This dissertation represents an effort to advance interdisciplinary research in issues relevant for energy and environmental policy, combining economics with applied engineering and ecology. It includes work that is informed by theoretical and empirical studies, and is conceptually centered in the notion that competitive markets lead to inefficient combinations of risk and yield. In the first two chapters of the dissertation, I study this in the context of wind energy capacity investments, where profit-maximizing developers choose the location and timing of the construction of wind farms. The final chapter of the dissertation is an empirical study on the effects of intensive aquaculture on water pollution.

Sustainable energy has taken center stage in materials research and global markets, which has encouraged an explosion in related materials development. Practical implementations of sustainable energy solutions rely upon high-performance and cost-effective materials for energy harvesting and storage. Organic electronics, a class of materials composed principally of carbon, are regarded as promising candidates in this respect. Carbon, when arranged with atomic precision and warped carefully into desirable conformations, can generate exceptionally inexpensive and high-performance materials. These materials can then be readily integrated into solar cells, capacitors, and transistors. This dissertation explores our progress in the field of high-performance organic electronics in the context of these practical devices, and aims to establish simple design principles for the future development of contorted organic electronics. Of principal importance to this thesis is the conclusion that localized molecular contortion seems to bestow unique and somewhat unexpected properties upon extended systems. Therefore, a key theme underlying our work herein is the idea that for specific applications, contorted or extended graphene nanoribbons can be shown to be superior to planar organics. This advantage has allowed us to report exceptionally high performance metrics in the fields of energy harvesting and storage. Chapter 1 comprises an overview of the entire body of work contained within this dissertation, in a highly condensed format. This includes in-depth specific background on the innovations of prior researchers who have enabled our present work. Chapter 2 details the elongation of the small graphene fragment perylene into long, electronically active, and ambient-stable nanoribbons. This chapter is assembled from three research manuscripts investigating the employment of these nanoribbons as electron transporting materials in photovoltaics and one set of preliminary results on their incorporation as potential surface arrays for chip technologies. Chapter 3 examines the expansion of our perylene-based nanoribbons into large single-molecule three-dimensional nanostructures up to 5 nm in wingspan. These structures, by consequence of their three-dimensional geometry and contorted nature, exhibit curious enhancements over their one-dimensional counterparts. Such enhancements, namely in photovoltaic efficiency and electron transport behavior, are investigated over the course of two research manuscripts. Chapter 4 explores the idea of organic energy storage through the lens of pseudocapacitance, and further expands the perylene toolbox by developing high-capacitance and highly stable polymer structures. These ideas ultimately culminate in the final subchapter, wherein our most recent work on contorted, semi-two-dimensional capacitive polymers is disclosed. The exceptionally strong and potentially economically viable results of our most recent energy storage architecture are enabled entirely by our understanding of molecular contortion. Namely, contortion’s unique ability to manifest long-range electronic conjugation concomitant with the prevention of aggregation, thus improving surface area for ion diffusion and bulk processability. In consideration of the impact these nanoscale ideas could have on the global scale, it is our belief that ideas concerning contortion within the context of organic electronics will continue to generate high-performance energy storing and harvesting materials. Our explorations towards such solutions have garnered substantial interest in the materials community thus far, and this dissertation seeks to add to that growing body of literature by inspiring numerous new twisted architectures.

Passive radiative cooling has been extensively studied as a means to cool the exterior surfaces of buildings and reduce space cooling loads. This phenomenon is caused by thermal radiation that is continuously emitted from surfaces on Earth, and transmitted through the atmosphere to outer space (at approximately 3-4 Kelvin temperature scale). To gain a deeper understanding of how terrestrial objects can access this extraterrestrial cold reservoir, I use a theoretical framework derived from classical radiative heat transfer to investigate the radiative properties of surfaces and the atmosphere over a spectrum of wavelengths. In this dissertation, I demonstrate the theoretical cooling potential that can be achieved by surfaces with idealized radiative properties under various atmospheric conditions. While several researchers have optimized the optical properties of their surfaces to emit strongly in wavelength bands corresponding to high atmospheric transparency, I show that a high degree of spectral tailoring is only benefcial when humidity in the atmosphere is low or when a surface can minimize its absorption of solar radiation. Additionally, I prescribe appropriate sets of surface radiative properties that are required to achieve cooling under various solar and atmospheric loads. An evaluation of passive strategies on building envelopes would be incomplete without considering green facades. To that end, I propose a theoretical model to calculate the heat flux reduction offered by green facades. Unlike previously reported works that use the Pennman-Monteith approach to calculate evapotranspiration in a leaf canopy, my model takes a simpler approach in calculating the sensible and latent heat loss from a layer of leaves while preserving prediction accuracy. By extending the theoretical models for passive radiative cooling and green facades to building envelopes, my work provides insights into the appropriate passive strategy suitable for a particular climate. In dry conditions, surface coatings with optically-tuned radiative properties can perform better than green facades by maximizing their thermal emission through the atmosphere. However, the additional evaporative cooling benefits, insulation and aesthetic value offered by green facades may make them more favorable in cooler and more humid climates. Since the cooling performance of all passive strategies is strongly correlated to the local climate, my work indicates that variations in ambient air temperature, solar radiation and humidity must be considered when choosing an appropriate strategy for a building envelope.

A fixed charge model has been developed for a case study of a total energy power plant involving energy demands for chilled water, high temperature hot water, and electrical power. Using a FORTRAN computer program, which employs the Land and Doig branch and bound algorithm, the system model is solved for different sets of system demands for multiple energy users, and the following set of information is obtained to guide the decisions of operations personnel: 1. Recommend on/off status for each piece of equipment in the system. 2. Recommended rate of operation for each piece of machinery. 3. Required amounts of different types of fuel to satisfy system demands. 4. A preferred path of flow through the system for each type of energy purchased or produced within the system.

A linear programming model has been developed for a Central Energy Plant which minimizes operational costs for a system involving the generation of chilled water and high temperature hot water plus the generation and/or purchase of electric power with equipment using natural gas or fuel oil energy. The fundamental concepts developed herein are sufficient for the analysis of any combination of energy supplies, demands, and energy conversion equipment. Utilization of this model is demonstrated with a case study and computer program results for high and low temperature environments. The linear programming model approach establishes a well-defined framework for the analysis of complex utility systems and provides valuable results for the economical operation of a Central Energy Plant.

The formulation of an accurate data base consisting of system state variable values is an initial and critical step in the economical and secure operation of modern power systems. The Least Median of Squares (LMS) estimator is ideal in the sense that it can provide a good state estimate despite high percentages of bad data and multiple bad leverage points. The estimator is, however, computationally intensive. In this thesis, an efficient algorithm is developed and implemented to increase the overall speed of the LMS estimator. The algorithm generates measurement samples in a manner that allows use of the resampling technique i.e., they make the system observable and also ensure that each measurement has a nearly equal probability of appearing in each of the measurement samples. / Master of Science

The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a power systems analysis package for use on minicomputers and programmable calculators. Algorithms for four different load flow techniques are developed and tested on the HP9830A programmable calculator. The transient stability analysis problem is reviewed, with special attention being given to the solution of the system performance equations by either the bus impedance matrix approach or the bus admittance matrix approach. Also attention is focused on the solution of the machine swing equations by the state transition method and by the technique of fourth-order Runge-Kutta. Comparisons are made between the different load flow methods to possibly determine the 'best' method to be used in the analysis package. Comparisons are also made between the methods of solving the swing equations in order to select a preferred technique for use in the stability program. / Master of Science

Interest in BiCMOS technology has been generated recently due to the potential advantages this technology offers over conventional CMOS which enjoys widespread use in today’s semiconductor industry. However, before BiCMOS can be readily adopted by the VLSI community, an understanding of the design issues and tradeoffs involved when utilizing it, must be achieved. The principal focus of this research is to move towards such an understanding through the means of analytical modeling and circuit simulation using PSPICE [1]. The device chosen for the modeling approach is the basic BiCMOS Inverting Buffer Driver. The model yields equations that characterize output rise and fall transients and quantify the delays incurred therein. At the end of the analysis, we have a composite set of delay equations that are a measure of the total gate delay and reflect the importance of individual device and circuit parameters in determining this delay. Further investigations conducted to determine the influence of device, circuit and process parameters on BiCMOS, indicate that this technology is far more resilient to variations in such parameters than CMOS. At the end of this research, we are able to make a definitive judgement about BiCMOS performance and its superiority over CMOS in the switching speed domain. / Master of Science

Much progress has been made in the United States as a whole and in Virginia in particular, in the establishment of a practical plan for extending the use of electricity to rural communities. The most satisfactory source of electric power is from the distribution system of a utility company. Many farms however cannot be economically reached by these distribution systems and there will continue to be a fertile field for the use of individual gas engine driven or small hydro-electric plants. Power companies on the whole are becoming interested in going out on a business like basis for the farm customer and will become even more interested as more study is given the subject and a better understanding of the requirements of rural service are acquired. About a 100,000 farm customers are being added yearly in the United States. Farmers are becoming "electrically minded" and are learning how to use electric power profitably. This is essential if rural electric service is to be a success, since electricity for convenience only is an expensive luxury. The Virginia plan for rural extensions is a practical workable plan that is acceptable alike to the farmer apd to the power company. Like any new tool, we have not yet learned entirely how to use it, and it may even need to be altered in a few respects to make it best serve the purpose for which it was designed. Very satisfactory progress has been made in organizing departments in the companies of this state for the express purpose of extending service into rural territory and helping to solve the farmer's electrical and power problems. The Agricultural Engineering Department of V. P. I. and Professor C. E. Seitz in particular deserve a great deal of credit for the progress rural electrification has made in Virginia. Satisfactory rate schedules are being worked out but this subject still demands much study. Two of the problems proposed in the preliminary outline of this study still require much time and study for their solution and it is recommended that they be continued. These are “what constitutes minimum, adequate, and safe construction for rural lines?" and, “what is the cost of rural lines meeting the minimum requirements as to capacity, physical strength, etc.?" The cost of serving farm customers is an obstacle to further extension of the service. One way to reduce that cost is to use cheaper line construction. The lines must however be adequately constructed to insure uninterrupted service. / M.S.

The dissertation presents a new robust method for estimating the standardized distances of the data points associated with the weighted Jacobian matrix in power system state estimation. These distances, called robust Mahalanobis distances, can be used as weight functions to robustify the residuals of both the M-estimators and the least median of squares estimators for outlier diagnostics. They can also be used for leverage diagnostics and for alleviating the ill-conditioning problem of the Jacobian matrix. The robust Mahalanobis distances are calculated in three steps. First, projection distances are calculated and statistical tests applied to them to identify leverage points. Then, the sample covariance matrix is estimated from the data set without the identified leverage points. Finally robust Mahalanobis distances are calculated from the estimated covariance matrix. The projection distances are provided by a new version of the projection algorithm proposed by Donoho and Stahel, which has been specially adapted for power systems. The new projection algorithm consists of selecting relevant directions for each measurement in the factor space and projecting on these directions only the subset of data points that have non-zero projections. It is shown that this subset is the union of the fundamental sets containing the selected measurement. The fundamental set of a state variable consists of all those measurements that observe this state variable. The probability distributions of the projection distances and the statistical cutoff values for leverage point identification have been determined through Monte Carlo simulations and Q-Q plots. It is found that the projection distances follow x²-distributions with degrees of freedom much smaller than the dimension of the factor space. Simulation results performed on various test systems have revealed that the projection algorithm can handle a large fraction of leverage points, whatever their positions in the factor space. In addition, it is very fast and compatible with real-time environment, even for very large systems. Its computing times grow linearly with system size. / Ph. D.