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GIS and Renewable Energy |
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Catherine Clark is currently in the Master's of Public Policy program studying environmental policy and in the Geographic Information Science Master's Certificate program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. Catherine is originally from Cincinnati, OH and has a Bachelor's Degree in both Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of Cincinnati.
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Geographic Information Systems are currently being used to analyze the potential for renewable energy as a source for producing electricity and biofuels around the world. Many models are being developed to aid in planning for renewable technology to replace existing fuel sources or to be introduced into rural areas with no current electrical infrastructure. These analytical tools are advantageous for use by policy-makers, utility companies, planning commissions, and environmentalists. Below is some of the published research about such GIS models and their implementation in case studies. 1. Evaluation of Renewable Energy Potential Using GIS Decision Support System Renewable Energy, Vol. 13 No. 3 March 1998 p. 333 344 Voivontas, D. Assimacopoulous D., Mourelatous A., Corominis J. The authors claim that renewable energy sources (RES) reduce energy loss, improve the reliability and stability of the energy system, and minimize environmental impact during the production of electricity. Within their proposed framework, GIS would partner with a decision support system (GIS-DSS) to measure theoretical, available, technological, and economic exploitability of RES in a given area. Their framework proposes to minimize social and environmental impacts by taking into account the location of people and the location of difficult or sensitive areas based on local knowledge. This framework should be used by policy makers, investors, and utilities to maximize the RES potential. 2. GIS Tools for Renewable Energy Modelling Renewable Energy, Vol. 16 1999 p. 1262-1267 Sorensen, Bent Erik, Meibom, Peter This short paper describes the process of measuring the potential renewable energy production by solar, wind, and biomass in Denmark. The authors used the UN population data to determine the population and renewable energy potential in each 0.5°x0.5° lat/long grid cell. This was taken with topographical features, annual rainfall, and the demand of energy. All of these factors can be analyzed together in the GIS with the same geographic location in common to determine the best energy source for each energy project in question. The authors attempted to use current energy standards to determine demand for 2050 to see if renewable energy would be sufficient or if other sources would also be necessary to satisfy demand. The results of this analysis were not advanced enough to answer their proposed questions, but it did provide a start to the data collection and theoretical work necessary to answer it. 3. Computer Aided Analysis of the Integration of Renewable-Energy Systems in Remote Areas Using a Geographical-Information System Applied Energy, Vol. 63 No. 3 July 1999 p. 141-160 Muselli, M., Notton, G., Poggi, P., Louche, A. The author of this methodology took a different perspective to create data layers from scratch for electricity grid set-up, potential for solar energy, and topographical features on the ground surface. The used this information to analyze the most cost effective means of providing electricity to Corsica farmers that are currently lacking either existing infrastructure or decentralized electric production. For home use of less than 10 kWh per day and night, it was determined that decentralized power using a combination of photovoltaic cells and batteries was a more cost effective solution than extension of the grid network to these houses. This investigation hopes to one day contribute to the GIS analysis potential by integrating fuel transport costs into engine generator calculations and linking the mask phenomena with local topography for better mapping of solar potential. 4. A GIS/PSS Planning Tool for the Initial Grid Connection Assessment of Renewable Generation Renewable Energy, Vol. 32 No. 5 April 2007 p. 727-737 Quinonez-Varela, G., Cruden, A., Graham, C., Puton, B., Blair, L., Thomson, J. The Scottish Executive, in an effort to meet Kyoto Protocol standards, is seeking ways to increase the amount of electricity that is produced renewably. One of the many hurdles to this can be the amount of time it takes for energy companies to assess an area for its renewable energy potential and the impact it would have on the existing network. Engineers have teamed up to develop a system of combining GIS analysis (IDRISI) with power system simulation (PSS) software. Instead of weeks, an analysis can now be done in about a day that will determine the best point for attachment of a new power source to the grid, accounting for things such as friction and network capability. The system can not yet account for private/public lands, but can be quickly reviewed and edited by developers and energy companies. 5. Application of Geographic Information Systems to Rural Electrification with Renewable Energy Sources Renewable Energy, Vol. 30 2005 p. 1897-1912 Amador, J. and Dominguez, J. Many applications using SolarGIS were carried out to test the calculation of leveling electric costs (LEC) of renewable energy production such as wind or solar verses traditional energy production. Systems of disperse production and concentrated production were also assessed based on medium and low voltage loads on the existing network. In the end, the authors were able to make modifications to the SolarGIS program to automate the calculation of accumulation, remove gasoline as a source material in analysis, allow users access to all GIS required parameters, allow access to other important parameters that will change the output such as population associated with each grid cell and technological advancements in the real world. 6. GIS Based Evaluation of Multifarious Local Renewable Energy Sources: A Case Study of the Chigu Area of Southwestern Taiwan Energy Policy, Vol. 34 2006 p. 730-742 Yue, Cheng-Dar and Wang, Shi-Sian Researchers in this study were attempting to evaluate for policy-makers the best use of renewable energy for a particular 12,560 ha piece of land in the Chigua area. The area is unique in that the government has already shown significant interest in converting the outdated fish farm area to renewable energy farms (consisting of solar, wind, and/or biomass from sugar cane). The area currently contains a section of agricultural land that should be preserved with the renewable energy system set-up. It is also in the migratory pattern of the endangered Black-Faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) bird. Based on the analysis, it was determined that the near shore area would benefit most from using wind turbines but that sugar cane biomass for use in automobiles and solar power would be a good compliment to the wind farms. 7. Lessons Learned – NREL Village Power Program Flowers, Larry US Dept of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory This documentation came out of a 1998 conference to discuss the findings of pilot projects in 12 countries around the world that NREL managed and provided technical assistance for. The pilot projects were funded in many different ways and implemented different technological approaches to provide renewable energy to regions without any existing electricity system. The findings were based on NREL employee feedback and included lessons about institutional aspects, lessons learned from the characteristics of the pilot projects, lessons about implementation, operational issues, and technology needs. Overall, the projects indicated the system to be functional, sustainable, and economic. 8. A Regional-Scale GIS-Based Modeling System for Evaluating the Potential Costs and Supplies of Biomass for Biomass Crops Proceedings, BIOENERGY '96--The Seventh National Bioenergy Conference. Meeting held September 15-20, 1996, Nashville, Tennessee, published by the Southeastern Regional Biomass Energy Program. Graham, R.L et. al. http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/bioen96/graham1.html The authors present a GIS model to calculate the amount of a biomass crop that could be produced and converted into ethanol fuel in a state. The model is based on calculating the amount of land use in the state dedicated to a primary (cash crop) or conversely a secondary crop. This allows the investigators to provide two different predictions according to the market value of the biomass crop. The model also incorporates soil quality, climate, current land use, and road network information. This in conjunction with economic, transportation, and environmental models allow the researchers to accurately describe the potential costs and benefits of biomass production in a given state. 9. Spatial Analysis Methodology Applied to Rural Electrification Renewable Energy, Vol. 31 2006 p. 1505-1520 Amador, J. and Dominguez, J. The authors of this article attempt to test the reliability of the analysis and results of using GIS to estimate information about the use of RES and their proposed projects. The researchers determined which parameters had the most influence on the analysis by performing a sensitivity analysis to each variable making up the LEC. They then performed a spatial sensitivity analysis on the study area. Finally, they studied the spatial behavior of the variables to determine the stability of the results. Researchers concluded that the variables with the greatest influence on the outcome of analysis were energy demand, storage life, photovoltaic system investment cost, fuel price, and solar radiation. These factors should be measured most carefully and given the highest level of scrutiny due to the fact that they have the ability to cause the most uncertainty in the analysis of deciding where and what type of RES to rely on. 10. Spatial Analysis of Rural Energy System International Journal of Geographic Information Science Vol. 14 No. 8 2000 p. 855-873 Pokharel, Shaligram The authors of this article created a GIS based model that would allow them to determine energy surplus potential, energy deficit, and energy balanced areas within a given village development committee within a watershed as well as determine energy demands. They created a spatial energy information system (SEIS) that took into account these factors by assessing the production ability of either biomass (fuelwood, charcoal, crop residues, animal manure, and biogas) or non-biomass (solar, hydro, and wind) sources. They used this model to assess the RES potential in rural Nepal and demonstrated the SEIS was a valid method for developing a location specific energy resource and consumption profile. 11. National Renewable Energy Laboratory A National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy http://www.nerl.gov/gis/ The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy has many objectives. They have the mission to develop technology associated with renewable energy, advance the related science and engineering, and transfer that knowledge into innovations that can address the country’s energy goals. While they are involved in many different areas of renewable energy and even help manage projects around the world, they also research and produce GIS data to be used by other investigators around the world. This free GIS-ready data describes the potentials for solar, wind, biomass, and hydrogen production around the country. These maps are all completed and in raster format for the western part of the U.S. now with the goal of having the entire country finished soon. They also provide GIS data about the emergency management system and the existing infrastructure of the electrical grid. To go along with this data, NREL provides a free downloadable GIS Toolkit that provides many analytical tools specifically designed for use with energy production analysis. 12. National Historical Geographic Information System Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota http://www.nhgis.org The National Historical Geographic Information System is a project from the Minnesota Population Center to create databases of census information from 1790-2000 and displayed in a geographic form. This data is readily available and free to download and use in conjunction with GIS data. The census information is broken down by census tract, state, municipality, or block group depending on the year. While this project is still ongoing and incomplete, much of the data and metadata from the last century is already available.
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