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Human development owes a great debt to cheap plentiful energy. Historically, abundant and energy dense materials such as coal, oil and more recently natural gas, have played an important role in powering our economies. To this day, any study analysing the short-term costs and benefits of energy system expansion, will continue to favour fossil fuels. At the same time, there is increasing concern about the levels of human made greenhouse gasses such as CO2 (the major by product of burning fossil fuels) and their forecasted effects on the global climate. This thesis investigates the consequences of using political intervention to internalize the cost of future negative effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. More specifically, this thesis investigates the effects of regulatory and market based instruments for curbing CO2 emissions from electric power systems in terms of both cost and efficacy. A model is developed to approximate the yearly changes in generation capacity and electricity supply mixture of a power system subject to the constraints of carbon abatement policies. The model proposes a novel approach for incorporating investment in non-dispatchable, intermittent wind generation capacity as a decision variable in the planning process. The model also investigates the effects of the stochastic nature of input parameters through the use of Monte Carlo simulation. To explore many features of this model, the Ontario power system is chosen for a case study because of its diverse portfolio of both generation technologies and political objectives. Five policies are simulated and compared with a ‘business-as-usual’ base case in which no carbon abatement policy is imposed. No single policy can meet all of the political objectives being investigated; however, some policies are clear winners in terms of specific objectives. Due to the broad scope of this work, the study finds many conclusions, such as: - Aggressive policies do not always promote heavy investment in intermittent wind generation sources. - On a $/tCO2 avoided basis, aggressive policies are expensive. Modest policies (very small penalties for CO2 emissions) are very sensitive to the uncertainties in future fuel prices and load profiles. - Investment in nuclear capacity is very responsive to the severity of CO2 penalty. The study also concludes that the most aggressive policies produce the greatest overall reductions in CO2 emissions. / Graduate

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Thesis (MScEng (Energy and Development Studies)) -- University of Cape Town, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Growing concerns regarding climate change, energy security, long-term carbon price exposure, fuel-price risk and fossil fuel depletion have continued to drive growth in wind energy globally over the past decade. In spite of South Africa’s renewable energy target and feed-in tariff for renewable energy, the current deployment of wind energy in South Africa is extremely low. Consequently, as the country embarks upon promoting the development of renewable energy, it is important to consider the challenges facing the wind energy industry in South Africa. / Sponsored by the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies

Organic petrology and RockEval-TOC pyrolysis studies were carried out on over 600 samples of shales, siltstones, marls and coals from forty three sections in the Upper Devonian and Carboniferous strata of the northern part of the Liard Basin and adjacent areas of northern Canada between latitudes 59° 30' N and 60° 30' N and longitudes 121° 30' W and 125° W, to determine the hydrocarbon source potential, thermal maturity and thermal history. The focus of the study is on the optical characteristics and genesis of bitumens and their viability as indicators of thermal maturity. Total organic carbon (TOC) contents indicate that potential oil and gas source rocks occur in the Muskwa, Kotcho, Besa River, Exshaw, Lower Banff, Yohin, Clausen, Golata and Mattson formations; the latter includes thin algal laminites and sapropelic coals. Hydrogen versus oxygen indices indicate that the organic matter comprises Type II kerogen, except for the Golata and Mattson formations which contain mixed Type II and Type III kerogen. Petrographic analysis indicates that the organic components consist of primary and secondary liptinites of marine origin and indigenous microscopic bitumens. In addition, shales in the Golata and Mattson contain structured liptinite macerals, predominantly sporinite derived from Carboniferous mega- and microspores. ... Organic petrology and RockEval-TOC pyrolysis studies were carried out on over 600 samples of shales, siltstones, marls and coals from forty three sections in the Upper Devonian and Carboniferous strata of the northern part of the Liard Basin and adjacent areas of northern Canada between latitudes 59° 30' N and 60° 30' N and longitudes 121° 30' W and 125° W, to determine the hydrocarbon source potential, thermal maturity and thermal history. The focus of the study is on the optical characteristics and genesis of bitumens and their viability as indicators of thermal maturity. Total organic carbon (TOC) contents indicate that potential oil and gas source rocks occur in the Muskwa, Kotcho, Besa River, Exshaw, Lower Banff, Yohin, Clausen, Golata and Mattson formations; the latter includes thin algal laminites and sapropelic coals. Hydrogen versus oxygen indices indicate that the organic matter comprises Type II kerogen, except for the Golata and Mattson formations which contain mixed Type II and Type III kerogen. Petrographic analysis indicates that the organic components consist of primary and secondary liptinites of marine origin and indigenous microscopic bitumens. In addition, shales in the Golata and Mattson contain structured liptinite macerals, predominantly sporinite derived from Carboniferous mega- and microspores.