Peak oil is the claimed moment in time when global oil production reaches its maximum rate and henceforth forever declines. It is highly controversial as to whether or not peak oil represents cause for serious concern. My thesis explores how this controversy unfolds but brackets the ontological status of the reality indexed by the peak-oil concept. I do not choose a side in the debate; I look at the debate itself. I examine the energy outlook documents of ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Total and the International Energy Agency (IEA) as well as academic articles and documentaries. Through an in-depth analysis of peak-oil controversy via tenets of actor-network theory (ANT), I show that what is at stake are competing framings of reality itself, which must be understood when engaging with the contentious idea of peak oil. / Graduate

The increasing penetration of distributed generation (DG) in power distribution systems presents technical and economic benefits as well as integration challenges to utility engineers. Governments are beginning to acknowledge DG as an economically viable alternative to deferring investment at generation, transmission and distribution levels, meeting demand growth and improving distribution network performance and security. DG technology is rapidly maturing in Ontario due to government economic incentives promoting connection, specifically, the Ontario’s Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) Program. Optimal sizing and siting of DG is well researched, traditionally studying the technical impact on distribution system such as real power loss reduction and voltage profile improvement. Equally common objectives studied are the economics of DG installation which are useful for the developer when deciding when and where to install. Although DG represents a “non-wires” solution to network asset reinforcement, the direct economic benefit to the host utility from promoting DG uptake is not fully understood by utility planners and asset managers. Some DG based asset reinforcement deferral work has been performed in the UK and Italy but is mainly at the transmission level and is not part of an overall strategy that could be applied by a utility. This research presents a comprehensive three stage technique: optimal siting, optimal sizing and financial evaluation of cost savings over a defined planning period to quantify the economic benefit to a Local Distribution Company (LDC) of solar photovoltaic (PV) DG connections on an actual distribution feeder. Optimal sites for PV DG are determined by applying the power loss sensitivity factor method to the test feeder. The objective functions used to determine cost savings consist of loss minimization, asset investment deferral, and peak demand reduction to identify an optimal DG penetration limit. Furthermore, a utility planner can identify an optimal DG penetration limit, encourage uptake at preferred locations that would benefit the LDC, and use the positive impact of DG at existing locations as part of an asset management strategy to prioritize and schedule future asset reinforcement upgrades.

In this thesis, ground vibrations induced by bench blasting from the Tun&ccedil / bilek Coal Mine, Panel BYH, were measured to find out the site-specific attenuation and to assess the structural damage risk. A statistical approach is applied to the collected data, and from the data analysis an attenuation relationship is established to be used in predicting the peak particle velocity as well as to calculate the maximum allowable charge per delay. The values of frequencies are also analyzed to investigate the damage potential to the structures of Tun&ccedil / bilek Township. A new approach to predict the peak particle velocity is also proposed in this research study. A neural network technique from the branch of the artificial intelligence is put forward as an alternative approach to the statistical technique. Findings of this study indicate, according to USBM (1980) criteria, that there is no damage risk to the structures in Tun&ccedil / bilek Township induced by bench blasting performed at Tun&ccedil / bilek coal mine, Panel BYH. Therefore, it is concluded that the damage claims put forward by the inhabitants of Tun&ccedil / bilek township had no scientific bases. It is also concluded that the empirical statistical technique is not the only acceptable approach that can be taken into account in predicting the peak particle velocity. An alternative and interesting neural network approach can also give a satisfactory accuracy in predicting peak particle velocity when compared to a set of additional recorded data of PPV.

The purpose of this study is to develop probabilistic hazard maps for EskiSehir including &lsquo / Peak Ground Acceleration&rsquo / values for 10% probability of exceedance in 50-year and 100-year periods at different site classes. A seismotectonic map has been prepared in the Geographical Information Systems environment by compiling instrumental seismicity and neotectonic data for the study area. The seismic sources have been defined spatially in six areal zones, characterized by a commonly used recurrence law and a maximum magnitude value. Four attenuation relationships have been selected being one of them totaly developed from the strong-motion records of Turkey. After the implementation of a seismic hazard model by using SEISRISK software, the probabilistic seismic hazard curves and maps were developed based on the selected attenuation relationships, at &lsquo / rock&rsquo / and &lsquo / soil&rsquo / sites, with a probability of exceedance of 10% in 50-year and 100-year periods. At rock sites the highest levels of hazard were calculated based on the predictive relationship of Abrahamson and Silva (1996), whereas the lowest ones based on the one of Boore et al. (1996). On the other hand the highest hazard levels were determined at soil sites based on the attenuation relationship of Ambraseys et al. (1996), whereas the lowest ones based on the one of Boore et al. (1997). For EskiSehir, the peak ground acceleration values calculated based on attenuation relationship by Boore et al. (1997) were found to be applicable for 10% probability of exceedance in 50 and 100 years, taking into consideration the fact that a considerable portion of the city is founded over alluviums.

The thesis examines the role of regional labour councils in local employment generation. It specifically analyses the case of an Australian regional labour council, the South Coast Labour Council (SCLC), between 1981 and 1996. The Illawarra region was the centre of SCLC activity. It was an industrialised region that experienced high levels of unemployment in the period. These were greater than the State and national averages, which reflected a geographical concentration of unemployment in certain regions in Australia. The SCLC attempted to address this issue, as it was part of the union structure that was specifically focused on the regional level and on regional concerns. The study argues that the SCLC developed a local employment generation strategy and it examines how and why this was adopted and pursued. It finds that the SCLC was well placed at the regional level and was well resourced with a capacity to influence the external environment through its utilisation of both political and industrial methods in a period of agreeable internal relations. The research identifies the development of its local employment generation strategy. Sometimes the SCLC pursued its strategy in a manner of ad hoc decision-making and muddling through, while at other times it involved characteristic and distinctive regular patterns. The thesis concludes by evaluating the SCLC�s strategy of local employment generation and by exploring the applicability of the general trade union literature on methods and strategy to regional labour councils.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-35). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

Thesis (MScFor)--Stellenbosch University, 1980. / No Abstract Available