Highlight
Energy Policy and Technology
Achievement/Results
Energy Policy PUBP 8803 is a new class that fills a requirement for the new Energy Systems minor at Georgia Tech and is a requirement for trainees in the NSF funded Nanostructured Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion (NESAC) IGERT. Students learn energy policy theory from a welfare economics perspective. They learn the assumptions of the competitive market model, market failures that justify government intervention, and the tradeoffs associated with tools that address these market failures. We review the major sources (coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, renewables) and end uses (electricity, transportation, residential & commercial use) of energy in the U.S., as well as policies associated with the promotion of and regulation of those sources and end uses. Particular attention is paid to the regulation of electricity markets, environmental regulations associated with coal, nuclear, oil, and natural gas, and policies associated with the promotion of renewables, fossil fuels, nuclear, and energy efficiency. Students complete a group project that evaluates a problem space of their choices and assesses the tradeoffs associated with different approaches to addressing that problem. Graduate students complete a research project that explores an area that intersects between the technical characteristics of energy consumption and policies that promote it.
Guest speakers include a climate negotiator from the State Department, the Deputy Director for the Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, and the former Vice-President of Environmental Affairs at Southern Company. NESAC trainees worked in multidisciplinary groups whose expertise spanned from science and engineering to public policy. Three topics were investigated, namely “The Role of Public Policy on Electric Vehicle Charging Standards”, “A Detailed Assessment of Water Usage of Ethanol and Electric Vehicles in the U.S.”, and “Net Metering in the State of Georgia”. Regarding electric vehicles (EV), EV’s are touted as the future of passenger vehicle transportation since they may minimize pollution at the local and global scale. However, EVs are currently viewed as an inferior replacement for gasoline-powered alternatives due to long charge times. Rapid direct current (DC) charging can overcome this limitation, but the technology is in its infancy. Standards such as the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Combo Charger and CHAdeMO® are competing to obtain market dominance. Arguments based on externalities and imperfect competition, suggest that government-led standard setting can improve the social benefit for the economy as a whole. Four case studies on the advent of railroad air brakes, HDTV, electricity, and automobiles were used as analogies to investigate how and when government should intervene. These results were then applied to the current DC charger standardization process. Qualitative conclusions were drawn and future research needs identified.
Concerns over the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change are increasing the demand for alternatives to transportation powered by petroleum based liquid fuels to those based on alternative energy sources and storage materials. The literature on water usage and transportation consistently emphasizes the potential for transportation alternatives to pose a significant stress on local water sources. While a number of studies have documented the water impact of increased alternative transport fuels using spatial resolution at the state level or above, few have conducted an analysis at the county level.
A second group of IGERT trainees showed that when characterizing the water use of biofuels, only a few areas pose potential concern in regards to water scarcity. The counties identified as needing greater consideration are in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. When comparing the water usage for future expansion of ethanol production and greater electric vehicle adoption, analysis suggests a greater strain on regional water sources supporting ethanol production compared with electric vehicles. It was estimated that 9.2 gallons of water are withdrawn per mile traveled for in an electric vehicle and 10.4 gallons of water withdrawn per mile traveled in an E100 vehicle.
Finally, a third group analyzed net metering which allows consumers to provide electricity to the grid and enables expansion of distributed generation, in the State of Georgia. Net metering also enables consumers to produce power, reducing generation demands and negative externalities, such as climate change, asthma, smog, acid rain, agricultural damage, and premature death, from traditional plants. While not technically prohibited in the State, the current State policies received an “F” score. In Georgia, Georgia Power operates as a regulated monopoly. While its perspective is important, it should not solely determine electricity related policy decisions. Modeling the effects of net metering on the State of Georgia should take into account the perspective of society. Through a technology analysis, net metering model and the societal impact model, the trainees provided a complete assessment of the impact of net metering on the State of Georgia. Through these capstone-like projects, cross disciplinary interactions were facilitated and the student groups are following up with additional research to lead to publication of their results.
Address Goals
Through the Energy Policy PUBP 8803 course, trainees in the NSF funded Nanostructured Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion (NESAC) IGERT studied energy policy theory from a welfare economics perspective, learned the assumptions of the competitive market model, market failures that justify government intervention, and the tradeoffs associated with tools that address these market failures and reviewed the major sources and end uses of energy in the U.S., as well as policies associated with their promotion and regulation. The trainees had direct experience working in highly multidisciplinary groups whose expertise spanned from science and engineering to public policy. These interactions allowed the students to investigate potential impacts of policy on the development of technology, and vice versa. The analyses they conducted elucidated energy centric areas of science and engineering oriented research that are of strategic importance to this critical societal need. Through their multi-disciplinary projects, trainees developed new experimental tools and models that will be important to the development of advanced nanomaterials and associated policies for energy applications. The methods and protocols will likely be of significance for other high technology applications.
