Planning, operating, and policy making in the electric utility and natural gas sectors involves important trade-offs among economic, social, and environmental criteria. These trade-offs figure prominently in ongoing debates about how to meet growing energy demands and how to restructure the world's power industry. Energy Decisions and the Environment: A Guide to the Use of Multicriteria Methods reviews practical tools for multicriteria (also called multiobjective) decision analysis that can be used to quantify trade-offs and contribute to more consistent, informed,...

Energy plays a crucial role in economic and social development. The analysis of energy issues and policy options is therefore a vital area of study. This book presents a hierarchical modeling scheme intended to support energy planning and policy analysis in developing countries. The authors examine the spreadsheet models, optimization models, and linear planning models that energy planners use, drawing illustrative case material from a number of countries throughout. Environmental considerations are also introduced into the analysis. The book will be of interest to students and practitioners...

Energy plays a crucial role in economic and social development. The analysis of energy issues and policy options is therefore a vital area of study. This book presents a hierarchical modeling scheme intended to support energy planning and policy analysis in developing countries. The authors examine the spreadsheet models, optimization models, and linear planning models that energy planners use, drawing illustrative case material from a number of countries throughout. Environmental considerations are also introduced into the analysis. The book will be of interest to students and practitioners...

Planning, operating, and policy making in the electric utility and natural gas sectors involves important trade-offs among economic, social, and environmental criteria. These trade-offs figure prominently in ongoing debates about how to meet growing energy demands and how to restructure the world's power industry. Energy Decisions and the Environment: A Guide to the Use of Multicriteria Methods reviews practical tools for multicriteria (also called multiobjective) decision analysis that can be used to quantify trade-offs and contribute to more consistent, informed,...

Schon seit Jahrhunderten investiert der Mensch sein Kapital in werterhaltende Rohstoffe. Ein beliebtes Anlageobjekt war schon von jeher der Wald als Reservoir des nachhaltigen Rohstoffes Holz. In der Vergangenheit waren die Walder eine Domane des Adels. Heute besitzen nicht nur der Staat und v- mogende Privatpersonen Waldgrundstucke, sondern auch Grossanleger wie internationale Konzerne, Banken, Versicherungen, Pensionskassen, Stift- gen von Familien und Universitaten. Die Investoren sehen in der naturlichen Ressource Holz eine attraktive Moglichkeit, um grosse Kapitalmengen la- fristig...

The novelty of this work is the fact that it introduces a rigorous and objective economic perspective of current renewable energy support mechanisms and an empirical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these mechanisms, which is much needed in a debate often dominated by widespread misconceptions. The economic rationale for renewable energy is straightforward: the optimum amount of renewable energy for grid-connected generation is given by the intersection of the renewable energy supply curve with the avoided cost of thermal electricity generation. The proposed analytical framework:...