Comparison between Historical and Real-Time Techniques for Estimating Marginal Emissions Attributed to Electricity Generation

Amir Shahin Kamjou, Carol J. Miller, Mahdi Rouholamini and Caisheng Wang
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Amir Shahin Kamjou: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
Carol J. Miller: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
Mahdi Rouholamini: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
Caisheng Wang: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Electricity generation is tied to various environmental and social consequences. In prior studies, the environmental emissions associated with electricity generation were calculated using average emission factors (AEFs) whose use is different from the method of marginal emission factors (MEFs) in regard to the geographical redefinition and new policies applied to the US electricity grid in 2013. Moreover, the amount of emissions being released at a generation site depends on the technology of the generating units; it is important to take into account this factor as well. Thus, this paper provides comparisons between different historical and real-time approaches of estimating MEFs (i.e., CO 2 , SO 2 , and NOx) for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) electricity region. The region under study is the same for all the scenarios, although the comparative time frames are different. The study is focused on the similarities observed in the data trends and system behaviors. We carry out different temporal comparisons whose results show the value of real-time approaches for estimating the MEFs for each location and at any time. These approaches can be extended to other regions to assist with proper investment and policy making, thereby increasing the grid efficiency, mitigating the environmental emissions, and clarifying the byproducts of energy consumption.

Keywords: electricity generation; locational emissions; marginal emission factors; electricity market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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