In power generating terms, a pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) energy generating plant, on a river entering a sea or ocean, is equivalent to a hydroelectric dam with a height of about 60 meters. Therefore, PRO can add significantly to existing renewable power generation capacity if economical constrains of the method are resolved. PRO energy generation relies on a semipermeable membrane that is p...

We consider the problem of modeling hourly dispatch and energy allocation decisions in the presence of grid-level storage. The model makes it possible to capture hourly, daily and seasonal variations in wind, solar and demand, while also modeling the presence of hydroelectric storage to smooth energy production over both daily and seasonal cycles. The problem is formulated as a stochastic, dyna...

Due to rising energy demands and abundant untapped potential, hydropower projects are rapidly increasing in the Neotropics. This is especially true in the wet and rugged Andean Amazon, where regional governments are prioritizing new hydroelectric dams as the centerpiece of long-term energy plans. However, the current planning for hydropower lacks adequate regional and basin-scale assessment of ...

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have substantially contributed to intensification of heavy precipitation and thus the risk of flood occurrence, and this anthropogenic climate change is now likely to continue for many centuries. Thus, precise quantification of human-induced GHG emissions is urgently required for modeling future global warming and precipitation changes, which is stro...

This paper presents hybrid genetic algorithms to optimize the structure of the main parts of hydroelectric sets based on the ®nite element method. Firstly, the optimal model of the main parts of hydroelectric sets is established including an objective function and some constraint conditions. Afterwards, the stochastic direction method (SDM) and a genetic algorithm (GA) method are applied to sol...

it is expected that, compared with other power plants, changes in fuel cost for power plants in the deregulated electricity market leads to changes in the generation capacity of wind power plants. to quantify this effect, this article aims at modeling energy generation capacity and supply or distribution of different power plants as opposed to those of wind power plants. the proposed model was ...

Megadamania The global desire to develop energyhungry industries and Western lifestyles, combined with the necessity to do so without further increasing the use of fossil fuels, has led to a massive spree of dam building around the world. A recent assessment by Christiane Zarfl from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries at Berlin, Germany, and colleagues estimates tha...

BACKGROUND Freshwater mussels remain among the most imperiled species in North America due primarily to habitat loss or degradation. Understanding how mussels respond to habitat changes can improve conservation efforts. Mussels deposit rings in their shell in which age and growth information can be read, and thus used to evaluate how mussels respond to changes in habitat. However, discrepancies...

Public participation is now part of many decision making processes for managing environmental and technical risks. This article describes a test of a strategy to improve the quality of public input by combining themes from risk communication with the prescriptive decision process of value-focused thinking. It was hypothesized that participating in a structured, value-focused risk communication ...