Telling Your Climate Story with Carbon Math

A presentation about innovating clean energy and clean energy communities.
Date: December 18, 2013
Creator: New Energy Cities
System: The UNT Digital Library

Climate Communication and Behavior Change

A presentation about global warming and informing others about climate change.
Date: December 11, 2013
Creator: Pike, Cara
System: The UNT Digital Library

Funding Strategies for Adaptation: Examples from the Water Sector

A presentation about adaptation in a water context. It discusses funding and fees.
Date: May 1, 2013
Creator: Broaddus, Lynn
System: The UNT Digital Library

Thriving Through Tough Times

None
Date: October 30, 2013
Creator: Huber, A M & Moyle, A R
System: The UNT Digital Library

A Comparison of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Cycle Configurations with an Emphasis on CSP Applications

Recent research suggests that an emerging power cycle technology using supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO2) operated in a closed-loop Brayton cycle offers the potential of equivalent or higher cycle efficiency versus supercritical or superheated steam cycles at temperatures relevant for CSP applications. Preliminary design-point modeling suggests that s-CO2 cycle configurations can be devised that have similar overall efficiency but different temperature and/or pressure characteristics. This paper employs a more detailed heat exchanger model than previous work to compare the recompression and partial cooling cycles, two cycles with high design-point efficiencies, and illustrates the potential advantages of the latter. Integration of the cycles into CSP systems is studied, with a focus on sensible heat thermal storage and direct s-CO2 receivers. Results show the partial cooling cycle may offer a larger temperature difference across the primary heat exchanger, thereby potentially reducing heat exchanger cost and improving CSP receiver efficiency.
Date: September 1, 2013
Creator: Neises, T. & Turchi, C.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Examination of a Standardized Test for Evaluating the Degree of Cure of EVA Encapsulation

The curing of cross-linkable encapsulation is a critical consideration for photovoltaic (PV) modules manufactured using a lamination process. Concerns related to ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA) include the quality (e.g., expiration and uniformity) of the films or completion (duration) of the cross-linking of the EVA within a laminator. Because these issues are important to both EVA and module manufacturers, an international standard has recently been proposed by the Encapsulation Task-Group within the Working Group 2 (WG2) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 82 (TC82) for the quantification of the degree of cure for EVA encapsulation. The present draft of the standard calls for the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as the rapid, enabling secondary (test) method. Both the residual enthalpy- and melt/freeze-DSC methods are identified. The DSC methods are calibrated against the gel content test, the primary (reference) method. Aspects of other established methods, including indentation and rotor cure metering, were considered by the group. Key details of the test procedure will be described.
Date: November 1, 2013
Creator: Miller, D.; Wohlgemuth, J.; Gu, X.; Haldeman, S.; Hidalgo, M.; Malguth, E. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Clean Energy Finance: Challenges and Opportunities of Early-Stage Energy Investing

Characterized by a changing landscape and new opportunities, today's increasingly complex energy decision space will need innovative financing and investment models to appropriately assess risk and profitability. This report provides an overview of the current state of clean energy finance across the entire spectrum but with a focus on early stage investing, and it includes insights from investors across all investment classes. Further, this report aims to provide a roadmap with the mechanisms, limitations, and considerations involved in making successful investments by identifying risks, challenges, and opportunities in the clean energy sector.
Date: December 1, 2013
Creator: Heap, D.; Pless, J. & Aieta, N.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Role of Design Standards in Wind Plant Optimization

When a turbine is optimized, it is done within the design constraints established by the objective criteria in the international design standards used to certify a design. Since these criteria are multifaceted, it is a challenging task to conduct the optimization, but it can be done. The optimization is facilitated by the fact that a standard turbine model is subjected to standard inflow conditions that are well characterized in the standard. Examples of applying these conditions to rotor optimization are examined. In other cases, an innovation may provide substantial improvement in one area, but be challenged to impact all of the myriad design load cases. When a turbine is placed in a wind plant, the challenge is magnified. Typical design practice optimizes the turbine for stand-alone operation, and then runs a check on the actual site conditions, including wakes from all nearby turbines. Thus, each turbine in a plant has unique inflow conditions. The possibility of creating objective and consistent inflow conditions for turbines within a plant, for used in optimization of the turbine and the plant, are examined with examples taken from LES simulation.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Veers, P.; Churchfield, M.; Lee, S.; Moon, J. & Larsen, G.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Tracking Systems: Costs & Verification Issues

This document provides information on REC tracking systems: how they are used in the voluntary REC market, a comparison of REC systems fees and information regarding how they treat environmental attributes.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Heeter, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library

U.S. Department of Energy-Funded Performance Validation of Fuel Cell Material Handling Equipment

This webinar presentation to the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association summarizes how the U.S. Department of Energy is enabling early fuel cell markets; describes objectives of the National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center; and presents performance status of fuel cell material handling equipment.
Date: November 1, 2013
Creator: Kurtz, J.; Sprik, S.; Ramsden, T.; Saur, G.; Ainscough, C.; Post, M. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Accelerating Computation of the Unit Commitment Problem

Production cost models (PCMs) simulate power system operation at hourly (or higher) resolution. While computation times often extend into multiple days, the sequential nature of PCM's makes parallelism difficult. We exploit the persistence of unit commitment decisions to select partition boundaries for simulation horizon decomposition and parallel computation. Partitioned simulations are benchmarked against sequential solutions for optimality and computation time.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Hummon, M.; Barrows, C. & Jones, W.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Technology Validation of Fuel Cell Vehicles and Their Hydrogen Infrastructure

This presentation summarizes NREL's analysis and validation of fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen fueling infrastructure technologies.
Date: October 22, 2013
Creator: Sprik, S.; Kurtz, J.; Wipke, K.; Saur, G. & Ainscough, C.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Evaluation of Stationary Fuel Cell Deployments, Costs, and Fuels

This presentation summarizes NREL's technology validation of stationary fuel cell systems and presents data on number of deployments, system costs, and fuel types.
Date: October 2013
Creator: Ainscough, C.; Kurtz, J.; Peters, M. & Saur, G.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Impact of Policy on Fuels RD&D

This presentation provides an overview of fuel economy and emissions policy and its relationship with fuel research, development, and deployment (RD&D). Solutions explored include biofuels and increased engine efficiency.
Date: December 1, 2013
Creator: Gearhart, C.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Generalized parton distributions and exclusive processes

 In last fifteen years, GPDs have emerged as a powerful tool to reveal such aspects of the QCD structure of the nucleon as: - 3D parton correlations and distributions; - spin content of the nucleon.  Further advances in the field of GPDs and hard exclusive processes rely on: - developments in theory and new methods in phenomenology such as new flexible parameterizations, neural networks, global QCD fits - new high-precision data covering unexplored kinematics: JLab at 6 and 12 GeV, Hermes with recoil detector, Compass, EIC. This slide-show presents:  Nucleon structure in QCD, particularly hard processes, factorization and parton distributions; and a brief overview of GPD phenomenology, including basic properties of GPDs, GPDs and QCD structure of the nucleon, and constraining GPDs from experiments.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Guzey, Vadim
System: The UNT Digital Library

Metrics for Evaluating the Accuracy of Solar Power Forecasting

This presentation proposes a suite of metrics for evaluating the performance of solar power forecasting.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Zhang, J.; Hodge, B.; Florita, A.; Lu, S.; Hamann, H. & Banunarayanan, V.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Defining a Technical Basis for Confidence in PV Investments - A Pathway to Service Life Prediction

Four levels of accelerated test standards for PV modules are described in the context of how the community can most quickly begin using these.
Date: September 1, 2013
Creator: Kurtz, S.; Wohlgemuth, J.; Kempe, M.; Bosco, N.; Hacke, P.; Jordan, D. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Constraining GPDs at Jefferson Lab

This slide-show presents work on DeeplyVirtual Compton Scattering(DVCS), DeeplyVirtual MesonProduction (DVMP), and the GPD program atJLab12 GeV.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Jo, Hyon-Suk
System: The UNT Digital Library

Computational Tools for Accelerating Carbon Capture Process Development

This presentation reports development of advanced computational tools to accelerate next generation technology development. These tools are to develop an optimized process using rigorous models. They include: Process Models; Simulation-Based Optimization; Optimized Process; Uncertainty Quantification; Algebraic Surrogate Models; and Superstructure Optimization (Determine Configuration).
Date: June 4, 2013
Creator: Miller, David; Sahinidis, N.V,; Cozad, A; Lee, A; Kim, H; Morinelly, J. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Analysis of Approaches for a Design of APS-U Fast Injection System

None
Date: October 28, 2013
Creator: Krasnykh, Anatoly
System: The UNT Digital Library

Modeling and Optimization of Commercial Buildings and Stationary Fuel Cell Systems

This presentation describes the Distributed Generation Building Energy Assessment Tool (DG-BEAT) developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of California Irvine. DG-BEAT is designed to allow stakeholders to assess the economics of installing stationary fuel cell systems in a variety of building types in the United States.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Ainscough, C.; McLarty, D.; Sullivan, R. & Brouwer, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Coordinating Permit Offices and the Development of Utility-Scale Geothermal Energy

Permitting is a major component of the geothermal development process. Better coordination across government agencies could reduce uncertainty of the process and the actual time of permitting. This presentation highlights various forms of coordinating permit offices at the state and federal level in the western United States, discusses inefficiencies and mitigation techniques for permitting natural resource projects, analyzes whether various approaches are easily adaptable to utility-scale geothermal development, and addresses advantages and challenges for coordinating permit offices. Key successful strategies identified include: 1. Flexibility in implementing the approach (i.e. less statutory requirements for the approach); 2. Less dependence on a final environmental review for information sharing and permit coordination; 3. State and federal partnerships developed through memorandum of understanding to define roles and share data and/or developer information. A few of the most helpful techniques include: 1. A central point of contact for the developer to ask questions surrounding the project; 2. Pre-application meetings to assist the developer in identifying all of the permits, regulatory approvals, and associated information or data required; 3. A permit schedule or timeline to set expectations for the developer and agencies; 4. Consolidating the public notice, comment, and hearing period into fewer hearings held concurrently.
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Levine, A.; Young, K. & Witherbee, K.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Analyzing the Effects of Climate and Thermal Configuration on Community Energy Storage Systems

Community energy storage (CES) has been proposed to mitigate the high variation in output from renewable sources and reduce peak load on the electrical grid. Thousands of these systems may be distributed around the grid to provide benefits to local distribution circuits and to the grid as a whole when aggregated. CES must be low cost to purchase and install and also largely maintenance free through more than 10 years of service life to be acceptable to most utilities.Achieving the required system life time is a major uncertainty for lithium-ion batteries. The lifetime and immediate system performance of batteries can change drastically with battery temperature, which is a strong function of system packaging, local climate, electrical duty cycle, and other factors. In other Li-ion applications, this problem is solved via air or liquid heating and cooling systems that may need occasional maintenance throughout their service life. CES requires a maintenance-free thermal management system providing protection from environmental conditions while rejecting heat from a moderate electrical duty cycle. Thus, the development of an effective, low-cost, zero-maintenance thermal management system poses a challenge critical to the success of CES. NREL and Southern California Edison have collaborated to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of …
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Neubauer, J.; Pesaran, A.; Coleman, D. & Chen, D.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Downscaling Solar Power Output to 4-Seconds for Use in Integration Studies

High penetration renewable integration studies require solar power data with high spatial and temporal accuracy to quantify the impact of high frequency solar power ramps on the operation of the system. Our previous work concentrated on downscaling solar power from one hour to one minute by simulation. This method used clearness classifications to categorize temporal and spatial variability, and iterative methods to simulate intra-hour clearness variability. We determined that solar power ramp correlations between sites decrease with distance and the duration of the ramp, starting at around 0.6 for 30-minute ramps between sites that are less than 20 km apart. The sub-hour irradiance algorithm we developed has a noise floor that causes the correlations to approach ~0.005. Below one minute, the majority of the correlations of solar power ramps between sites less than 20 km apart are zero, and thus a new method to simulate intra-minute variability is needed. These intra-minute solar power ramps can be simulated using several methods, three of which we evaluate: a cubic spline fit to the one-minute solar power data; projection of the power spectral density toward the higher frequency domain; and average high frequency power spectral density from measured data. Each of these methods …
Date: October 1, 2013
Creator: Hummon, M.; Weekley, A.; Searight, K. & Clark, K.
System: The UNT Digital Library