Thesis (Ph. D.)--Boston University, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-304).

Electricity networks are undergoing a period of rapid change and transformation, with increased penetration levels of renewable-based distributed generation, and new influences on electricity end-use patterns from demand-manageable loads and micro-generation. This creates a number of new challenges for the delivery of a reliable supply of electrical energy. The main aim of this PhD research is to provide a methodology for a more detailed and accurate assessment of the effects of wind-based distributed generation (DG) and demand side management (DSM) on transmission network operation. In addition, the work investigates the potential for co-ordinated implementation and control of DG and DSM to improve overall system performance. A significant amount of previous literature on network integration of DG and DSM resources has focused on the effects at the distribution level, where their impact is direct and often easily observed. However, as penetration levels increase, DG and DSM will have a growing influence on the operation and management of the bulk transmission system. Modelling and analysis of the impact of embedded and highly-dispersed DG and DSM resources at transmission voltage levels will present a significant challenge for transmission network operators in the future. Accordingly, this thesis presents a number of new approaches and methodologies allowing for a more accurate modelling and aggregation of DG and DSM resources in power system studies. The correct representation of input wind energy resources is essential for accurate estimation of power and energy outputs of wind-based DG. A novel modelling approach for a simple and accurate representation of the statistical and temporal characteristics of the wind energy resources is presented in the thesis. An "all-scale" approach to modelling and aggregation of wind-based generation is proposed, which is specifically intended for assessing the impact of embedded wind generation on the steady state performance of transmission systems. The methodology allows to include in the analysis wind-based generation at all scales and all levels of implementation, from micro and small LV-connected units, through medium-size wind plants connected at MV, up to large HV-connected wind farms. The thesis also presents an assessment of the potential for DSM in the UK residential and commercial sectors, based on the analysis and decomposition of measured demands at system bulk supply points into the corresponding load types. Using a section of the Scottish transmission network as a case study, a number of DG and DSM scenarios are investigated in detail. These results demonstrate the importance of accurately modelling the interactions between the supply system and various DG and DSM schemes, and show that the aggregated effects of highly-distributed DG and DSM resources can have significant impacts on the operation of the bulk transmission system.

A growing number of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are being implemented in developing and developed countries alike in order to effect some internalisation of environmental costs. In China schemes under the name of ‘eco-compensation’ are often considered to be similar to PES. Neither the term eco-compensation itself, nor the projects that are supposedly examples of eco-compensation have been subject to scrutiny. This thesis therefore aims to investigate eco-compensation in China, with particular emphasis on water-related programmes. The thesis begins with a comprehensive review of PES literature in order to establish the definition and essential characteristics of such schemes, and to enable an examination of how China’s eco-compensation differs from PES. The analysis of PES provides a framework for focusing on eco-compensation by examining voluntariness, project types, payment, actors, and scales. A broad-scale analysis of 19 Chinese schemes is then undertaken, and this reveals that eco-compensation projects predominantly involve government agents, often with different levels of government as service sellers and buyers; in China individual land users are only directly involved in a few cases. Literature suggests that PES schemes are not simply technical solutions, but are inherently political. Having undertaken this general survey, the political dimension of eco-compensation is then examined in two case studies in great detail, based on semi-structured interviews and project documents. The first case study is of the Xin’an River eco-compensation scheme in which an upstream provincial government is paid to protect water quality to benefit the downstream province. Drawing from studies of “scale”, this case explores the power relationships of central-provincial governments and intra-provincial governments in transboundary river water quality management, especially in the negotiation process of the eco-compensation scheme. It finds that the upstream government mobilises the concept of “eco-compensation” to persuade the downstream government to share the costs of protecting the river and to gain favourable terms in setting the water quality target, using the narrative of “climate change”. The central government adopts a tough stance on the issue of environment protection by the upstream government by setting water quality targets and by introducing basin management planning. This case suggests that eco-compensation is shaped by struggles and conflicts among different actors concerning their strategies in defining eco-compensation rules, and that eco-compensation can also reconfigure power dynamics among these actors. The second case study is of the Miyun Reservoir watershed scheme, in which farmers in the upstream of the contributing watersheds are paid to convert from growing paddy rice to less water-intensive crops, and to reduce fertiliser use. The declared purpose is to increase the water supply to Beijing city, and improve water quality. Applying a political ecology approach, the case examines the history of water provision to China’s capital city, showing that Beijing has been extracting water from its territory and beyond by using its political power. This eco-compensation scheme is just a part of this story. The case also shows that the eco-compensation is justified by framing the upstream agricultural water consumption as the cause of decreasing water flow, while ignoring that large-scale afforestation has significantly contributed to water shortages through the excessive consumption of water. Meanwhile, Beijing has ignored its own huge environmental impact on water quality. This case provides useful insights into how eco-compensation is shaped and framed according to certain priorities and interests, and that it can lead to control over access to water resources amongst the less powerful farmers in order to support water uses in the politically-dominant urban centre. This thesis suggests that although eco-compensation in some instances can be similar to PES, more often than not it is a mechanism used to adjust the relationships between different governments. It includes both incentive-based and regulatory components. That makes it a potentially effective arrangement for river basin water quality management, in spite of contested negotiations. But caution must be exercised, as it can also be used under the market logic by powerful actors to control water resources.

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Feb 2, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

The ancillary services are of immanent importance for secure and reliable network operation. As a result of the energy turnaround in Germany, conventional power plant capacities that have so far provided these ancillary services will significantly be reduced. Particularly with regard to frequency control and grid operation, it has already become apparent today that high costs can be expected if current practice and market conditions are maintained. The aim of this thesis is to investigate options for a cost-efficient transformation of the electricity system with a focus on the ancillary services frequency control and grid operation. In a first step, the ancillary services and their development in the recent past is addressed. In a second step, the effects of different cooperation between network operators on network operation are investigated. Here it is shown that in the medium term an intensified cooperation on transmission grid operator level has a positive impact on the operation of the grid. In the long term, it is necessary for distribution system operators to cooperate more closely in order to ensure cost-efficient and secure network operation. In a third step, options for the market design of balancing power markets are examined. The results show that it is necessary to make tendering times more flexible so that renewable energies can participate in the markets and, at the same time, more players can participate in these markets. With these adjustments it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of balancing power to levels below those of 2014. Finally, it is examined which market inefficiencies may occur in more flexible balancing markets due to strategic bidding behavior. Especially in the upward markets it can be seen that increasing market inefficiencies are to be expected, which, however, can be limited by increased international cooperation and the participation of renewable energies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:21:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Beatriz Ribeiro Dias.pdf: 803647 bytes, checksum: 73cbae35ad1e69a84fd02eac03fff683 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-20 / The labor is a factor of production that, besides supporting the economy, provides to Human Beings means to guarantee their livelihood and their basic needs. Therefore, it is valued by the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil as the foundation of the Federal Republic, as a principle of the economic order, and as the basis of the social order. In this sense, mechanisms for employment protection acquire importance. The object of this study is the analysis of the individual motivated dismissal from the perspective of Article 7, I, of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. We sought to identify its classification and consequences of its application, based on the historical analysis, on the international standard, and on the Portugal's law, which is a country with culture, social and economic influence similar to Brazil, and with an interesting proceeding for the individual motivated dismissal. With regard to the research techniques, we use both documental and bibliographical researches. In the bibliographical research we note the excellence of the authors chosen and the corresponding pertinence of the central theme of this dissertation, without excluding books that helped us to base concepts to complete this debate / O trabalho é fator de produção que, além de sustentar a economia, garante ao ser humano meios para seu sustento e para manutenção de suas necessidades básicas Por isso, é valorizado pela Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil como fundamento da República Federativa (artigo 1º, IV); como princípio da ordem econômica (artigo 170, VIII); e como base da ordem social (artigo 193). Neste contexto, os mecanismos para a proteção da relação de emprego ganham importância. O objetivo deste estudo é a análise da dispensa individual motivada sob a perspectiva do artigo 7º, I, da Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil. Buscamos identificar o seu conceito e as consequências da sua aplicação, valendonos da análise histórica, do padrão internacional (Convenção nº 158, da Organização Internacional do Trabalho) e da legislação desenvolvida por Portugal, país com traços culturais, sociais e econômicos semelhantes ao Brasil e com interessante procedimentalização da dispensa individual motivada. Em relação às técnicas de pesquisa, empregamos tanto a documental quanto a bibliográfica. Na pesquisa bibliográfica observamos a excelência dos autores escolhidos e a respectiva pertinência com o tema central do trabalho, sem afastar obras que nos ajudaram a embasar conceitos periféricos para complemento do debate

Le pouvoir de gestion du domaine public est un objet juridique atypique. Au cœur de la dialectique opposant puissance publique et propriété, et confronté aux nouveaux enjeux, patrimoniaux, économiques et concurrentiels, qui traversent la domanialité publique, ses contours et son fondement doivent être redéfinis, sur le socle de sa généalogie. Pouvoir sur une chose, la puissance publique gestionnaire doit aussi être définie dans le cadre des ses interactions avec les administrés, dans une perspective subjectiviste. Le pouvoir de gestion est une puissance publique propriétaire en interaction avec les droits des usagers. / The power to manage state administered property is an atypical legal object. At the core of the dialectic between public authority and property, and facing new property, economic and competitive issues related to state owned public domains, its outline and its foundation must be redefined based on its genealogy. A power upon a thing, the managing public authority must also be defined from a subjectivist approach, within the framework of its interactions with citizens. Management power is a public owner power interacting with the users’ rights.

The present interview revolves around electronic mal of employees as a work tool and his relationship with the right of privacy and secrecy of telecommunications. Thus, it attempts to figure out the nature of electronic mail and other technologies as work tools, making difference from this same technologies in a personal context. / La presente entrevista gira en torno al correo electrónico del empleado como herramienta de trabajo y su interrelación con el derecho de la intimidad y el secreto de las telecomunicaciones. Así, se intenta descifrar cuál es la naturaleza del correo electrónico y otras tecnologías como herramientas de trabajo, a diferencia de las tecnologías de uso personal.

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is a major tool enabling systems to evaluate their reliability in real-time operation. Despite ground-breaking advances in most engineering and scientific disciplines during the past decades, reliability engineering has not seen significant breakthroughs or noticeable advances. Therefore, self-awareness of the embedded system is also often required in the sense that the system should be able to assess its own health state and failure records, and those of its main components, and take action appropriately. This thesis presents a radically new prognostics approach to reliable system design that will revolutionise complex power electronic systems with robust prognostics capability enhanced Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) in applications where reliability is significantly challenging and critical. The IGBT is considered as one of the components that is mainly damaged in converters and experiences a number of failure mechanisms, such as bond wire lift off, die attached solder crack, loose gate control voltage, etc. The resulting effects mentioned are complex. For instance, solder crack growth results in increasing the IGBT’s thermal junction which becomes a source of heat turns to wire bond lift off. As a result, the indication of this failure can be seen often in increasing on-state resistance relating to the voltage drop between on-state collector-emitter. On the other hand, hot carrier injection is increased due to electrical stress. Additionally, IGBTs are components that mainly work under high stress, temperature and power consumptions due to the higher range of load that these devices need to switch. This accelerates the degradation mechanism in the power switches in discrete fashion till reaches failure state which fail after several hundred cycles. To this end, exploiting failure mechanism knowledge of IGBTs and identifying failure parameter indication are background information of developing failure model and prognostics algorithm to calculate remaining useful life (RUL) along with ±10% confidence bounds. A number of various prognostics models have been developed for forecasting time to failure of IGBTs and the performance of the presented estimation models has been evaluated based on two different evaluation metrics. The results show significant improvement in health monitoring capability for power switches. Furthermore, the reliability of the power switch was calculated and conducted to fully describe health state of the converter and reconfigure the control parameter using adaptive algorithm under degradation and load mission limitation. As a result, the life expectancy of devices has been increased. These all allow condition-monitoring facilities to minimise stress levels and predict future failure which greatly reduces the likelihood of power switch failures in the first place.