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79 records · Page 5

The Role of Mobility Data Hubs in an Integrated Decarbonized Transportation Future

The landscape for connected mobility ecosystems is evolving rapidly as information and communication technologies lower the cost and complexity of connecting people to places, integrating transportation modes and collecting data regarding such movements. These developments have been key to unlocking new business opportunities, particularly through mobility services. While the mechanisms for data collection, processing, and transfer have made significant advances in the past decade, the broader landscape of mobility data architectures and data users remains largely unresolved. It is unclear as to whether the result will converge towards a framework that resembles a coherent quilt or a disjointed patchwork of competing visions. Initial approaches to mobility data collection and provisioning have been largely siloed - by mode or software - or held for exclusive use, however several key players are quickly realizing the need and opportunities enabled through integrated mobility data eco-systems, or mobility data hubs as referred to in this paper. As the business case for hosting mobility data hubs evolves, there is great uncertainty regarding their impact to either advance or exacerbate sustainable mobility (e.g., seamless connectivity across modes, decreased energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, etc.). Groups such as the United Nations and World Bank have identified data platforms as a key enabler of realizing environmental and social benefits. If designed with decarbonization in mind, we hypothesize that enhanced observability provided by these ever-expanding mobility data hubs can facilitate energy and emissions reductions that are otherwise limited by transactional barriers and knowledge asymmetry that is inherent to a more siloed approach. In this sense, integration of mobility data can help to create a competitive playing field where value is not determined by exclusivity of data, but rather the quality and uniqueness of a given service. The goals of this paper are to 1) identify key players and data architectures that are emerging in a service-based mobility market, 2) explore several use cases where mobility data hubs have enabled greater sustainability outcomes, and 3) discuss key issues that will need to be resolved to fully leverage emerging mobility data hubs towards a sustainable transportation future.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,MATHEMATICS AND COMPUT↗

Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers™

Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers™ (CSIL) is a GIS-based tool that summarizes spatio-temporal datasets based on overlapping features and attributes. Applying a recursive quadtree method and multiple additive frameworks, the CSIL tool allows users to analyze raster and vector datasets simultaneously by calculating data, record, or attribute density. The CSIL tool was designed based on the original approach (Bauer et al. 2015) and more information on the tool overall along with applications can be found in Romeo et al. 2019). Providing an efficient summary of disparate geospatial data, CSIL bridges the gap between understanding data and analysis. Bauer, J. R., Nelson, J., Romeo, L., Eynard, J., Sim, L., Halama, J., Rose, K., & Graham, J. (2015). A spatio-temporal approach to analyze broad risks and potential impacts associated with uncontrolled hydrocarbon release events in the offshore Gulf of Mexico (NETL-TRS-2-2015 EPAct Technical Report Series). U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory: Morgantown, WV; p 60. Romeo, L., Nelson, J., Wingo, P., Bauer, J., Justman, D., & Rose, K. (2019). Cumulative spatial impact layers: A novel multivariate spatio-temporal analytical summarization tool. Transactions in GIS.

Multivariate Visualization↗

Blockchain Empowered Provenance Framework for Sensor Identity Management and Data Flow Security in Fossil-based Power Plants

The overall goals of this project are divided into 3 important phases. First, a peer-to-peer SCADA network is to be established where identity profile of sensors from fossil-power plants will be stored in an immutable manner in order to verify data flow integrity in real time. Second, it is aimed to develop a Blockchain-based provenance platform to audit equipment operations along with data and process integrity violations. In this phase, various operational rules will be incorporated in the ledger on behalf of the operating sensor so its abnormal use can be easily detected. In addition, it is aimed to achieve provenance when the rate of transactions is exceedingly high, thus enabling to design a scalable provenance scheme that can work in real time when number of data collecting points or sensor units increase in fossil-based power plants. Finally, a working testbed will be developed to integrate the Blockchain platform with sensor-based fossil power plant comprising of Remote Terminal Units (RTU) and SCADA devices. Using multiple Raspberry-PIs mimicking the role of RTUs that are interfaced with multiple sensors devices will be deployed to serve as a critical component of fossil power plant and the performance metrics such as throughput, latency, bootstrapping time, etc., will be evaluated on the testbed.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Are current effectiveness criteria fit for purpose? Using a controversial strategic assessment as a test case

Highlights: • The effectiveness framework of Bond et al. (2015) is tested on a case study. • The strategic assessment of the proposed Browse LNG Precinct is evaluated. • The effectiveness framework is modified as a result of the analysis. • “Legitimacy” encompasses both pluralism and normative effectiveness. • Substantive effectiveness should include consideration of unintended consequences. - Abstract: The aim of this paper is to test the broader utility of the sustainability assessment effectiveness framework of Bond et al. (2015) by applying it to a controversial strategic assessment case study. The effectiveness framework comprises six dimensions: procedural effectiveness, substantive effectiveness, transactive effectiveness, normative effectiveness, pluralism, and knowledge and learning. It was originally developed to evaluate sustainability assessment at a system-wide level and it has not been previously applied to a specific case study. The analysis was conducted through document review and the first-hand experience of two of the authors who were involved in the case study in different capacities. The case study selected was the strategic assessment of the proposed Browse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Precinct in Western Australia, which was conducted over the period 2007–2015 under the strategic assessment provisions of both the Western Australian and Australian Commonwealth environmental legislation. The framework provided a useful structure within which this complex case study could be explored, its strengths and weaknesses brought to light, and the interactions between the dimensions highlighted. We also found opportunities for refinement of the framework. As a result of this analysis we propose to replace the final three dimensions of the framework with legitimacy, where a legitimate process is one which all stakeholders agree is fair and which delivers an acceptable outcome for all parties, though we acknowledge the need for further conceptualisation of this dimension. We also suggest that the concept of substantive effectiveness should be expanded to incorporate the unintended consequences of impact assessment. Our research thus makes both a useful addition to the literature already published on the Browse case study, as well as to the literature on impact assessment effectiveness.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Transactive Control and Coordination of Distributed Assets for Ancillary Services: Controls, Markets and Simulations

The purpose of this project is to develop a plausible transactive framework for DER participation in a regulation market. This document focuses on the methodology for creating a transactive-based regulation market, using one class of end-use devices as an example. The system contains two parts, one for acquiring resources at a longer timescale and a second for controlling the devices in a distributed manner at much shorter timescales. The first is based on a formal double-auction market where every five minutes each device bids the amount of resource it is able to provide and the minimum price that it would accept to provide that resource. The bid price is determined by the current state of the device and the willingness of the consumer to participate. The market system collects and orders the bids by price, and then determines a cleared price to meet the level of regulation needed. It broadcasts the cleared price to the devices, which results in contracting the services of the least cost resources. By contract, the devices that cleared the market are now engaged for the next five-minute market period. They are part of a distributed control system that allows them to respond at four-second intervals to a broadcasted regulation signal. The approach also limits the number of times devices can cycle between states (say on to off) in a given amount of time to protect the equipment life.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Midmarket Solar Policies in the United States: A Guide for Midsized Solar Customers

The midscale market for solar photovoltaics (PV) has not experienced the same high growth rate as residential- or utility-scale market segments in the past five years when solar PV deployment increased rapidly. Midscale solar can be defined as behind-the-meter solar PV between 50 kilowatts and 2 megawatts adopted by multi-housing residential, commercial, industrial, non-profit, and other entities. A number of challenges face the midscale segment, including difficulties in contracting, mismatch between tenant lease and PV financing terms, high transaction costs relative to project sizes, and inefficiencies in matching prospective projects with capital. The changing policy landscape across U.S. states provides both opportunities and challenges to midmarket solar. Some states, such as California, are expanding system capacity limits for policies such as net metering, thus enabling a wider range of customers to benefit from excess generation. A number of states and utilities are making changes to rate design to introduce new or higher user fees for solar customers or reduced tariffs for net metering, which decrease the value of solar generation. An understanding of these policies relative to project feasibility and economics is important for prospective customers to make informed decisions to adopt solar PV. This guide complements existing solar policy resources to help potential customers navigate through the policy landscape in order to make informed decisions for their solar investment. The first part of this guide introduces the key solar policies necessary for policy-based decision-making, which involves using knowledge of a solar policy to improve project economics and efficiency. Policies that could result in policy-based decisions include interconnection standards, net metering, user fees, incentives, and third-party ownership policies. The goal of this section is to equip prospective customers and project developers with the tools necessary to understand and use solar policies in a dynamic policy environment. The second part of this guide provides a complete, state-by-state inventory of midmarket solar policies for potential customers and developers to use as reference when making policy-based decisions. Although solar policies are dynamic, the profiles provide a framework for assessing policies to build the parameters that could be used to determine feasibility and structure of a solar PV system for midmarket customers and developers.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Final Report on Community Solar Design Models for Consumer, Industry, & Utility Success

Since the inception of the first community solar program in 2006, a number of different utility, solar industry and consumer driven community solar program models have emerged across the country with varying regulatory and solar market frameworks behind them. There is little consistency in how programs are administered, participant benefits are assigned, and customers are charged for participation. Further, while it is regularly speculated that community solar programs meet the needs of customers, no such consumer research has been completed against different community solar program models. This collaborative research effort addressed three primary issues: Program design models are numerous and evolving, with varying degrees of applicability across different state policy, utility regulatory, and solar market types. The agents, transaction methods, and accruing costs and benefits are highly variable and largely built on anecdotally successful model evolution. ‘Community solar’ (shared/group solar, solar gardens, etc.) has become a catch-all concept that means different things to different stakeholders, limiting constructive program development and growth. Everything from green pricing programs to remote net metering to metering aggregation has been framed as community solar. Consumer research on individual concepts and program models has been done, but no comprehensive and comparative market research on the broader design models and attributes has been performed. SEPA’s collaborative research effort on Community Solar Design Models for Consumer, Industry, & Utility Success is premised on the principle that greater standardization of community solar models and better understanding of consumer interests are key underpinnings of increased community solar deployment. Utilizing a cross-sectional multi-stakeholder working group, as well as focus groups and surveys, webinars, targeted outreach, and other tools, this project aims to expand the community solar knowledge base, facilitate information exchange, identify opportunities for standardization and improvement, determine what consumers’ interests are and how best to message to them, promote the research results within the solar and utility industries, and advance key opportunities for strategic deployment plans for community solar. A summary of these key takeaways/lessons learned during the grant period include: Siting of system should be evaluated up-front in the process Engage stakeholders collaboratively and early to help ensure the best chance for a successful program IT/billing departments must have a seat at the design table Establish upfront target objectives with respect to residential and commercial program access levels helps ensure program success Balance trade-offs to manage utility and developer risk with customer participation carefully to optimize pricing and sizing the program offering Over the course of the 42 month grant period, SEPA and its project team conducted a series of activities all designed to accelerate the number and size of community solar programs across the country. These activities included: Community Solar Program Design Models (2 reports) – SEPA, in collaboration with its projects team, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, and over 60 administrators of actual community solar programs, developed two reports providing hard data on the developments of community solar. These reports touched on program performance, quantity and type of programs, and program design steps, among other aspects. The reports collectively received over 2000 unique downloads. Market Research Report – SEPA, in collaboration with The Shelton Group, conducted a series of national surveys and focus groups to identify what customers were looking for in a community solar offering. The resulting report, “What the Community Solar Customer Wants”, received over 1,000 unique downloads. Technical Assistance Projects – SEPA supported 8 organizations who were pursuing community solar programs. Based on this support, over 5.7 MWs of new solar capacity have been developed. Technical Assistance Case Studies – SEPA developed two case studies detailing the technical assistance work in Fremont, NE Department of Utilities and the public power arm of Minster Ohio. These two reports have received 1,002 unique downloads. Webinar – SEPA hosted two webinars on community solar which collectively received 743 participants. The webinars focused on disseminating the findings of the research conducted under this project, as well as the research conducted in separate solar market pathways projects. Community Solar Design Workshops – 120 registrants learned about the trends in community solar and participated a business case exercise to design their own programs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗