The lead battery has the potential to become one of the first examples of a hazardous product man... more The lead battery has the potential to become one of the first examples of a hazardous product managed in an environmentally acceptable fashion. The tools of industrial ecology are helpful in identifying the key criteria that an ideal lead-battery recycling system must meet: maximal recovery of batteries after use, minimal export of used batteries to countries where environmental controls are weak, minimal impact on the health of communities near lead-processing facilities, and maximal worker protection from lead exposure in these facilities. A well-known risk analysis of electric vehicles is misguided, because it treats lead batteries and lead additives in gasoline on the same footing and implies that the lead battery should be abandoned. The use of lead additives in gasoline is a dissipative use where emissions cannot be confined; the goal of management should be and has been to phase out this use. The use of lead in batteries is a recyclable use, because the lead remains confined during cycles of discharge and recharge. Here, the goal should be clean recycling. The likelihood that the lead battery will provide peaking power for several kinds of hybrid vehicles-a role only recently identifiedincreases the importance of understanding the levels of performance achieved and achievable in battery recycling. A management system closely approaching clean recycling should be achievable.
Authors are encouraged to submit new papers to INFORMS journals by means of a style file template... more Authors are encouraged to submit new papers to INFORMS journals by means of a style file template, which includes the journal title. However, use of a template does not certify that the paper has been accepted for publication in the named journal. INFORMS journal templates are for the exclusive purpose of submitting to an INFORMS journal and should not be used to distribute the papers in print or online or to submit the papers to another publication.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The South African sugar industry has a potential for cogeneration of steam and electricity using ... more The South African sugar industry has a potential for cogeneration of steam and electricity using bagasse. The sugar industry has the potential to generate about 960 MW per year from bagasse based on the average of 20 million tons of sugar cane crushed per year. Renewable energy sources like bagasse are generally regarded as cleaner energy sources as opposed to coal-derived energy. However, the environmental benefits of power production from bagasse must be verified using a systematic scientific methodology. This study develops the life cycle inventories for bagasse power production in South Africa. The life cycle inventory can help to evaluate the environmental impacts of the cogeneration throughout the life cycle. The data for this inventory stage of the research was supplied by the sugar industry, and the analysis mostly uses South African data in the inventory stage. The study presents life cycle inventories based on a functional unit of 1 GWh of bagassederived electricity produced in the South African sugar industry. A comparison of the current generating output with a proposed higher output shows that more energy can be produced in addition to reduced inventory levels and this has the potential to improve environmental performance of bagasse power generation in South Africa.
The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characteriz... more The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characterized in terms of opportunities for energy efficiency and support of electricity access in mining-intensive developing countries. Through a case study of the Central African Copperbelt countries of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, energy efficiency opportunities in copper operations and environmental impact of metal extraction are evaluated qualitatively, characterized, and quantified using principles of industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, and engineering economics. In these countries the mining sector is the greatest consumer of electricity, accounting for about 53.6% in the region. Energy efficiency improvements in the refinery processes is shown to have a factor of two improvement potential. Further, four strategies are identified by which the mining and technology industries can enhance sustainable electricity generation capacity: energy efficiency; use of solar and other renewable resources; share expertise from the mining and technology industries within the region; and take advantage of the abundant cobalt and other raw materials to initiate value-added manufacturing.
We develop a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on reducing carbon per... more We develop a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on reducing carbon permit price volatility under a cap-and-trade system. The existence of an option market provides a mechanism to hedge the uncertainty of future spot prices and is a stimulus for investment in carbon emission abatement technologies. We show that both the spot price level and the price volatility of carbon permits can be reduced via the trading of financial options, while achieving the emission reduction target. We also show that introducing financial options in a banking environment offers more flexibility to risk management in carbon permit trading.
The Xpress Code is for use in Xpress. The data input file is for the case study described in the ... more The Xpress Code is for use in Xpress. The data input file is for the case study described in the paper. The data output file is the output of the Xpress Code run with the data input file.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The uptake of voluntary time-of-use tariffs remains sluggish among residential consumers despite ... more The uptake of voluntary time-of-use tariffs remains sluggish among residential consumers despite its benefits to society as well as private utilities. In this paper, we investigate how heterogeneity in consumer use-preferences complicates the problem of designing a voluntary time-of-use scheme, resulting in a socially sub-optimal level of deployment.
Calculations of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts from biofuel pr... more Calculations of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts from biofuel production often allocate impacts between biofuel and its co-products by calculating that co-products substitute for other products. We illustrate the issues of co-product allocation with a case study of corn-derived ethanol, and show that the choice of allocation procedure and parameters can significantly influence the results. This is an open issue in environmental lifecycle assessment methodology; there are research opportunities to determine co-product allocation values by using data that relate co-product utilization to land use or market changes.
Quantitative methods for environmental and cost analyses of energy, industrial, and infrastructur... more Quantitative methods for environmental and cost analyses of energy, industrial, and infrastructure systems are briefly introduced and surveyed, with the aim of encouraging broader utilization and development of quantitative methods in sustainable energy research. Material and energy flow analyses can provide an overall system overview. The methods of engineering economics and cost benefit analysis, such as net present values, are the most straightforward approach for evaluating investment options, with the levelized cost of energy being a widely used metric in electricity analyses. Environmental lifecycle assessment has been extensively developed, with both detailed process-based and comprehensive input-output approaches available. Optimization methods provide an opportunity to go beyond engineering economics to develop detailed least-cost or least-impact combinations of many different choices.
ABSTRACT The article aims to evaluate total cost and benefit of landfill gas-to-energy projects. ... more ABSTRACT The article aims to evaluate total cost and benefit of landfill gas-to-energy projects. The evaluation takes into consideration not only the costs of installing and maintaining the necessary equipment and the revenues from selling the electricity or heat, but also potential revenue from carbon trading of the greenhouse gas emissions that are prevented by these projects and benefit from groundwater remediation.
ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial option... more ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on mitigating carbon permit price volatility under a cap and trade system. We show that both the spot price level and the price volatility of carbon permits can be reduced via financial options, while ensuring market efficiency and achieving the emission target. The existence of an option market also provides a way to hedge the uncertainty of future spot prices and is a stimulus for investment in carbon emission abatement technologies. A comparison of the policy implications of this mechanism, a safety valve and banking/borrowing is also described.
The lead battery has the potential to become one of the first examples of a hazardous product man... more The lead battery has the potential to become one of the first examples of a hazardous product managed in an environmentally acceptable fashion. The tools of industrial ecology are helpful in identifying the key criteria that an ideal lead-battery recycling system must meet: maximal recovery of batteries after use, minimal export of used batteries to countries where environmental controls are weak, minimal impact on the health of communities near lead-processing facilities, and maximal worker protection from lead exposure in these facilities. A well-known risk analysis of electric vehicles is misguided, because it treats lead batteries and lead additives in gasoline on the same footing and implies that the lead battery should be abandoned. The use of lead additives in gasoline is a dissipative use where emissions cannot be confined; the goal of management should be and has been to phase out this use. The use of lead in batteries is a recyclable use, because the lead remains confined during cycles of discharge and recharge. Here, the goal should be clean recycling. The likelihood that the lead battery will provide peaking power for several kinds of hybrid vehicles-a role only recently identifiedincreases the importance of understanding the levels of performance achieved and achievable in battery recycling. A management system closely approaching clean recycling should be achievable.
Authors are encouraged to submit new papers to INFORMS journals by means of a style file template... more Authors are encouraged to submit new papers to INFORMS journals by means of a style file template, which includes the journal title. However, use of a template does not certify that the paper has been accepted for publication in the named journal. INFORMS journal templates are for the exclusive purpose of submitting to an INFORMS journal and should not be used to distribute the papers in print or online or to submit the papers to another publication.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The South African sugar industry has a potential for cogeneration of steam and electricity using ... more The South African sugar industry has a potential for cogeneration of steam and electricity using bagasse. The sugar industry has the potential to generate about 960 MW per year from bagasse based on the average of 20 million tons of sugar cane crushed per year. Renewable energy sources like bagasse are generally regarded as cleaner energy sources as opposed to coal-derived energy. However, the environmental benefits of power production from bagasse must be verified using a systematic scientific methodology. This study develops the life cycle inventories for bagasse power production in South Africa. The life cycle inventory can help to evaluate the environmental impacts of the cogeneration throughout the life cycle. The data for this inventory stage of the research was supplied by the sugar industry, and the analysis mostly uses South African data in the inventory stage. The study presents life cycle inventories based on a functional unit of 1 GWh of bagassederived electricity produced in the South African sugar industry. A comparison of the current generating output with a proposed higher output shows that more energy can be produced in addition to reduced inventory levels and this has the potential to improve environmental performance of bagasse power generation in South Africa.
The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characteriz... more The potential for mining companies to contribute to sustainable energy development is characterized in terms of opportunities for energy efficiency and support of electricity access in mining-intensive developing countries. Through a case study of the Central African Copperbelt countries of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, energy efficiency opportunities in copper operations and environmental impact of metal extraction are evaluated qualitatively, characterized, and quantified using principles of industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, and engineering economics. In these countries the mining sector is the greatest consumer of electricity, accounting for about 53.6% in the region. Energy efficiency improvements in the refinery processes is shown to have a factor of two improvement potential. Further, four strategies are identified by which the mining and technology industries can enhance sustainable electricity generation capacity: energy efficiency; use of solar and other renewable resources; share expertise from the mining and technology industries within the region; and take advantage of the abundant cobalt and other raw materials to initiate value-added manufacturing.
We develop a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on reducing carbon per... more We develop a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on reducing carbon permit price volatility under a cap-and-trade system. The existence of an option market provides a mechanism to hedge the uncertainty of future spot prices and is a stimulus for investment in carbon emission abatement technologies. We show that both the spot price level and the price volatility of carbon permits can be reduced via the trading of financial options, while achieving the emission reduction target. We also show that introducing financial options in a banking environment offers more flexibility to risk management in carbon permit trading.
The Xpress Code is for use in Xpress. The data input file is for the case study described in the ... more The Xpress Code is for use in Xpress. The data input file is for the case study described in the paper. The data output file is the output of the Xpress Code run with the data input file.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The uptake of voluntary time-of-use tariffs remains sluggish among residential consumers despite ... more The uptake of voluntary time-of-use tariffs remains sluggish among residential consumers despite its benefits to society as well as private utilities. In this paper, we investigate how heterogeneity in consumer use-preferences complicates the problem of designing a voluntary time-of-use scheme, resulting in a socially sub-optimal level of deployment.
Calculations of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts from biofuel pr... more Calculations of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts from biofuel production often allocate impacts between biofuel and its co-products by calculating that co-products substitute for other products. We illustrate the issues of co-product allocation with a case study of corn-derived ethanol, and show that the choice of allocation procedure and parameters can significantly influence the results. This is an open issue in environmental lifecycle assessment methodology; there are research opportunities to determine co-product allocation values by using data that relate co-product utilization to land use or market changes.
Quantitative methods for environmental and cost analyses of energy, industrial, and infrastructur... more Quantitative methods for environmental and cost analyses of energy, industrial, and infrastructure systems are briefly introduced and surveyed, with the aim of encouraging broader utilization and development of quantitative methods in sustainable energy research. Material and energy flow analyses can provide an overall system overview. The methods of engineering economics and cost benefit analysis, such as net present values, are the most straightforward approach for evaluating investment options, with the levelized cost of energy being a widely used metric in electricity analyses. Environmental lifecycle assessment has been extensively developed, with both detailed process-based and comprehensive input-output approaches available. Optimization methods provide an opportunity to go beyond engineering economics to develop detailed least-cost or least-impact combinations of many different choices.
ABSTRACT The article aims to evaluate total cost and benefit of landfill gas-to-energy projects. ... more ABSTRACT The article aims to evaluate total cost and benefit of landfill gas-to-energy projects. The evaluation takes into consideration not only the costs of installing and maintaining the necessary equipment and the revenues from selling the electricity or heat, but also potential revenue from carbon trading of the greenhouse gas emissions that are prevented by these projects and benefit from groundwater remediation.
ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial option... more ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a stylized model to investigate the impact of financial options on mitigating carbon permit price volatility under a cap and trade system. We show that both the spot price level and the price volatility of carbon permits can be reduced via financial options, while ensuring market efficiency and achieving the emission target. The existence of an option market also provides a way to hedge the uncertainty of future spot prices and is a stimulus for investment in carbon emission abatement technologies. A comparison of the policy implications of this mechanism, a safety valve and banking/borrowing is also described.
Green information technology systems (Green ITS) are proposed as a strategy to reduce greenhouse ... more Green information technology systems (Green ITS) are proposed as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and other environmental impacts while supporting ecological sustainable development. The Green ITS concept combines both Green information technology (IT) and Green information system (IS) applications. The Green ITS concept has the potential to combat the carbon emission problem globally, beyond simply Green IT, because it combines management, organizational, and technology dimensions of climate change mitigation and adaptation, especially if supported by global policy. Examples include life cycle assessment software for measuring GHG emissions, and software for monitoring GHG emissions. Previous studies on environmental burdens such as GHGs, water and air pollution, energy losses and other forms of waste alongside socioeconomic dependent variables including renewable resources and climate change policies are reviewed and synthesized. The research analysis conjointly points to the usage of renewable resources such as solar and wind as a critical strategy to scale back GHG emissions and enhance green growth. Empirical evidence shows that developed countries can reduce their carbon emissions while developing countries can utilize carbon emission-free technologies as they aspire to achieve development. The two significant benefits of the Green ITS strategy are first, to provide the environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse emissions and other environmental impacts and second, to enhance global green growth, which supports achievement of ecological sustainable development. Green ITS tools support achievement of the UN SDG 7, 13 and 15, which emphasize clean energy, climate action and ecological sustainable development, respectively. Future research directions include the formulation of a strategy to combat GHGs and design of a system to monitor carbon emissions and other waste remotely.
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