REDUCING POWER PRODUCTION COSTS BY UTILIZING PETROLEUM COKE

Harvesting the full spectrum of sunlight using a hybrid approach offers the potential for higher efficiencies, lower power production costs, and increased power grid compatibility than any single technology by itself.

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Exhaust Conditioning Technology to Prevent Sulfur Poisoning on Methane Oxidation Catalyst

Volume 2: Emissions Control Systems; Instrumentation, Controls, and Hybrids; Numerical Simulation; Engine Design and Mechanical Development ◽

10.1115/icef2015-1118 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Isna Y. Goenawan ◽

Linjie (Robin) Hu ◽

Shazam Williams

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Power Production ◽

Sulfur Poisoning ◽

Production Costs ◽

Oxidation Catalyst ◽

Stable Form ◽

Exhaust Gas ◽

The World ◽

Catalyst Life ◽

Short Time

In some regions of the world, emissions of total organic carbon (TOC), including methane and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), from the tail pipe of natural gas or biogas fuelled combustion equipments are strictly regulated (e.g. 150 mg/Nm3 of exhaust gas in Italy). Post combustor has been widely chosen in response to the TOC emission targets. TOC typically consists of >90% methane — a strong greenhouse gas and the most challenging compound to remove due to its highly stable form. Thus, more gas is being consumed to burn the TOC present in the exhaust, resulting in higher operating (or power production) costs. A passive catalytic approach is an alternative to post combustor. Palladium based oxidation catalyst is known to actively remove TOC, providing no sulfur compounds present. Sulfur poisons and deactivates the catalyst in a short time. This paper presents a concept to extend the life of the oxidation catalyst by using an exhaust post conditioning system. The system is designed to eliminate and withstand contaminants, yielding a protection to the catalyst. Consequently, the catalyst life is prolonged by about 50 times.

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Economic Implications of Agricultural Land Conversion to Solar Power Production

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14196063 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

pp. 6063

Author(s):

Yanay Farja ◽

Mariusz Maciejczak

Keyword(s):

Social Welfare ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Solar Power ◽

Power Production ◽

Production Costs ◽

Maximization Problem ◽

Land Uses ◽

Economic Implications ◽

The Social ◽

Ghg Reduction

Meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets will require a significant increase in electricity production from sustainable and renewable sources such as solar energy. Farmers have recognized this need as a chance to increase the profitability of their farms by allocating farmland to solar power production. However, the shift from agriculture to power production has many tradeoffs, arising primarily from alternative land uses and other means of production. This paper models the farmers’ decision as a constrained profit maximization problem, subject to the amount of land owned by the farmers, who have to allocate it between agriculture and solar power fields, while considering factors affecting production costs. The farmers’ problem is nested in the social welfare maximization problem, which includes additional factors such as ecological and aesthetical values of the competing land uses. Empirical analysis using data from a solar field operating in Israel shows that landowners will choose to have solar power production on their land unless agricultural production generates an unusually high net income. Adding the values of non-market services provided by agricultural land does not change this result. The consideration of the reduction in GHG emissions further increases the social welfare from solar fields.

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Impact of Financing Instruments and Strategies on the Wind Power Production Costs: A Case of Lithuania

Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical Sciences ◽

10.2478/lpts-2018-0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 11-27

Author(s):

V. Bobinaite ◽

I. Konstantinaviciute

Keyword(s):

Venture Capital ◽

Wind Power ◽

Electricity Market ◽

Power Production ◽

Production Costs ◽

Selling Price ◽

Support Measures ◽

Extended Approach ◽

Investment Subsidy ◽

Feed In Tariff

Abstract The paper aims at demonstrating the relevance of financing instruments, their terms and financing strategies in relation to the cost of wind power production and the ability of wind power plant (PP) to participate in the electricity market in Lithuania. The extended approach to the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) is applied. The feature of the extended approach lies in considering the lifetime cost and revenue received from the support measures. The research results have substantiated the relevance of financing instruments, their terms and strategies in relation to their impact on the LCOE and competitiveness of wind PP. It has been found that financing of wind PP through the traditional financing instruments (simple shares and bank loans) makes use of venture capital and bonds coming even in the absence of any support. It has been estimated that strategies consisting of different proportions of hard and soft loans, bonds, own and venture capital result in the average LCOE of 5.1–5.7 EURct/kWh (2000 kW), when the expected electricity selling price is 5.4 EURct/kWh. The financing strategies with higher shares of equity could impact by around 6 % higher LCOE compared to the strategies encompassing higher shares of debt. However, seeking to motivate venture capitalists, bond holders or other new financiers entering the wind power sector, support measures (feed-in tariff or investment subsidy) are relevant in case of 250 kW wind PP. It has been estimated that under the unsupported financing strategies, the average LCOE of 250 kW wind PP will be 7.8–8.8 EURct/kWh, but it will reduce by around 50 % if feed-in tariff or 50 % investment subsidy is applied.

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