the Hydrologic Simulation Program in Fortran (HSPF) using the Python Programming Language are presented. The approach allows for rapid development and calibration of an HSPF model for assessing agricultural runoff.

Abstract Increased use of ethanol in the United States fuel supply will impact emissions and ambient concentrations of greenhouse gases, “criteria” pollutants for which the U. S. EPA sets ambient air quality standards, and a variety of air toxic compounds. This paper focuses on impacts of increased ethanol use on ozone and air toxics under a potential implementation scenario resulting from mandates in the U. S. Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. The assessment of impacts was done for calendar year 2022, when 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels must be used. Impacts were assessed relative to a baseline which assumed ethanol volumes mandated by the first renewable fuels standard promulgated by U. S. EPA in early 2007. This assessment addresses both impacts of increased ethanol use on vehicle and other engine emissions, referred to as “downstream” emissions, and “upstream” impacts, i.e., those connected with fuel production and distribution. Air quality modeling was performed for the continental United States using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ), version 4.7. Pollutants included in the assessment were ozone, acetaldehyde, ethanol, formaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, and 1,3-butadiene. Results suggest that increased ethanol use due to EISA in 2022 will adversely increase ozone concentrations over much of the U.S., by as much as 1 ppb. However, EISA is projected to improve ozone air quality in a few highly-populated areas that currently have poor air quality. Most of the ozone improvements are due to our assumption of increases in nitrogen oxides (NOx) in volatile organic compound (VOC)-limited areas. While there are some localized impacts, the EISA renewable fuel standards have relatively little impact on national average ambient concentrations of most air toxics, although ethanol concentrations increase substantially. Significant uncertainties are associated with all results, due to limitations in available data. These uncertainties are discussed in detail.

ABSTRACT“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (2nd Continental Congress, 1776). In 1776, our founding fathers declared independence from the oppression of a foreign power and took action to create a free nation to be true to their ideals. Today, this freedom is being threatened by US dependence on oil supplied by foreign powers. This dependence is increasingly encroaching on the general welfare of the nation, in terms of our national security and economic well-being. US dependence on foreign energy imports is at an all-time high and will likely increase if current policies and strategies do not change.Since 2001, natural gas and oil prices have doubled largely due to lack of global capacity to supply world demand for energy. Fossil fuel prices will continue to rise over the next 20 years as world supplies of oil and natural gas struggle to keep up with rapidly in...

Abstract Cities Service Research and Development Company (CSRD), the research arm of the Cities Service Company, has been developing a process scheme named the CS-SR Process, for the non-catalytic, vapor-phase, hydrogenation of carbonaceous feedstocks. The initial and primary emphasis in our Energy Research Laboratory was to apply this technology to convert coal into pipeline quality gas and attractive byproduct yields of light aromatic (BTX) liquids. A review of the literature early in 1974 led to our conclusion that the most productive area of process development would be that of short residence time hydrogenation. Clean energy from coal, in all forms be it liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, is vital to the United States energy independence program. The short residence, rapid heatup hydropyrolysis technique optimizes the conversion of aromatic and aliphatic fragments in coal to light aromatic liquids and the gaseous components of substitute natural gas (SNG). In this way, the CS-SR Process mitigates nature rather than antagonizing it. A brief literature review has been presented in our previous paper at the 1976 ACS (San Francisco) meeting. In the summer of 1974, we designed a 1–4 lb/h bench-scale unit capable of operation at temperatures and pressure that are scalable within present-day, commercial technology. A cold-flow model to test coal—hydrogen mixing injectors and to study coal—hydrogen slip velocities was designed and constructed in Autumn, 1974. Construction of the bench-scale unit began in December 1974 and was completed in June, 1975 with the shakedown operations occurring in the Summer of 1975. The first complete material balance run was made in August, 1975. Since that time, over 175 runs have been made with a variety of feedstocks including lignite, bituminous and subbituminous coals, oil shale, tar sands and coal tars. Further development of the CS-SR Process is being undertaken in several programs supported jointly by Cities Service and DOE. Several experimental programs are continuing in the bench-scale unit to explore conditions for maximizing liquids yields and also for maximizing gas (methane, ethane) yields. Process flowsheet studies are also being made. The next step of development of the CS-SR Process would require about a 6-inch diameter, pilot plant reactor capable of processing about 100 TPD coal. This pilot plant would be one scaleup step away from a 12-inch diameter, single tube, commercial-type operation and a direct scale to a 6-inch diameter, multi-tube, commercial type operation. This paper summarizes the analysis of the bench-scale data obtained when processing a North Dakota lignite.

For decades, Arctic Alaska has provided US mainland states with plentiful oil supplies. As reserves in the Prudhoe Bay fields decrease, however, the USA has been forced to consider new options to guarantee the nation's energy security. While debates continue to rage about its reliance on foreign oil, increased prices, consumption levels, and climate change, the USA is now contemplating whether predicted new discoveries might actually allow it to become an exporter rather than importer of oil and gas in the near future. This paper considers the role Arctic Alaska might play in helping secure future US energy security and independence. It also considers what other options exist for securing the State of Alaska's own future post-Prudhoe Bay.

Abstract This study investigates consumer behavior in anticipation of the United States Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) energy mandate that effectively banned production and import (not the sale) of incandescent light bulbs. We use the gradual implementation of U.S. EISA energy standards, where only 100-watt incandescent bulbs were initially banned, to estimate a series of difference-in-difference models that examine consumer behavior. Our results show that stockpiling in response to the EISA mandate resulted in a 96.9% increase in 100-watt incandescent bulbs sold per store per week. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows stockpiling reduced private energy savings between $7 million and $21 million in Ohio and between $199 million and $589 million in the United States. Stockpiling also reduced social carbon cost savings between $56 million and $166 million across the United States.

The 21st century electric power grid is transforming with an unprecedented increase in demand and increase in new technologies. In the United States Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Title XIII sets the tenets for modernizing the electricity grid through what is known as the ?Smart Grid Initiative.? This initiative calls for increased design, deployment, and integration of distributed energy resources, smart technologies and appliances, and advanced storage devices. The deployment of these new technologies requires rethinking and re-engineering the traditional boundaries between different electric power system domains (Figure 1).