Optimizing land use and minimizing environmental impacts for hybrid electric power generation

• Main Author: Llorente, Cesar A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2009
• Subjects: Renewable energy sources; Power and Energy
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/8113
• Institution: De La Salle University

The electric power generation requires land resources for both the production and the use of carbon based matter for conversion into electrical energy. Carbon emissions resulting from the production and use of fossil fuels for electric power generation raises concerns on its harmful effects to the environment, and the exacerbation of global climate change. The production of electricity from renewable sources although do not produce harmful emissions, entails high investment costs. In addition, renewable energy power plants appropriate land resources that could be otherwise used for food production. Thus, an optimal mix of fossil based fuel and renewable energy power source for electrical energy production needs to be determined to yield the minimum investment cost, land use and level of harmful emissions. In this study, linear optimization is used to determine the optimal mixture of fossil-fueled generators and renewable energy that requires the minimum cost, land resources and the minimum harmful emissions. Finding the optimal mix of energy sources for generating electricity is beneficial in the mitigation of harmful effects of emissions from power plants.