A novel graphical approach to target CO2 emissions for energy resource planning and utility system optimization

Many optimization techniques, both numerical and graphical, have recently been introduced for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions targeting. These targeting approaches have been applied to a wide range of applications including energy allocation and utility systems optimization. However, the trade-off between the operating cost and the associated CO2 emissions cannot be easily assessed. This paper presents a new simple graphical approach to target CO2 emissions associated with energy resources and utility systems. The principles of marginal energy cost and marginal CO2 emissions are employed to construct two composite curves to be used as targeting tools. The CO2 emissions composite curve (CO2CC) and cost composite curve (CCC) are used to determine the minimum cost associated with increasing energy demand whilst simultaneously meeting a given CO2 emissions target. Multiple trade-off solutions so called Pareto optimal solutions can be generated using a range of emissions targets. The new graphical approach can be used to target CO2 emissions related to utility systems and energy resources networks. Two case studies are used to demonstrate this targeting method.