The Experts below are selected from a list of 315 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Randy Schnepf - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Agriculture-Based Renewable Energy Production
2013Co-Authors: Randy SchnepfAbstract:Since the late 1970s, U.S. policy makers at both the federal and state levels have enacted a variety of incentives, regulations, and programs to encourage the Production and use of agriculture-based renewable Energy. Motivations cited for these legislative initiatives include Energy security concerns, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and raising domestic demand for U.S.-produced farm products. This report provides background information on farm-based Energy Production and how this fits into the national Energy-use picture. It briefly reviews the primary agriculture-based renewable Energy types and issues of concern associated with their Production, particularly their economic and Energy efficiencies and long-run supply. Finally, this report examines the major legislation related to farm-based Energy Production and use.
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Agriculture-Based Renewable Energy Production
CRS Report for Congress, 2006Co-Authors: Randy SchnepfAbstract:Since the late 1970s, U.S. policy makers at both the federal and state levels have enacted a variety of incentives, regulations, and programs to encourage the Production and use of agriculture-based renewable Energy. Motivations cited for these legislative initiatives include Energy security concerns, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and raising domestic demand for U.S.-produced farm products. Agricultural households and rural communities have responded to these government incentives and have expanded their Production of renewable Energy, primarily in the form of biofuels and wind power, every year since 1996. The Production of ethanol (the primary biofuel produced by the agricultural sector) has risen from about 175 million gallons in 1980 to 3.9 billion gallons per year in 2005. Biodiesel Production is at a much smaller level, but has also shown growth rising from 0.5 million gallons in 1999 to an estimated 75 million gallons in 2005. Wind Energy systems Production capacity has also grown rapidly, rising from 1.7 million megawatts in 1997 to an estimated 9.1 million megawatts by January 2006. Despite this rapid growth, agriculture- and rural-based Energy Production accounted for only about 0.6% of total U.S. Energy consumption in 2004 (571 trillion Btu (British Thermal Units) out of 98,200 trillion Btu). Ethanol accounted for about 74% of agriculture-based Energy Production, wind Energy systems for 25%, and biodiesel Energy output for 1%. Key points that emerge from this report are: - agriculture has been rapidly developing its renewable Energy Production capacity (primarily as biofuels and wind); however, this growth has depended heavily on federal and state programs and incentives; - rising fossil fuel prices improve renewable Energy’s market competitiveness; however, significant improvement of existing technology or the development of new technology still is needed for current biofuel Production strategies to be economically competitive with existing fossil fuels in the absence of government support; and - a review of available data suggests that farm-based Energy Production is unlikely to be able to substantially reduce the nation’s dependence on petroleum imports unless there is a significant decline in consumption. Also, other uses (food, animal feed, industrial processing, etc.) of biomass feedstocks are likely to be adversely impacted by rapid growth in use for bioEnergy. This report provides background information on farm-based Energy Production and how this fits into the national Energy-use picture. It briefly reviews the primary agriculture-based renewable Energy types and issues of concern associated with their Production, particularly their economic and Energy efficiencies and long-run supply. Finally, this report examines the major legislation related to farm-based Energy Production and use. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Heather Poole - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Water Dependency of Energy Production and Power Generation Systems
Water, 2009Co-Authors: Rachelle Hill, Heather PooleAbstract:Water and Energy systems constitute the foundation for modern infrastructures around the world. Water and Energy infrastructure are interdependent. In the U.S., Energy Production and power generation systems are major users of freshwater resources besides agriculture. The major goal of this report is to show dependency of Energy Production and power generation systems on water availability. The data for this study is extracted from publically available governmental and scientific documents. In estimating water use, water loss (e.g. evaporation losses) is considered water consumed. Water is not considered consumed if the withdrawn water is returned to the source and can be used again for other purposes such as recreation, fisheries and water supplies. Energy Production systems considered in this study include primary fuels sources (coal, natural gas and petroleum oil), biofuels (ethanol and diesel) and synthetic fuels (coal gasification, tar sands and oil shale). Power generation technologies considered include hydroelectric, fossil fueled thermoelectric, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermoelectric and hydrogen. For comparison purposes, all Energy units are converted to a standardized unit, i.e., British Thermal Unit (BTU). Water use efficiency of various Energy/power technologies is expressed in gallons of water used per BTU generated. Results of this study show that natural gas is the most water efficient Energy source while biofuels are the least water efficient. Synthetic fuel Production processes are also water efficient but these technologies mostly depend on hydrocarbon feedstock such as coal and natural gas. In terms of power generation, hydroelectric power is the most water efficient while nuclear power is the least water efficient. The water use processes for Energy Production and power generation technologies are not well documented in the literature. Thus findings of this report are based on approximate water use volume. Furthermore, this report is solely focused on water use. Adverse impacts of Energy Production and power generation systems on environment such as water and air contamination are not considered in this report.
Alessio Giovannelli - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Photovoltaic Energy Production forecast using support vector regression
Neural Computing and Applications, 2015Co-Authors: R. De Leone, M. Pietrini, Alessio GiovannelliAbstract:Forecasting models for photovoltaic Energy Production are important tools for managing Energy flows. The aim of this study was to accurately predict the Energy Production of a PV plant in Italy, using a methodology based on support vector machines . The model uses historical data of solar irradiance, environmental temperature and past Energy Production to predict the PV Energy Production for the next day with an interval of 15 min. The technique used is based on $$\nu $$?-SVR, a support vector regression model where you can choose the number of support vectors. The forecasts of Energy Production obtained with the proposed methodology are very accurate, with the $$R^{2}$$R2 coefficient exceeding 90 % . The quality of the predicted values strongly depends on the goodness of the weather forecast, and the $$R^{2}$$R2 value decreases if the predictions of irradiance and temperature are not very accurate.
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Photovoltaic Energy Production forecast using support vector regression
Neural Computing and Applications, 2015Co-Authors: R. De Leone, M. Pietrini, Alessio GiovannelliAbstract:© 2015, The Natural Computing Applications Forum.Forecasting models for photovoltaic Energy Production are important tools for managing Energy flows. The aim of this study was to accurately predict the Energy Production of a PV plant in Italy, using a methodology based on support vector machines. The model uses historical data of solar irradiance, environmental temperature and past Energy Production to predict the PV Energy Production for the next day with an interval of 15 min. The technique used is based on ν-SVR, a support vector regression model where you can choose the number of support vectors. The forecasts of Energy Production obtained with the proposed methodology are very accurate, with the R2 coefficient exceeding 90 %. The quality of the predicted values strongly depends on the goodness of the weather forecast, and the R2 value decreases if the predictions of irradiance and temperature are not very accurate.
D H Marks - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the water consumption of Energy Production an international comparison
Environmental Research Letters, 2014Co-Authors: Edward S Spang, William R Moomaw, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Paul Kirshen, D H MarksAbstract:Producing Energy resources requires significant quantities of fresh water. As an Energy sector changes or expands, the mix of technologies deployed to produce fuels and electricity determines the associated burden on regional water resources. Many reports have identified the water consumption of various Energy Production technologies. This paper synthesizes and expands upon this previous work by exploring the geographic distribution of water use by national Energy portfolios. By defining and calculating an indicator to compare the water consumption of Energy Production for over 150 countries, we estimate that approximately 52 billion cubic meters of fresh water is consumed annually for global Energy Production. Further, in consolidating the data, it became clear that both the quality of the data and global reporting standards should be improved to track this important variable at the global scale. By introducing a consistent indicator to empirically assess coupled water–Energy systems, it is hoped that this research will provide greater visibility into the magnitude of water use for Energy Production at the national and global scales. S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/ERL/9/105002/mmedia
Rachelle Hill - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Water Dependency of Energy Production and Power Generation Systems
Water, 2009Co-Authors: Rachelle Hill, Heather PooleAbstract:Water and Energy systems constitute the foundation for modern infrastructures around the world. Water and Energy infrastructure are interdependent. In the U.S., Energy Production and power generation systems are major users of freshwater resources besides agriculture. The major goal of this report is to show dependency of Energy Production and power generation systems on water availability. The data for this study is extracted from publically available governmental and scientific documents. In estimating water use, water loss (e.g. evaporation losses) is considered water consumed. Water is not considered consumed if the withdrawn water is returned to the source and can be used again for other purposes such as recreation, fisheries and water supplies. Energy Production systems considered in this study include primary fuels sources (coal, natural gas and petroleum oil), biofuels (ethanol and diesel) and synthetic fuels (coal gasification, tar sands and oil shale). Power generation technologies considered include hydroelectric, fossil fueled thermoelectric, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermoelectric and hydrogen. For comparison purposes, all Energy units are converted to a standardized unit, i.e., British Thermal Unit (BTU). Water use efficiency of various Energy/power technologies is expressed in gallons of water used per BTU generated. Results of this study show that natural gas is the most water efficient Energy source while biofuels are the least water efficient. Synthetic fuel Production processes are also water efficient but these technologies mostly depend on hydrocarbon feedstock such as coal and natural gas. In terms of power generation, hydroelectric power is the most water efficient while nuclear power is the least water efficient. The water use processes for Energy Production and power generation technologies are not well documented in the literature. Thus findings of this report are based on approximate water use volume. Furthermore, this report is solely focused on water use. Adverse impacts of Energy Production and power generation systems on environment such as water and air contamination are not considered in this report.
