High fuel costs, increasing energy security and concerns with reducing emissions have pushed governments to invest in the use of renewable energies for electricity generation. However, the intermittence of most renewable resources when renewable energy provides a significant share of the energy...

The European Union proposed the introduction of taxes on emitted CO2 as an effective policy measure for the reduction of CO2 emissions in its electricity sector. Applying the TIMES (The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System) modeling tool, this paper examines the cost effectiveness of different...

In the last years the electricity industry has faced a restructuring process. Among the aims of this process was the increase in competition, especially in the generation activity where firms would have an incentive to become more efficient. However, the competitive behavior of generating firms...

This work assesses the retrofit potential of existing Portuguese fossil fuel power plants with post-combustion CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) was used to provide a systematic techno-economic analysis of the cost of emission control...

Highly Integrated Community Energy Systems (ICES) greatly but not solely dependent on combined heat and power (CHP) sources are a viable approach for dealing effectively with the new set of global threats which Mankind is facing, such as Climate Change, Global Warming and Extreme Poverty. ICES...

The increase of fossil fuel demand raises concerns on availability of resources for future energy demand and on potential environmental impacts. Electric vehicles (EVs) appear as one alternative to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources. This research work analyzes the benefits of...

Energy policies are often related to the global effort in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increased use of renewable energies in electricity production. The impact of these policies is usually calculated by energy planning tools. However, the modeling methodologies most currently used...

An econometric study of the Portuguese residential electricity consumption is presented, with a focus on the influence of dwelling characteristics on consumption. The relationship between the dwelling and household characteristics on per capita residential electricity consumption is estimated at...

The design of transition pathways for sustainable electricity systems with high penetrations of renewable energy sources requires the use of energy modeling tools that are able to account for two key aspects: the evolution of fossil fuels and technology prices, and the natural dynamics of...

This paper extends the neoclassical growth model with natural capital by introducing two new concepts: allocation of natural capital and materialization. We consider that anthropogenic environmental impact is correlated with the throughput of the economy (materialisation). Materialisation is the...