Encyclopedia entry
Business model to supply rural electric cooperatives with an integrated renewable energy
ASEM, Annual International Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management, 36, pp.51-59
01 Jan 2015
Abstract
The United States has tremendous potential for harnessing different forms of renewable energy which could help reduce our climate change risks and dependence on foreign oil. The Great Plains alone could provide all the power our country could foreseeably need with just wind power. But, in addition to wind, the Plains are an excellent resource for biofuel feedstocks such as native grasses, wheat, corn, oil producing crops and agricultural wastes due to the natural climate and abundant rainfall. This paper describes a business model to use local High Plains renewable resources to satisfy rural residential and industrial / agricultural power demand and also, to process fuels for local and export sales. This model is based on an integrated solution producing syngas which can be stored and transported using the country's current transportation infrastructure. This solution has great potential for the nearly 300 Rural Electrification Associations (REA's) currently in the Great Plains which do not produce power. Currently, the REAs typically purchase the majority of their power from privately owned non-renewable type power plants such as coal or combined cycle. The integrated solution provides an opportunity for REAs to utilize renewable energy locally which will reduce greenhouse gases (GHG), help conserve water that is used in conventional cooling evaporation systems, and diminish Grid burdening.
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Details
- Title
- Business model to supply rural electric cooperatives with an integrated renewable energy
- Creators
- Carlo CilibertiJoseph P MartinStephen V Smith
- Publication Details
- ASEM, Annual International Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management, 36, pp.51-59
- Conference
- ASEM, Annual International Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management, 36, 36th
- Publisher
- WTI-Frankfurt-digital GmbH
- Number of pages
- 1
- Resource Type
- Encyclopedia entry
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Construction, Engineering, and Project Management and Systems Engineering [Historical]; [Retired Faculty]; Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Identifiers
- 991019173740704721