The objective of this thesis is to perform a cost benefits analysis of the wind power sector in Germany, with the horizon of 2030. Various costs and benefits stemming from the expansion of wind power are inferred from literature review and studying the peculiarities of the German case. The magnitude of governmental support is calculated by applying the Weibull distribution of wind at different zones across Germany and power curves of 5 modern wind turbines, as specified by the law. A number of sensitivity analyses is performed on the main inputs for onshore installations. Under the baseline assumptions, the onshore sector is found as non-beneficial to the society, without a visible improving trend for the future. While the offshore sector does not reach a point where the benefits would start overweighing the cost until 2030, the overall trend look much more promising. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / Scott Alan Staggenborg / Ethanol from cellulose and biodiesel are both advanced biofuels according to the renewable fuel standard version two (RFS2) as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Agricultural production of feedstocks for these fuels can occur as co-products from the primary use of the crops. Use of cellulosic material produced from annual grain and sugar crops does not displace land use from grain and sugar production. Production of corn (Zea mays L.), grain sorghum, dual purpose forage sorghum, sweet sorghum, and photoperiod sensitive sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) are all primarily driven for products other than cellulosic ethanol. Corn production if driven by grain and silage markets with fodder occasionally used for forage. Grain sorghum production is driven by grain markets and grown primarily in semi arid regions. Dual purpose forage sorghum is used for forage both as baled hay and as silage. Sweet sorghum is produced for sugar and molasses production. Photoperiod sensitive sorghum is produced for baled hay. The current study tests the effect of seeding rate on cellulosic ethanol on each crop. Yellow grease is the most common source of oil for biodiesel production. Intensification of oil crop production may increase the feedstock availability for biodiesel. The current study uses double cropping of spring camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz), spring canola (Brassica napus L.), sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius Mohler, Roth, Schmidt and Bourdeux), soybean (Glycine max L.), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to search for cropping system options that will produce more oil on an annual basis than full season crops. The full season crop options used were maturity group IV soybean, maturity group V soybean, and full season sunflower. Fertility inputs are inherently less for the non legume crops due to the N fixation ability of symbiotic rhizobium. Canola and camelina are also more sensitive to sulfur deficiency than many crops. Long chain and polyunsaturated fatty acids have higher market values than biodiesel. Separation of these fatty acids from the lipid profile of oil seed crops provides additional demand for oil seed crops. Demand for the crops will drive commodity prices and move land use into oil crop production. The second year of oilseed production provided an opportunity to look at lipid profiles of successfully produced crops during a drought year. Three new discoveries were concluded. Grams cellulosic ethanol g[superscript]-1 stover is not affected by density within the densities considered. Among the double crop options tested only sesame after spring crops was viable in normal years and none were viable in an extreme drought year. Lipid profiles are provided for crops produced in concurrent field growing conditions.

The current chemical industry produces a diverse array of industrial chemicals from a handful of highly reduced byproducts (termed "platform chemicals") derived from oil refining. However, petroleum is a non-renewable resource, and increases in its cost have created pressure to convert the chemical industry into one that is renewable to ensure its long-term viability. To complete this objective, one approach is the conversion of biomass to platform chemicals through fermentation by Escherichia coli . One such platform chemical is methyl ketone, which can be readily converted to dienes that can directly replace existing platform chemicals such as ethylene. To bestow non-native methyl ketone production capability to E. coli from glucose, the polyketide biosynthesis pathway was exploited in conjunction with grafting in a heterologous methyl ketone synthesis pathway found in wild tomato species Solanum habrochaites to produce the methyl ketones. Cultivation under microaerobic conditions improved titers and yields, and further engineering to knock out the native competitive pathways that become activated under microaerobic conditions led to significantly improved strains. The final strain, ΔadheΔldhaΔptaΔpoxB [pTrcHis2A-shmks2-mks1], produced up to 450 mg/L of methyl ketones at 17 mg of methyl ketones produced per gram of glucose consumed under optimized operating conditions in minimal media supplemented with glucose.

The primary goal of this research concerns the synthesis of organic ligands in an effort to create metal-organic porous materials for the storage of gas molecules for alternative energy applications as well as other applications such as catalysis, molecular sensing, selective gas adsorption and separation. Initially, the focus of this work was on the synthesis of metal-organic polyhedra, yet the research has to date not progressed past the synthesis of ligands and the theoretical polyhedron that may form. Further efforts to obtain polyhedra from these ligands need to be explored. Concurrently, the search for a metal-organic framework that hopefully breaks the record for methane adsorption at low pressure and standard temperature was undertaken. A framework, PCN-80, was synthesized based off a newly synthesized extended bianthracene derivative, yet was unstable to the atmosphere. Hydrogen and methane adsorption capacities have been evaluated by molecular simulations; these adsorption isotherms indicated a gravimetric hydrogen uptake of 9.59 weight percent and a volumetric uptake of methane of 78.47 g/L. Following the synthesis of PCN-80, a comparison study involving the effect of the stepwise growth of the number of aromatic rings in the ligand of a MOF was pursued; the number of aromatic rings in the ligand was varied from one to eight while still maintaining a linear, ditopic moiety. The synthesis of another bianthracene-based ligand was used to complete the series of ligands and PCN-81, a two-dimensional framework with no noticeable porosity as evident by the simulated hydrogen uptake of 0.68 weight percent, was synthesized. All of these MOFs were synthesized from zinc salts to reduce the number of variables. No clear relationship was established in terms of the number of aromatic rings present in the ligand and the hydrogen adsorption capacity. However, it was confirmed that the density and hydrogen uptake in weight percent are inversely proportional. Further work needs to be done to determine what advantages are offered by these novel frameworks containing extended bianthracene derivatives. For example, with the highly fluorescent nature of the ligands from which they are composed, both PCN-80 and PCN-81 should be studied for the potential use in the application of fluorescent materials.

Over the past two decades, quite a few scientists agree that global warming is real, it¡¦s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. Recently, government, non-profit organizations and firms put great emphasis on environmental issues. They also encourage those firms to develop alternative energy technologies. For example, the American government wants to invest $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future. A lot of excellent companies put great emphasis on green supply chain. Some firms try to do some research and development on alternative energy technologies. In this way, these companies can enhance business efficiency and competitiveness, providing better productivity and process. Many manufacturing firms have tried to introduce alternative energy technology to improve its operation performance and to keep its competitive advantages. Nevertheless, introducing and evaluating alternative energy technology are quite demanding, difficulties being both conceptual and operational. At the same time, firms need to adjust the internal processes. In this way, adopting alternative energy technologies become a very challenging task. In this thesis, the criterion was sifted by using an Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop a general framework for evaluating and introducing alternative energy technology into a manufacturing firm is presented.

<p> Nitrogen deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional deficiency affecting plants worldwide. Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis involves the beneficial interaction of plants with soil fungi and plays a critical role in nutrient cycling, including the uptake of nitrogen from the environment. The main goal of this study is to understand how limiting nitrogen in the presence or absence of an ectomycorrhizal fungi, <i>Laccaria bicolor,</i> affects the health of aspen trees, <i>Populus tremuloides.</i> Under limited nitrogen conditions, aspen tree growth and development is reduced, and mycorrhizal symbiosis may significantly improve plant biomass, providing sufficient nitrogen is available. The results of biochemical analysis also indicate that the supply of carbon to fungus associated with aspen roots is reduced as a result of aspen utilizing more sugar resources for the production of sucrose and starch within shoot tissues. Identification of metabolic pathways in aspen tree roots revealed that carbohydrate and nitrate metabolism was impacted by changing environmental conditions, including interactions with the fungi.</p>

abstract: Organic reactions in natural hydrothermal settings have relevance toward the deep carbon cycle, petroleum formation, the ecology of deep microbial communities, and potentially the origin of life. Many reaction pathways involving organic compounds under geochemically relevant hydrothermal conditions have now been characterized, but their mechanisms, in particular those involving mineral surface catalysis, are largely unknown. The overall goal of this work is to describe these mechanisms so that predictive models of reactivity can be developed and so that applications of these reactions beyond geochemistry can be explored. The focus of this dissertation is the mechanisms of hydrothermal dehydration and catalytic hydrogenation reactions. Kinetic and structure/activity relationships show that elimination occurs mainly by the E1 mechanism for simple alcohols via homogeneous catalysis. Stereochemical probes show that hydrogenation on nickel occurs on the metal surface. By combining dehydration with and catalytic reduction, effective deoxygenation of organic structures with various functional groups such as alkenes, polyols, ketones, and carboxylic acids can be accomplished under hydrothermal conditions, using either nickel or copper-zinc alloy. These geomimetic reactions can potentially be used in biomass reduction to generate useful fuels and other high value chemicals. Through the use of earth-abundant metal catalysts, and water as the solvent, the reactions presented in this dissertation are a green alternative to current biomass deoxygenation/reduction methods, which often use exotic, rare-metal catalysts, and organic solvents. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Chemistry 2018

Orientador: Celso Luiz da Silva / Banca: Geraldo Luiz Palma / Banca: Antonio Moreira dos Santos / Resumo: A exploração abusiva da energia originada de fontes não renováveis traz danos irreversíveis ao ambiente. O Brasil é dependente dos derivados do petróleo e das hidroelétrica. Diante desse contexto é necessário um estudo sobre outras fontes alternativas. Conciliar a geração de energia com possibilidade também de mitigar o impacto da geração de lixo seria resolver dois problemas de uma só vez. O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a recuperação de energia do Resíduo Sólido Urbano (RSU) através do processo de incineração. Leva em consideração a tendência atual de segregação (separação) de plásticos, papel e papelão, vidro e metais, e sua influência nos fluxos de massa e energia no sistema de incineração de RSU. Para o seu desenvolvimento foram utilizadas informações relativas à geração do RSU da cidade de Bauru e o software Combust. Os resultados obtidos permitiram estimar o poder calorífero teórico do RSU típico e também deste resíduo quando se considera a separação de papel/papelão e plásticos para fins de reciclagem. / Abstract: The abusive exploration of the originated energy of no-renewable sources brings irreversible damages to the environment. In Brazil, it is dependent mainly of the derived or petroleum and of the hydroelectric ones. With base in that fact, the subject of the sources of energy is subject on the agenda globally. On the other hand, the wastes generation and the consequent environmental contamination, comes increased in an alarming way. Conciliate the generation of energy with possibility of mitigating the impact of the wastes generation it would be to solve two problems of only one time. The objective of the present work is to analyze the recovery of energy of the Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) through of the incineration process. It considers the actual tendency of segregation of plastics, paper and cardboard, glass and metals, and your influences in the mass and energy flows in the incineration system of MSW. For the development of thiw work were used relative information to the MSW generation of Bauru city and the Combust software. The obtained results allowed esteeming the Theoretical Calorific Power of MSW typical and also of this residue when it is considered the paper / cardboard and plastics separation for recycling. / Mestre

abstract: Just for a moment! Imagine you live in Arizona without air-conditioning systems! Air-conditioning and refrigeration systems are one of the most crucial systems in anyone’s house and car these days. Energy resources are becoming more scarce and expensive. Most of the currently used refrigerants have brought an international concern about global warming. The search for more efficient cooling/refrigeration systems with environmental friendly refrigerants has become more and more important so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure sustainable and affordable energy systems. The most widely used air-conditioning and refrigeration system, based on the vapor compression cycle, is driven by converting electricity into mechanical work which is a high quality type of energy. However, these systems can instead be possibly driven by heat, be made solid-state (i.e., thermoelectric cooling), consist entirely of a gaseous working fluid (i.e., reverse Brayton cycle), etc. This research explores several thermally driven cooling systems in order to understand and further overcome some of the major drawbacks associated with their performance as well as their high capital costs. In the second chapter, we investigate the opportunities for integrating single- and double-stage ammonia-water (NH3–H2O) absorption refrigeration systems with multi-effect distillation (MED) via cascade of rejected heat for large-scale plants. Similarly, in the third chapter, we explore a new polygeneration cooling-power cycle’s performance based on Rankine, reverse Brayton, ejector, and liquid desiccant cycles to produce power, cooling, and possibly fresh water for various configurations. Different configurations are considered from an energy perspective and are compared to stand-alone systems. In the last chapter, a new simple, inexpensive, scalable, environmentally friendly cooling system based on an adsorption heat pump system and evacuated tube solar collector is experimentally and theoretically studied. The system is destined as a small-scale system to harness solar radiation to provide a cooling effect directly in one system. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2018

abstract: Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are currently being explored as a cheaper alternative to the more common silicon (Si) solar cell technology. In addition to the cost advantages, DSSCs show good performance in low light conditions and are not sensitive to varying angles of incident light like traditional Si cells. One of the major challenges facing DSSCs is loss of the liquid electrolyte, through evaporation or leakage, which lowers stability and leads to increased degradation. Current research with solid-state and quasi-solid DSSCs has shown success regarding a reduction of electrolyte loss, but at a cost of lower conversion efficiency output. The research work presented in this paper focuses on the effects of using nanoclay material as a gelator in the electrolyte of the DSSC. The data showed that the quasi-solid cells are more stable than their liquid electrolyte counterparts, and achieved equal or better I-V characteristics. The quasi-solid cells were fabricated with a gel electrolyte that was prepared by adding 7 wt% of Nanoclay, Nanomer&reg; (1.31PS, montmorillonite clay surface modified with 15-35% octadecylamine and 0.5-5 wt% aminopropyltriethoxysilane, Aldrich) to the iodide/triiodide liquid electrolyte, (Iodolyte AN-50, Solaronix). Various gel concentrations were tested in order to find the optimal ratio of nanoclay to liquid. The gel electrolyte made with 7 wt% nanoclay was more viscous, but still thin enough to allow injection with a standard syringe. Batches of cells were fabricated with both liquid and gel electrolyte and were evaluated at STC conditions (25&deg;C, 100 mW/cm2) over time. The gel cells achieved efficiencies as high as 9.18% compared to 9.65% achieved by the liquid cells. After 10 days, the liquid cell decreased to 1.75%, less than 20% of its maximum efficiency. By contrast, the gel cell's efficiency increased for two weeks, and did not decrease to 20% of maximum efficiency until 45 days. After several measurements, the liquid cells showed visible signs of leakage through the sealant, whereas the gel cells did not. This resistance to leakage likely contributed to the improved performance of the quasi-solid cells over time, and is a significant advantage over liquid electrolyte DSSCs. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.Tech Engineering 2012