This study compares two widely used approaches for robustness analysis of decision problems: the info-gap method originally developed by Ben-Haim and the robust decision making (RDM) approach originally developed by Lempert, Popper, and Bankes.
To determine whether the industrial base for the U.S. domestic coal-based electricity generation industry can maintain the capability to design, construct, operate, and maintain coal-fired electricity generating units within reasonable cost, schedule, performance, environmental, and quality expectations, this book reviews interviews with stakeholders and data describing key elements of industry capability and validation or verification of concerns.
This study investigates racial and ethnic disparities in hospital admission and emergency room visit rates resulting from exposure to ozone and fine particulate matter levels in excess of federal standards ("excess attributable risk").
The Qatar Foundation is establishing a national research institute to conduct and collaborate on applied research in energy, environment, and water issues, the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute. This book recommends research priorities for the new institution and reports on a survey of relevant research institutions in the region.
Biomass is an increasingly important source of electricity, heat, and liquid fuel. One near-term option for using biomass to generate electricity is to cofire biomass in coal-fired electricity plants. This report focuses on two aspects of biomass use: plant-site modifications, changes in operations, and costs associated with cofiring biomass; and the logistical issues associated with delivering biomass to the plant.
This paper provides a framework for incorporating uncertainty analysis specifically into estimates of the life cycle GHG emissions from the production of biomass.
This paper uses a combinatorial approach in which scenarios are created for all combinations of the technology development assumptions that underlie a smaller, representative set of scenarios.
U.S. power plants seek to diversify their fuel sources. Biomass energy is a renewable resource, generally with lower life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuels. Prospective users need information about infrastructure, logistics, costs, and constraints for the full biomass life cycle. This model estimates the cost and availability of biomass energy resources from U.S. agricultural lands from the perspective of an individual power plant.
Examines how California's failure to meet federal air quality standards has affected hospitalizations and insurers' costs.
Air pollution is harmful to human health, but little is known about the costs of pollution-related health care. This study estimated the effect of air pollution on medical spending: The authors determined how much failing to meet air quality standards cost various purchasers of hospital care in California over 2005-2007.
This report accompanies the Calculating Uncertainty in Biomass Emissions model, version 1.0 (CUBE 1.0), and provides explanation of model content and use. It is intended to complement extensive documentation contained in the model itself. CUBE 1.0, available for download on the NETL website, determines the life cycle GHG emissions of biomass feedstocks from planting the biomass to delivery to the bioenergy plant gate ("farm-to-gate"). Included are emissions associated with feedstock production, transportation, and processing. The feedstocks in CUBE 1.0 include three dedicated energy crops (corn grain, switchgrass, and mixed prairie biomass) and two biomass residues (forest residue and mill residue)
International energy-assistance programs are a potentially important tool for addressing the challenges of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and increasing U.S. energy security. This study reviews U.S. programs and compares them with German programs, which take a different, more centralized approach. Insights from recent studies of U.S. energy and climate policy are presented, along with recommendations for further investigation.
To support development of affordable housing for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and for the region's newcomers, researchers from the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute studied Mississippi housing and made recommendations for policymakers.
