1,720,981 research outputs found
Socioeconomic and environmental impacts of bringing the sun to earth: A sustainability analysis of a fusion power plant deployment
No full textProducing electricity by nuclear fusion on Earth in this century is pursued by the academia and governments. Apart from the environmental and energy security benefits, fusion energy deployment would stimulate economic growth and employment. This research provides novel results of the global socioeconomic (value added, employment) and environmental (CO2) effects of the investments in a fusion power plant of 1.45 GW hypothetically deployed in Europe. A multi-regional input-output approach is used. Results show a multiplier effect in the production of goods and services of 2.2 (3.6 considering induced effects). The most benefited are Europe (47%) and United States (20%), due to the investment phase. In O&M, China and Japan arise as important suppliers. Most of value added would be captured in Europe (48%) and the United States (28%), being mining, construction and business services the most benefited activities. Intensive in employment generation, it would create 183 thousand full-time equivalent jobs, mainly in Europe (46%) and China (21%). The carbon footprint would be 11.4 gCO(2)/kWh mostly originated in Europe, United States and Japan, with a similar share. When considered, induced effects have a relevant impact on results. Despite the limitations, ex-ante evaluations are essential in setting priorities for fusion technology development. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Analysis of the effects of electrification of the road transport sector on the possible penetration of nuclear fusion in the long-term european energy mix
Full text linkThe European Roadmap towards the production of electricity from nuclear fusion foresees the potential availability of nuclear fusion power plants (NFPPs) in the second half of this century. The possible penetration of that technology, typically addressed by using the global energy system EUROFusion TIMES Model (ETM), will depend, among other aspects, on its costs compared to those of the other available technologies for electricity production, and on the future electricity demand. This paper focuses on the ongoing electrification process of the transport sector, with special attention devoted to road transport. A survey on the present and forthcoming technologies, as foreseen by several manufacturers and other models, and an international vehicle database are taken into account to develop the new road transport module, then implemented and harmonized inside ETM. Following three different storylines, the computed results are presented in terms of the evolution of the road transport demand in the next decades, fleet composition and CO2emissions. The ETM results are in line with many other studies. On one hand, they highlight, for the European road transport energy consumption pattern, the need for dramatic changes in the transport market, if the most ambitious environmental goals are to be pursued. On the other hand, the results also show that NFPP adoption on a commercial scale could be justified within the current projection of the investment costs, if the deep penetration of electricity in the road transport sector also occurs
The Fusion to Hydrogen Option in a Carbon Free Energy System
Full text linkTo address climate change and keep the global temperature increase within 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels in the long term, ambitious climate policies are required. Decarbonizing all sectors of the economy requires a shift towards electrification. As a consequence, in order to generate a high amount of carbon free electricity, the share of electricity generated by solar and wind power will considerably increase in the years to come. However, the inherent intermittency and variability of both solar and wind power require actions in order to increase the resilience and the flexibility of the power systems and assure the security of supply. To this scope, dispatchable capacity and energy storage systems acting on both short and long terms, will play a pivotal role. The paper discusses various scenarios developed with the COMESE code to investigate the affordability and viability of future possible carbon-free Italian power system configurations, based on both existing and under development energy technologies. The 100% renewable generation option is compared to "nuclear scenarios" where a relevant base-load generation is provided by nuclear fusion power plants. Also, besides the conventional storage systems based on electrochemical devices and pumped hydroelectricity, the deployment of long term storage systems based on hydrogen production, storage and utilization (power-to-hydrogen-to-power, P2H2P) is also investigated. Specifically, excess generation from renewables is used to power electrolysers for hydrogen production. The affordability of this option is evaluated in contrast to the "fusion to hydrogen" strategy, where a continuous hydrogen production for long term storage is provided by fusion electricity. The study proves that the average system cost of electricity for any least-cost 100% renewable power system configuration exceeds that of the corresponding alternative scenario with base-load generation from nuclear power plants. If available, P2H2P works along with batteries as short/medium term storage with benefits on the total system costs, that slightly lowers. Neither converting the whole excess energy into hydrogen in order to avoid curtailment nor operating fusion power plants for a continuous hydrogen production are cost-effective strategies. Indeed, the high costs of the large tank system required for storing hydrogen and the low overall efficiency of the P2H2P process are the primary challenge
How fusion power can contribute to a fully decarbonized European power mix after 2050
No full textIn the second half of this century, the European energy mix will be very likely completely decarbonized. Two main options are available to generate carbon free electricity: either to rely on renewable energy sources only, or to integrate renewables with a new generation of nuclear power plant, e.g. fusion power plant. In the former case a large storage capacity and/or dispatchable generation are required to compensate for the variable electricity generation. The size of the necessary storage systems and dispatchable power plants can be reduced if a base-load carbon free power technology is available, such as fusion. These options are analysed in this paper with the CO.ME.S.E. (COsto MEdio del Sistema Elettrico – Electric System Average Cost) code that assesses the hourly balance between load and generation, through a simplified dispatch model and the system costs, through a stochastic economic analysis. Two sets of power generation scenarios are considered in typical North and South-Europe cases. The study gives key indications to make fusion a cost-effective ingredient of a future European decarbonized power mix
Could clean industrial progresses and the rise of electricity demand foster the penetration of nuclear fusion in the European energy mix?
No full textThe effects of the update of the EUROfusion TIMES Model (ETM) industrial sector to account for the introduction of low-carbon technologies is presented and discussed in this work. ETM is a minimum-cost energy system model aimed at investigating the conditions for the introduction of nuclear fusion in the future electricity mix. The most interesting ETM long-run scenarios (until 2100) must comply with stringent environmental targets to pursue the Below-2-Degrees objective, identified in the Paris Agreement, allowing wide commercial adoption of innovative production processes - currently under test or research - which would almost completely replace well-established fossil-based industrial techniques in the iron and steel, chemicals, non-ferrous metals, non-metallic minerals and pulp and paper sub-sectors. Among them, low-carbon and electrolysis-based processes could open the way to a considerable increase of electricity demand, requiring also clean resources not to undermine sectoral efforts in becoming more environmentally sustainable, and the same does the implementation of CCS technologies. The study shows that the industrial sector contributes to the energy mix decarbonization by relying on CCS technologies, when available, or new low-carbon technologies. The progressive electrification of the industrial sector turns into an increasing final electricity demand which is covered by renewables and nuclear when stringent climate policies are put in place. Despite technological constraints are likely to slow down fusion deployment in the future, a range of scenarios show that nuclear fusion could contribute to generation of carbon-free electricity in the future European energy system
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Nuclear Fusion impact on the requirements of power infrastructure assets in a decarbonized electricity system
No full textElectrification of final energy use and electricity generation by low-carbon technologies are key points of the path
toward carbon-neutrality. Carbon free electricity can be generated by both nuclear and renewable energy
sources. Nevertheless, although all of them can be economically viable in terms of ‘Levelized Cost Of Energy‘,
their exploitation involve variable renewables, so as to require power system upgrades with adequate energy
storage systems, dispatchable generation capacity and transmission/distribution grid enhancements (power
infrastructure assets) that may lead to relevant additional system costs. To this respect, each power system is
almost unique, due to its peculiarities as far as renewable potentials is concerned. In order to find the least cost
feasible and reliable generation mix, detailed hourly simulations are necessary. In this paper, long term power
generation scenarios will be simulated with the COMESE code, a dispatch model able to perform detailed
regional power systems analysis. Carbon-free Italian power system long term scenarios are simulated, with high
share of photovoltaic and to less extent wind electricity together with a possible contribution of nuclear fusion
power plants. The operation of the transmission grid is simulated, through a transport model, in order to assess
the necessary grid enhancement and to estimate the related costs. In this context the impact of fusion will be
assessed in terms of mitigation of the overall system cost of electricity
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