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CTMS Annual Retreat 2009 “Making connections”. Dalia Patino Echeverri, Assistant Professor of Energy Systems and Public Policy Nicholas School of the Environment. Bogotá - Colombia. Background. BS. Industrial Engineering MS. Industrial Engineering (Operations research and statistics)
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CTMS Annual Retreat 2009“Making connections” Dalia Patino Echeverri, Assistant Professor of Energy Systems and Public Policy Nicholas School of the Environment
Background • BS. Industrial Engineering • MS. Industrial Engineering (Operations research and statistics) • Ph.D. Engineering and Public Policy (CMU) • Postdoc. Decision Making Under Uncertainty – Climate Change
Teaching • Duke • Modeling for energy systems • Optimization & simulation models • Markets for Power • Environmenta Lifecycle Assessment and Decision Making • Before • Probability theory • Probabilistic models • Statistics
Research interests Decision making under uncertainty for climate change Focus on applications of the theory of options valuation Considering a wide arrange of abatement, mitigation, and adaptation strategies
Options theory for climate decisions – Real options • Investment projects for emissions abatement provide a stream of call options on “emissions reductions” • For example: Developing the infrastructure to integrate renewable energy to the current power system can be seen as equivalent to buying the option to get carbon-free power at a fixed cost –the cost of developing such infrastructure • The challenge: correctly characterizing the managerial flexibility of the investment projects and the stochastic processes followed by the key variables
Options theory for climate decisions – Real options(Cont.) The research: Examining all the details of a wide variety of abatement/mitigation/adaptation actions will allow a better understanding of the changing costs and benefits of these actions and the corresponding value of pursuing them
Options theory for climate decisions – Exchanging one risky project for another -Inaction entails risks and there is no abatement/mitigation/adaptation action without risks -There is no equivalent to “risk free rate” in the context of climate change (nothing like depositing money in a insured bank account) -Costs and benefits are non monetizable
Options theory for climate decisions – Exchanging one risky project for another (cont) The research An extension of the theoretical framework of the method to valuing the option of “exchanging one risky asset for another” Analysis of distributions of costs and benefits, and managerial flexibility for a wide range of abatement/mitigation/adaptation (will allow a consistent comparison of the risks and a proposal for a framework that provides the value of having the alternative of exchanging one risk for another when necessary
Policy mechanisms to reduce emissions from power plants • There is a need for investment in new electricity generating capacity (and upgrading/replacement of existing generating fleet). (EIA: ~40 GW of new capacity by 2010, 650GW by 2030) • How can policy makers minimize the chances of: • Locking in a path of high CO2 emissions • Inefficient investments (High prices and emissions) • Keep the power system reliable • Promote clean energy in the world • Prevent international conflicts and dangerous nuclear proliferation
Other policies affecting electricity ind • Preventing blackouts: • Operational reliability, pricing, procurement • Strategic behavior and competition in the wholesale electricity market • Adequacy of transmission infrastructure: • Risk management • Incentives for Merchant Transmission Investment?
Wind energy • Determining optimal additions of wind power capacity and transmissioncapacity for a region that seeks to comply with a RPS • Tradeoff between high quality wind sites – far from the load and low quality wind site near the load • GIS based optimization • Time series analysis • Probabilistic models
Other questions regarding climate change • The true cost of renewables • Storage • Rapid and deep fluctuations (<10secs from 0 to above nameplate) • The value of R&D of far-fetched (morally dubious) alternatives: • Geo-engineering to enhance albedo • Wireless power transmission • The comparison of alternatives with different risk-profiles • CCS vs EGS
Thank you dalia.patino@duke.edu