O polietileno de média densidade (PEMD) é um polímero termoplástico parcialmente cristalino, cujo uso tem crescido bastante em aplicações de engenharia, como em tubos plásticos para sistemas de distribuição de água e de gás. Sob carga constante, entretanto, este material pode eventualmente apresentar fratura por fluência, por meio de um mecanismo de crescimento lento de trincas, provocando acentuadas perdas por vazamento nos sistemas. Os métodos atuais empregados pela indústria para estimar a durabilidade dos tubos são caros, demorados, pouco práticos e imprecisos. Busca-se o desenvolvimento de técnicas mais eficientes, sendo que os métodos da mecânica da fratura são promissores no sentido de descrever a etapa de propagação da trinca. Ensaios de mecânica da fratura, entretanto, requerem a introdução de pré-trincas nos corpos de prova. Sabe-se que as técnicas artificiais de introdução de pré-trincas causam algum tipo de dano na matriz polimérica, que pode ou não afetar os resultados dos ensaios, dependendo dos eventos que ocorrerem após o carregamento inicial. A principal propriedade requerida de um método de introdução de pré-trinca, portanto, é reprodutibilidade. Neste estudo foram aplicados três importantes métodos de mecânica da fratura ao PEMD e investigados os efeitos de diferentes técnicas de introdução de pré-trincas sobre os resultados dos ensaios e sobre as estruturas de deformação na matriz do material na ponta da trinca. Os ensaios de tenacidade à fratura no estado plano de deformação - KIc - foram realizados em condições criogênicas, em vista do comportamento dúctil do material à temperatura ambiente, sendo que a estratégia mostrou-se satisfatória. Os resultados dos ensaios de Integral-J sugerem que o método pode não ser aplicável ao PEMD, devido ao peculiar mecanismo de fratura do material. O método do trabalho essencial de fratura - EWF - se aplica bem ao PEMD. Os resultados dos ensaios de KIc e EWF demonstraram que diferentes técnicas de introdução de pré-trincas provocam diferentes estruturas de deformação no material na ponta da trinca e afetam os resultados de ensaios de fratura no PEMD. Os resultados de EWF demonstraram ainda que o processamento também afeta as propriedades de fratura do material. É proposta uma nova técnica para a introdução de pré-trincas, com características mais naturais, a qual requer estudos complementares para seu aperfeiçoamento. / Medium density polyethylene (MDPE) is a semicrystalline thermoplastic polymer that has been increasingly used in engineering applications, as plastic pipes for water and gas distribution systems. Under constant load, however, this material may occasionally present creep failure, by means of a mechanism of slow crack growth, leading to leakage losses in the systems. Current methods used by industry to estimate durability of pipes are expensive, time consuming, non practical and inaccurate. The development of more efficient methods is a common target and fracture mechanics methods are promising in describing the crack propagation stage. Fracture mechanics testing methods, however, require the introduction of pre-cracks into the specimens. It is known that artificial methods of introducing pre-cracks produce some damage on the polymeric matrix, which may or not affect the results of tests, depending on the events that occur after the initial loading. Main propriety required of a pre-crack introducing method, therefore, is reproducibility. In this study three important fracture mechanics methods were applied to MDPE and the effects of different methods of pre-cracking over test results and over deformation structures of material matrix at the crack tip were investigated. Plane-strain fracture toughness - KIc tests were performed under cryogenic conditions, in view of the ductile behavior of material at room temperature and this strategy was well succeed. Results of Integral-J tests suggest that this method may not be applicable to MDPE, due to the peculiar fracture mechanism of the material. The essential work of fracture method EWF is well suited to study MDPE. The results of KIc and EWF tests showed that different pre-cracking methods cause different deformation structures in the material at the crack tip and affect the fracture tests with MDPE. EWF results showed also that the processing affect the fracture properties of materials too. It is proposed a new method for introducing pre-cracks, with more natural characteristics that requires complementary studies for its improving.

[pt] Um amplo rearranjo institucional e de mercado decorreu das privatizações de concessões de serviços públicos no Brasil em diversos setores econômicos. Tornou-se evidente, assim, uma crescente necessidade de estabelecer ações de gestão que produzam o desempenho esperado dessas concessões. Inseridos num ambiente de incertezas, setores regulados, como o de distribuição de gás canalizado, têm sido pouco investigados por pesquisadores no âmbito da gestão estratégica. A presente pesquisa procurou, sob as óticas integrativa e relacional, estudar o efeito dos fatores macro ambientais no desempenho da CEG e da CEG RIO, distribuidoras de gás canalizado do Estado do Rio de Janeiro privatizadas em julho de 1997. De acordo com a metodologia de estudo de caso de Yin, foi adotada a estratégia de triangulação dos métodos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de investigação documental/telematizada, pesquisa de percepções tipo survey via questionário predominantemente estruturado e entrevistas complementares. A interpretação e a análise dos dados foram realizadas com base no referencial teórico apropriado e com o auxílio dos modelos genérico integrativo e relacional de Macedo-Soares. Os resultados evidenciaram a adequação estratégica das empresas, embora os fatores macro ambientais pudessem ser mais estrategicamente orientados. Ainda que o estabelecimento de alianças não seja uma prática estratégica, a análise relacional agrega valor à análise tradicional, contribuindo com novos insights para a tomada de decisão estratégica da CEG e da CEG RIO. O estudo também trouxe contribuições aos referidos modelos de análise estratégica e à gestão de concessões de serviços públicos. / [en] A wide institutional and market reorganization derived from the privatizations of public services concessions in Brazil in economic sectors. It became evident an increasing need to establish business management actions in order to produce the expected performance from those concessions. Embbeded in uncertainties, regulated sectors like piped gas distribution have been underestimated by researchers in respect of strategic management issues. The present research focused, under integrative and relational perspectives, the effect of the environmental factors to the performance of CEG and CEG RIO - gas distribuiton companies in Rio de Janeiro State, privatized in july, 1997. According to Yin´s case study methodology, a triangulation of methods was adopted. Therefore, data was collected through documental/telematized investigation, survey of management perceptions using a mostrly structured questionnaire and complementary interviews. The interpretation and analysis of data were based on the appropriate theoretical reference aided by the generic integrative and the relational models from Macedo-Soares (2000 e 2002). The results highlighted a strategic fit by the companies, although environmental factors could be more strategically oriented. Despite the establishment of alliances not being a strategic practice, the relational perspective added value to the traditional perspective, contributing with new insights to the companies´ strategic decision making processes. The study also brought contributions to the mentioned strategy analysis models and to the management of public services concessions.

This thesis addresses the problem of gas distribution modelling for gas monitoring and gas detection. The presented research is particularly focused on the methods that are suitable for uncontrolled environments. In such environments, gas source locations and the physical properties of the environment, such as humidity and temperature may be unknown or only sparse noisy local measurements are available. Example applications include air pollution monitoring, leakage detection, and search and rescue operations. This thesis addresses how to efficiently obtain and compute predictive models that accurately represent spatio-temporal gas distribution. Most statistical gas distribution modelling methods assume that gas dispersion can be modelled as a time-constant random process. While this assumption may hold in some situations, it is necessary to model variations over time in order to enable applications of gas distribution modelling for a wider range of realistic scenarios. This thesis proposes two time-dependent gas distribution modelling methods. In the first method, a temporal (sub-)sampling strategy is introduced. In the second method, a time-dependent gas distribution modelling approach is presented, which introduces a recency weight that relates measurement to prediction time. These contributions are presented and evaluated as an extension of a previously proposed method called Kernel DM+V using several simulation and real-world experiments. The results of comparing the proposed time-dependent gas distribution modelling approaches to the time-independent version Kernel DM+V indicate a consistent improvement in the prediction of unseen measurements, particularly in dynamic scenarios under the condition that there is a sufficient spatial coverage. Dynamic scenarios are often defined as environments where strong fluctuations and gas plume development are present. For mobile robot olfaction, we are interested in sampling strategies that provide accurate gas distribution models given a small number of samples in a limited time span. Correspondingly, this thesis addresses the problem of selecting the most informative locations to acquire the next samples. As a further contribution, this thesis proposes a novel adaptive sensor planning method. This method is based on a modified artificial potential field, which selects the next sampling location based on the currently predicted gas distribution and the spatial distribution of previously collected samples. In particular, three objectives are used that direct the sensor towards areas of (1) high predictive mean and (2) high predictive variance, while (3) maximising the coverage area. The relative weight of these objectives corresponds to a trade-off between exploration and exploitation in the sampling strategy. This thesis discusses the weights or importance factors and evaluates the performance of the proposed sampling strategy. The results of the simulation experiments indicate an improved quality of the gas distribution models when using the proposed sensor planning method compared to commonly used methods, such as random sampling and sampling along a predefined sweeping trajectory. In this thesis, we show that applying a locality constraint on the proposed sampling method decreases the travelling distance, which makes the proposed sensor planning approach suitable for real-world applications where limited resources and time are available. As a real-world use-case, we applied the proposed sensor planning approach on a micro-drone in outdoor experiments. Finally, this thesis discusses the potential of using gas distribution modelling and sensor planning in large-scale outdoor real-world applications. We integrated the proposed methods in a framework for decision-making in hazardous inncidents where gas leakage is involved and applied the gas distribution modelling in two real-world use-cases. Our investigation indicates that the proposed sensor planning and gas distribution modelling approaches can be used to inform experts both about the gas plume and the distribution of gas in order to improve the assessment of an incident.

This work includes modelling of decarbonization scenarios at the scale of an urban area, providing policy insights and a methodology focusing on introducing district heating and maintaining the existing gas distribution network in a case study. With a focus on reducing gas consumption in the residential and tertiary sectors, the research integrates scenario developments giving a methodology to develop district heating, requiring a careful balance in selecting the optimal scale for city-wide analysis. The study assesses the fate of existing gas networks. The development of district heating can affect the use of gas, particularly in residential or tertiary buildings. This thesis assesses potential use cases of existing gas networks by identifying certain criteria. Among them are industrial, tertiary or residential consumption, the presence of a district heating network, or the number of homes using individual gas heating. These criteria make it possible to define areas where the question of removing the gas distribution network can be raised, and other areas where the gas distribution network must be retained even if gas consumption falls sharply between 2019 and 2050. By reviewing the relevant literature, detailing the research questions and presenting a comprehensive methodology of scenario modelling, the thesis provides policy insights and a methodology to develop district heating at the scale of an urban area while addressing the future of existing gas infrastructure. / Detta arbete ger en modellering av scenarier för minskade koldioxidutsläpp i stadsområden, samt ger policyinsikter och metodik med fokus på införandet av fjärrvärme och underhållet av det befintliga gasdistributionsnätet som en fallstudie. Med fokus på att minska gasförbrukningen i bostads- och tjänstesektorerna integrerar forskningen scenarioutveckling med en metod för att utveckla fjärrvärme, vilket kräver en noggrann avvägning för att välja den optimala skalan för stadsomfattande analys. I studien bedöms vad som ska hända med befintliga gasnät. Utvecklingen av fjärrvärme kan påverka användningenav gas, särskilt i bostads- eller tertiärbyggnader. Denna avhandling bedömer potentiella användningsfall befintliga gasnät genom att identifiera kriterier baserade på faktorer som industriell, tertiär tertiär eller bostadsförbrukning, förekomsten av ett fjärrvärmenät eller antalet av bostäder som använder individuell gasuppvärmning, till exempel. Dessa kriterier gör det möjligt att definiera områden där frågan om att ta bort gasdistributionsnätet kan väckas, och andra områden där gasdistributionsnätet måste behållas även om förbrukningen förbrukningen minskar kraftigt mellan 2019 och 2050. Genom att granska den relevanta litteraturen, specificera forskningsfrågorna och presentera en omfattande metod för scenariomodellering, ger avhandlingen ett värdefullt exempel på hur man kan ge politisk insikt och metodik för att utveckla fjärrvärme i ett stadsområde samtidigt som man tar itu med framtiden för befintlig gasinfrastruktur.

O fator de simultaneidade é fundamental no planejamento de redes de distribuição de gás natural. Trata-se de um multiplicador entre 0 e 1 que ajusta o consumo total teórico de um número de aparelhos de utilização em condições reais. Em 2005 o Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT) e a Companhia de Gás de São Paulo (COMGÁS) realizaram um estudo no qual determinou-se o fator de simultaneidade em um conjunto de edificações residenciais. Um modelo de regressão foi proposto para expressar o fator de simultaneidade em termos da potência total instalada. O modelo ajustado pode ser utilizado para predizer o fator de simultaneidade em novas edificações. O modelo em questão é um modelo de regressão linear normal no qual a variável resposta é o logaritmo do fator de simultaneidade. Nesta dissertação, o objetivo é investigar outras possibilidades de modelos de regressão adequados aos dados obtidos pelo IPT e pela COMGÁS. Especial atenção é dada ao modelo de regressão beta proposto por Ferrari e Cribari-Neto (Journal of Applied Statistics, 2004) por possuir vantagens sobre o modelo de regressão linear normal. O modelo de regressão beta assume que, dadas as covariáveis, a variável resposta possui distribuição beta, sendo adequado para modelar dados observados no intervalo unitário. Desta forma, a transformação na variável resposta - o fator de simultaneidade - é desnecessária. Além disso, é proposta uma nova abordagem para a predição do fator de simultaneidade, diferente de todas as abordagens pesquisadas na literatura, utilizando a técnica de bootstrap. / The simultaneity factor is fundamental in planning gas distribution networks. It is a multiplicator between 0 and 1 that adjusts the theoretical total consumption of a number of devices to realistic conditions. In 2005, the Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT) and the Companhia de Gás de São Paulo (COMGÁS) performed a study in which the simultaneity factor of gas consumption in a set of residential buildings have been determined. A regression model was proposed to express the simultaneity factor in terms of the total power of installed equipment. The fitted model can be used to predict the simultaneity factor in new buildings. The model they proposed is a normal linear regression model in which the response variable is the logarithm of the simultaneity factor. In the present dissertation, our aim is to investigate other possible regression models suitable to the data obtained by IPT and CONGÁS. Emphasis is given to the beta regression model proposed by Ferrari and Cribari-Neto (Journal of Applied Statistics, 2004) which has a number of advantages over normal linear regression models. The beta regression model assumes that, given the covariates, the response variable has a beta distribution, which is adequate to model data observed in the unit interval. Therefore, no transformation in the response variable, the simultaneity factor, is needed. Additionally, we present a new approach for the prediction of the simultaneity factor, that is different from all the approaches shown in the literature, using the bootstrap technique.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit Turboexpandern in der Gasleitungsbranche. Nach der Vorstellung der Bauarten werden Schaltschemen nach Stand der Technik erläutert, um nachfolgend auf die Ausnutzung des Kälteeffekts einzugehen. Hier sieht der Autor Potentiale in Hinblick auf Energieeffizienz und Umweltverträglichkeit im Bereich der Weiterleitung von Erdgas zum Endverbraucher. Das kombinierte Schema, bei dem die Erdgas-Entspannungsanlage zusätzlich zur Reduktionseinheit parallel angeschlossen wird, ist in solchen Fällen sinnvoll. Das Erhitzen des Gases erfolgt hier über die Wärmepumpe vor der Entspannungsturbine oder es findet nach der Druckreduktion statt. In diesem Fall findet die Expansion bei den niedrigeren Temperaturen (0–5 °С) statt, indem die Temperatur am Auslass der GVS durch Wärmeentnahme im Kälteblock bis zu einem zulässigen Wert erhöht wird. Die Menge der produzierten Energie vermindert sich infolge der Temperatursenkung vor der Expansionsturbine, doch besteht die Möglichkeit, dabei Kälte zu produzieren und diese danach anzuwenden. Die Berechnungsergebnisse der thermodynamischen Eigenschaften sind dargestellt. Der Wärmeenergieverbrauch für die Erwärmung des Gases (Leistung der Wärmepumpe) und für die Leistung des Kälteblocks wird in dieser Arbeit erläutert. Des Weiteren werden Aspekte der Wirtschaftlichkeit und der Betriebssicherheit von Turboexpandern beleuchtet.

Submitted by João Paulo Mesquita Villela (jpmv_nit@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-03-05T22:41:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação JP - WACC-GN - Final.pdf: 4843974 bytes, checksum: 53a8c6a560387b7ac0c7d2f370bdc655 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2018-03-12T15:00:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação JP - WACC-GN - Final.pdf: 4843974 bytes, checksum: 53a8c6a560387b7ac0c7d2f370bdc655 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-16T17:17:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação JP - WACC-GN - Final.pdf: 4843974 bytes, checksum: 53a8c6a560387b7ac0c7d2f370bdc655 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-18 / The objective of this work is to propose a methodology for determining the weighted average cost of capital to be employed by the regulatory agency in the tariff review process of natural gas distributors in the state of São Paulo. The challenge in this process is to establish a remuneration that guarantees the lowest cost with the greatest benefit to the customers and at the same time provides the maintenance of the economic balance and the incentive to expand the services provided by the concessionaires. The complexity of the study becomes evident when we verify the great dispersion of values proposed in the contributions sent to the Sanitation and Energy Regulatory Agency of the State of São Paulo (ARSESP) during the public consultation process. In this sense, the different approaches used by other regulatory agencies also make it difficult to establish a standardized solution to the problem. In this way, we analyzed initially the methodology defined by the ARSESP, the contributions received during the public consultation process carried out by the agency and some references of national and international regulatory practices. Finally, we sought to solve the issue by proposing a methodology considered adequate to estimate the weighted average cost of capital for the natural gas distributors in the state of São Paulo. / O objetivo deste trabalho é propor uma metodologia para a determinação do custo médio ponderado de capital a ser empregado pela agência reguladora no processo de revisão tarifária das distribuidoras de gás natural do estado de São Paulo. O desafio nesse processo é estabelecer uma remuneração que garanta o menor custo com o maior benefício para os clientes e ao mesmo tempo proporcione a manutenção do equilíbrio econômico e do estímulo a ampliação dos serviços prestados pelas concessionárias. A complexidade do estudo torna-se evidente ao verificarmos a grande dispersão de valores propostos nas contribuições enviadas a Agência Reguladora de Saneamento e Energia do Estado de São Paulo (ARSESP) durante o processo de consulta pública. Nesse sentido, as diferentes abordagens utilizadas por outras agências regulatórias também dificultam a definição de uma solução padronizada para o problema. Desta forma, analisou-se inicialmente a metodologia definida pela ARSESP, as contribuições recebidas durante o processo de consulta pública realizado por esta agência e referências das práticas regulatórias nacionais e internacionais. Finalmente, procurou-se solucionar a questão propondo uma metodologia considerada adequada para estimar o custo médio ponderado de capital para as distribuidoras de gás canalizado do estado de São Paulo.

O fator de simultaneidade é fundamental no planejamento de redes de distribuição de gás natural. Trata-se de um multiplicador entre 0 e 1 que ajusta o consumo total teórico de um número de aparelhos de utilização em condições reais. Em 2005 o Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT) e a Companhia de Gás de São Paulo (COMGÁS) realizaram um estudo no qual determinou-se o fator de simultaneidade em um conjunto de edificações residenciais. Um modelo de regressão foi proposto para expressar o fator de simultaneidade em termos da potência total instalada. O modelo ajustado pode ser utilizado para predizer o fator de simultaneidade em novas edificações. O modelo em questão é um modelo de regressão linear normal no qual a variável resposta é o logaritmo do fator de simultaneidade. Nesta dissertação, o objetivo é investigar outras possibilidades de modelos de regressão adequados aos dados obtidos pelo IPT e pela COMGÁS. Especial atenção é dada ao modelo de regressão beta proposto por Ferrari e Cribari-Neto (Journal of Applied Statistics, 2004) por possuir vantagens sobre o modelo de regressão linear normal. O modelo de regressão beta assume que, dadas as covariáveis, a variável resposta possui distribuição beta, sendo adequado para modelar dados observados no intervalo unitário. Desta forma, a transformação na variável resposta - o fator de simultaneidade - é desnecessária. Além disso, é proposta uma nova abordagem para a predição do fator de simultaneidade, diferente de todas as abordagens pesquisadas na literatura, utilizando a técnica de bootstrap. / The simultaneity factor is fundamental in planning gas distribution networks. It is a multiplicator between 0 and 1 that adjusts the theoretical total consumption of a number of devices to realistic conditions. In 2005, the Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT) and the Companhia de Gás de São Paulo (COMGÁS) performed a study in which the simultaneity factor of gas consumption in a set of residential buildings have been determined. A regression model was proposed to express the simultaneity factor in terms of the total power of installed equipment. The fitted model can be used to predict the simultaneity factor in new buildings. The model they proposed is a normal linear regression model in which the response variable is the logarithm of the simultaneity factor. In the present dissertation, our aim is to investigate other possible regression models suitable to the data obtained by IPT and CONGÁS. Emphasis is given to the beta regression model proposed by Ferrari and Cribari-Neto (Journal of Applied Statistics, 2004) which has a number of advantages over normal linear regression models. The beta regression model assumes that, given the covariates, the response variable has a beta distribution, which is adequate to model data observed in the unit interval. Therefore, no transformation in the response variable, the simultaneity factor, is needed. Additionally, we present a new approach for the prediction of the simultaneity factor, that is different from all the approaches shown in the literature, using the bootstrap technique.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit Turboexpandern in der Gasleitungsbranche. Nach der Vorstellung der Bauarten werden Schaltschemen nach Stand der Technik erläutert, um nachfolgend auf die Ausnutzung des Kälteeffekts einzugehen. Hier sieht der Autor Potentiale in Hinblick auf Energieeffizienz und Umweltverträglichkeit im Bereich der Weiterleitung von Erdgas zum Endverbraucher. Das kombinierte Schema, bei dem die Erdgas-Entspannungsanlage zusätzlich zur Reduktionseinheit parallel angeschlossen wird, ist in solchen Fällen sinnvoll. Das Erhitzen des Gases erfolgt hier über die Wärmepumpe vor der Entspannungsturbine oder es findet nach der Druckreduktion statt. In diesem Fall findet die Expansion bei den niedrigeren Temperaturen (0–5 °С) statt, indem die Temperatur am Auslass der GVS durch Wärmeentnahme im Kälteblock bis zu einem zulässigen Wert erhöht wird. Die Menge der produzierten Energie vermindert sich infolge der Temperatursenkung vor der Expansionsturbine, doch besteht die Möglichkeit, dabei Kälte zu produzieren und diese danach anzuwenden. Die Berechnungsergebnisse der thermodynamischen Eigenschaften sind dargestellt. Der Wärmeenergieverbrauch für die Erwärmung des Gases (Leistung der Wärmepumpe) und für die Leistung des Kälteblocks wird in dieser Arbeit erläutert. Des Weiteren werden Aspekte der Wirtschaftlichkeit und der Betriebssicherheit von Turboexpandern beleuchtet.

Although the German framework of incentive-based energy regulation appears to be well-defined because it draws from international experience and eliminates several present drawbacks existing with revenue-cap regulation doubts of industry and politicians concerning the application of benchmarking techniques and more importantly, the future industry structure, remain. The regulation scheme is based on experience with energy sector reforms in the US due to it being a precursor in this regard, e.g. by introducing incentive-based regulation as early as 1994 and publishing the relevant data in a very detailed way. This thesis therefore brings together the two issues of certain efficiency measurement problems and the industry restructuring in Germany and the US in order to contribute to the current discussion of robust benchmarking and to provide political implications related to the industry’s structure. Therefore, the application of DEA and SFA constitutes the heart of the whole study. These techniques are applied on German electricity DSOs as well as on data for US electricity DSOs and US gas TSOs. The application to US data can then be used to derive information about business strategies and their success in a sector that is being restructured. The US experience will lead to relevant German policy implications with respect to the future structure of the energy industry in Germany. / Der deutsche Regulierungsansatz erscheint im Allgemeinen als ausgewogen, da er zum einen internationale Erfahrungen mit einbezieht und zum anderen bestehenden Schwächen der Erlös-Obergrenzenregulierung berücksichtigt. Dennoch bestehen Zweifel seitens Industrie- und Politvertretern bezüglich der Anwendung von Benchmarking-Techniken und noch bedeutsamer der zukünftigen Industriestruktur. Der regulatorische Rahmen basiert auf Erfahrungen aus der Regulierung der Energiewirtschaft aus den USA, da diese eine Vorreiterrolle in dieser Hinsicht innehaben, beispielsweise aufgrund der frühen Einführung der Anreizregulierung in 1994 und der sehr detaillierten Veröffentlichung der relevanten Daten. Diese Arbeit verknüpft daher diese zwei Aspekte zum einen der Existenz gewisser Problemfelder bei der Effizienzmessung als auch der Umstrukturierung der deutschen Industriestruktur in der Energiewirtschaft. Damit trägt sie zu der aktuellen Diskussion mit Bezug auf robustes Benchmarking bei und liefert zudem politische Implikationen bezüglich der Industriestruktur. Zu diesem Zweck steht die Anwendung der für die deutsche Regulierung der Energienetze relevanten Benchmarking-Techniken (Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) und Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA)) im Zentrum der gesamten Studie. Die empirischen Analysen beziehen sich dabei auf deutsche Elektrizitätsverteilnetzbetreiber sowie auf Elektrizitätsverteilnetzbetreibern und Ferngasgesellschaften aus den USA. Die Analysen von US Daten können dann genutzt werden, um gehaltvolle Informationen über Unternehmensstrategien und deren Erfolg in einem restrukturierten Sektor zu gewinnen. Diese Erfahrungen münden dann in Schlussfolgerungen und Empfehlungen für die deutsche Regulierung und Industriestruktur der deutschen Energienetzwirtschaft.