Browsing by Subject "renewable energy"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 33
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    Adopting Sustainable Innovations: A Case on Renewables' Integration into the Grid
    (2019-05) Allen, Barbara
    Disruptive changes are impacting the electric utility industry worldwide as an increasing amount of renewably generated electricity contributes to grid supply to combat negative environmental impacts of traditional electricity production. The U.S. utility companies are protected natural monopolies faced with an increasing power generation competition and decreasing revenue as a result. As the industry transitions over the coming decade, the ability to thrive will be dependent upon the incumbents’ ability to adapt while continuing to grow existing technological competencies. How to further promote renewable energies in the monopoly market and how can the U.S. electric utilities successfully adapt in such an environment are the main research questions this thesis attempts to answer. Based on literature review, five specific questions were developed and then investigated using the case study on a uniquely innovative leader in the utility industry--Green Mountain Power of Vermont. Results show that a natural monopoly can be effective in promoting sustainable innovations given the right environment. Among the many factors that influence the adoption of sustainable innovations in a natural monopoly market, regulation plays a critical role. Incumbents with a corporate culture which enables strategic change, and those able to incorporate sustainable innovations into their business model will be less likely to be disrupted by the changes occurring in the market. Monopoly incumbents recognizing and pursuing new market opportunities arising out of sustainable innovations, rather than viewing the change as disruptive, will be more likely to contribute to the successful diffusion of such innovation.
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    Chanhassen License Center Solar Water Heater Proposal
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2015) Sampson, Adam; Czopinski, Chris; Provo, Erik; Fruehwirth, John; Rajmohamed, Kazim
    This project was completed as part of a year-long partnership between Carver County and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (http://www.rcp.umn.edu). Carver County has been exploring opportunities for renewable energy and energy efficiency in county government buildings. The County Licensing Center in Chanhassen was a potential candidate for a renewable energy installation, specifically solar water heating. The goal of the project was to determine the feasibility and potential payback time for installing a solar water heater at the Chanhassen facility rather than natural gas water heating. In collaboration with the county project lead, Nick Koktavy, a team of students in BBE 5733: Renewable Energy Technologies, calculated the energy output needed to support building functions and developed payback timelines. The students concluded a solar water heater was not feasible for this location. A final report and PowerPoint slides from the project are available.
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    Cologne Public Works Facility Wind Power Proposal
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2015) Katalinich, Lauren; Jiang, Kevin; Kartohandojo, Jessica; Lian, Yu; Horbal, Karissa
    This project was completed as part of a year-long partnership between Carver County and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (http://www.rcp.umn.edu). Carver County has been exploring opportunities for renewable energy and energy efficiency in county government buildings. The Carver County Public Works building in Cologne was a potential candidate for a renewable energy installation, specifically a wind turbine. The goal of this project was to determine the feasibility and potential payback time for a wind turbine at the site. In collaboration with the county project lead, Nick Koktavy, a team of students in BBE 5733: Renewable Energy Technologies, calculated the energy output needed to support building functions, addressed environmental and economic implications of a turbine installation, and developed payback timelines, ultimately concluding that wind power was not feasible for this location. A final report and PowerPoint slides from the project are available.
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    Communities and Local Energy: A Workbook--The Future Is Now
    (2002) Pawlisch, Melissa; Nelson, Carl; Schoenrich, Lola
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    Community-Scale Energy Storage Guide: How Community Groups and Small Businesses Can Employ Energy Storage to Save Money and Contribute to Minnesota’s Clean Energy Transition
    Venning, Alex; Everett, Akisha; Kenney, Melissa A.; Institute on the Environment
    This guide is for people who have or are interested in investing in renewable energy batteries to power their homes, businesses, or community spaces. In it, we’ll walk you through how the US electricity grid operates, how renewable energy generated by homes and buildings works alongside it, and how investing in battery storage for renewable energy can optimize resources and help protect communities against power outages. We’ll also overview the different technologies available for storing renewable energy for future use and the partners, costs, and steps involved with installing an energy storage battery. Recent case studies from three sites in Minnesota, a state without fossil fuel reserves yet rich in renewable resources, illustrate how energy storage batteries help aid in the resilience of communities and the health of the planet by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
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    Corn Stover Utilization and Soil Health
    (2008) Mishra, Nishi
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    Energy Management Survey: Results and Technical Report.
    (Minnesota Center for Survey Research (MCSR), 2001) Minnesota Center for Survey Research
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    Growing Crops for Energy: A Bibliography of Bioenergy References 1970-80.
    (Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota, 1982) Winkler, Julie A.
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    Hydrokinetic turbine array performance and geomorphic effects under different siting strategies and sediment transport conditions: topography, flow velocity and array performance measurements
    (2019-06-27) Musa, Mirko; Hill, Craig; Guala, Michele; mguala@umn.edu; Guala, Michele; Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory, CEGE, University of Minnesota
    Hydrokinetic energy can be extracted efficiently from naturally occurring water flows. Although representing a continuous and ubiquitous source of kinetic energy, rivers in particular are delicate environments, sensitive to external disturbances. Asymmetric installation of in-stream hydrokinetic energy converters have proven to actively interact with sediment transport and bedforms characteristics, triggering non-local geomorphic effects that resemble river instabilities known as forced-bars. This data-set comprises a series of measurements of channel topography evolution, flow velocity around the turbines and array performance under different configurations.
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    Illuminating Common Ground: Success Factors for Tribal Solar Energy Development
    (2023) LaValle, Sarah
    Tribal energy development is a complex multi-faceted topic. The objective of this work is to identify common themes across tribal solar energy deployment projects, focusing specifically on lessons learned and recommendations. Identifying these commonalities and learning from the experiences of tribes that have embarked in energy development efforts can help to inform the development of future tribal solar energy projects. A thematic qualitative analysis approach was used to analyze project reports and presentations for 41 tribal solar deployment projects funded by the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, applying a framework of success factors developed from the literature. The results of the qualitative analysis are described in four discrete parts: comprehensive and inclusive planning, fostering partnerships and collaboration, building capacity, and exercising and advancing tribal sovereignty. Each of the overarching themes inform recommendations for tribes to promote the success of solar projects.
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    Incorporating Renewable Energy Technology into the Minnesota Weatherization Assistance Program: Reducing Energy Burden Among Low-Income Households
    (2024-05-01) Carrera, Alexa
    Solar photovoltaic (PV) installations within the Minnesota Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) are not a new effort. In fact, this effort first began as a pilot program in 2020 and has been growing ever since. In the midst of the global energy transition, the Minnesota WAP stands as a pioneering force by aiming to make renewable energy technologies accessible to low-income households across the state. Over the past three years, the initiative has demonstrated a remarkable impact, yielding greater energy savings compared to traditional weatherization measures. Not only does this state-wide effort have the potential to alleviate energy burden among low-income households, but it also allows for increasing renewable energy accessibility for communities that have been traditionally underserved. As the momentum behind this innovative weatherization measure continues to build, there arises a need for a comprehensive understanding of the current challenges and opportunities for continued implementation of solar PV into Minnesota WAP. Through a series of twenty-one stakeholder interviews ranging from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, local WAP service providers, non-profits, state agencies, local government, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the private sector, this paper aims to examine the current landscape of renewable energy technology within WAP by understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with the effort and provide recommendations to relevant stakeholders on how to make this effort more efficient and seamless. Furthermore, this paper can help other WAP Grantees who are considering incorporating solar PV as a new weatherization measure.
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    Multi-resolution Modeling and Simulation of Marine Hydrokinetic Turbine Arrays at Site Scale
    (2017-04) Chawdhary, Saurabh
    Marine and hydro-kinetic (MHK) energy hold promise to become significant contributor towards sustainable energy generation. Despite the promise, commercialization of MHK energy technologies is still in the development stage. While many simplified models for MHK site resource-assessment exist, more research is needed to enable efficient energy extraction from identified MHK sites. A marine energy company named Verdant Power Inc. was granted first federal license to install up to 30 axial hydrokinetic turbines in the East River in New York City under what came to be known as Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) project. Therefore, in this study we investigate issues of relevance to post-site-identification stage for a real-life tidal energy project, the RITE project, using high-fidelity numerical simulations. An effective way to develop arrays of hydrokinetic turbines in river and tidal channels is to arrange them in TriFrame configurations where three turbines are mounted together at the apexes of a triangular frame. The TriFrames serve as the building block for rapidly deploying multi-turbine arrays. The wake structure of a TriFrame of three model turbines is investigated. We employ large-eddy simulation (LES) with the curvilinear immersed boundary method (CURVIB) for fully resolving the turbine geometry details to simulate turbine-turbine wake interactions in the TriFrame configuration. First, the computed results are compared with experiments in terms of mean flow and turbulence characteristics with overall good agreement with bed-flume experiments. The flow-fields are then analyzed to elucidate the mechanisms of turbine interactions and wake evolution in the TriFrame configuration. We found that the wake of the upstream TriFrame turbine exhibits unique characteristics indicating presence of the Venturi effect as the wake encounters the two downstream turbines. We finally compare the wakes of the TriFrame turbines with that of an isolated single turbine wake to further illustrate how the TriFrame configuration affects the wake characteristics and power production in an array of TriFrames. Lastly, we propose a large eddy simulation (LES)-based framework to investigate the site-specific flow dynamics past MHK arrays in a real-life marine environment. To this end, the new generation unstructured Cartesian flow solver, coupled with a sharp interface immersed boundary method for 3D incompressible flows, is used. Optimized data-structures and efficient algorithms were developed to enable faster simulation on high-resolution grids. Multi-resolution simulations on locally refined grids are then employed to model the flow in a section of the East River with detailed river bathymetry and inset turbines at field scale. The results are analyzed in terms of the wake recovery and overall wake dynamics in the array. Comparison with the baseline flow in the East River reveal the effects of tidal array installation.
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