The role of public policy in optimizing renewable energy development in the greater southern Appalachian mountains

This research presents a third component of a comprehensive decision support system for energy planning that allows for combining existing electricity generating capabilities with increased use of renewable energy sources. It focuses on energy planning at the regional level, and concentrates specifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Renewable & sustainable energy reviews 2011-10, Vol.15 (8), p.3690-3702
Main Authors: Arnette, Andrew N., Zobel, Christopher W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Appalachian Mountains
Applied sciences
carbon markets
coal
Costs
decision support systems
Electric potential
Electricity
Energy
Energy use
Exact sciences and technology
Geographic information systems
greenhouse gas emissions
linear programming
Optimization
planning
Policies
pollution
Public policy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy Public policy Optimization
solar energy
wind
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Summary:This research presents a third component of a comprehensive decision support system for energy planning that allows for combining existing electricity generating capabilities with increased use of renewable energy sources. It focuses on energy planning at the regional level, and concentrates specifically on the greater southern Appalachian mountains of the eastern United States: a region that was chosen for analysis not only due to its heavy dependence on coal for electricity, but also because of its potential for increased use of wind and solar power. Previous research used a geographic information system (GIS) model for identifying renewable energy potential to provide input data for a multi-objective linear programming (MOLP) model to determine the optimal constrained mix of renewable energy sources and existing fossil fuel facilities by balancing annual generation costs against the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. This new component of the system analyzes three potential public policies—renewable portfolio standard, carbon tax, and renewable energy production tax credit—that have been used to foster increased renewable energy usage. These policies require minor modifications to the MOLP model for implementation. The results of these policy cases were then analyzed to determine the impact that these policies have on generation cost and pollution emissions within the region.
ISSN:1364-0321
1879-0690
DOI:10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.012