Institution
Pembina Institute
Nonprofit•Calgary, Alberta, Canada•
About: Pembina Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Diesel fuel & Energy security. The organization has 13 authors who have published 12 publications receiving 400 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on literature published between 1989 and 2010, as well as 33 semi-structured, key-informant interviews carried out in 2009 and 2010 with actors intimately involved with wetland policy in Alberta, Canada, to address key reasons why "avoidance" as a policy directive is seldom effective.
Abstract: Many jurisdictions in North America use a “mitigation sequence” to protect wetlands: First, avoid impacts; second, minimize unavoidable impacts; and third, compensate for irreducible impacts through the use of wetland restoration, enhancement, creation, or protection. Despite the continued reliance on this sequence in wetland decision-making, there is broad agreement among scholars, scientists, policymakers, regulators, and the regulated community that the first and most important step in the mitigation sequence, avoidance, is ignored more often than it is implemented. This paper draws on literature published between 1989 and 2010, as well as 33 semi-structured, key-informant interviews carried out in 2009 and 2010 with actors intimately involved with wetland policy in Alberta, Canada, to address key reasons why “avoidance” as a policy directive is seldom effective. Five key factors emerged from the literature, and were supported by interview data, as being central to the failure of decision-makers to prioritize wetland avoidance and minimization above compensation in the mitigation sequence: (1) a lack of agreement on what constitutes avoidance; (2) current approaches to land-use planning do not identify high-priority wetlands in advance of development; (3) wetlands are economically undervalued; (4) there is a “techno-arrogance” associated with wetland creation and restoration that results in increased wetland loss, and; (5) compensation requirements are inadequately enforced. Largely untested but proactive ways to re-institute avoidance as a workable option in wetland management include: watershed-based planning; comprehensive economic and social valuation of wetlands; and long-term citizen-based monitoring schemes.
134 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used HOMER, an NREL micro-power simulator, to model how a generic energy storage system could help improve the economics of a high-penetration wind-diesel system.
98 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply a full fuel cycle approach to quantify the energy, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and cost implications associated with a large transition to hydrogen in the United States.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of displacing coal with forest biomass on GHG emissions at the Atikokan Generating Station in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, were assessed using two contrasting biomass sources for continuous wood pellet production: harvest residue from current harvest operations (residue scenario) and expanded harvest of standing live trees (stemwood scenario).
Abstract: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A4, CanadaAbstractForest bioenergy can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions asso-ciated with energy production. We assessed changes in GHG emissions resulting from displacement of coal withwood pellets for the Atikokan Generating Station located in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Two contrastingbiomass sources were considered for continuous wood pellet production: harvest residue from current harvestoperations (residue scenario) and fibre from expanded harvest of standing live trees (stemwood scenario). Forthe stemwood scenario, two metrics were used to assess the effects of displacing coal with forest biomass onGHG emissions: (i) time to carbon sequestration parity, defined as the time from the beginning of harvest towhen the combined GHG benefit of displacing coal with biomass and the amount of carbon in regenerating for-est equalled the amount of forest carbon without harvest for energy production; and (ii) time to carbon debtrepayment, defined as the time from the beginning of harvest to when the combined GHG benefit of displacingcoal with biomass and the amount of carbon in the regenerating forest equalled forest carbon at the time of har-vest. Only time to carbon sequestration parity was used for the residue scenario. In the residue scenario, carbonsequestration parity was achieved within 1 year. In the stemwood scenario, times to carbon sequestration parityand carbon debt repayment were 91 and 112 years, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that estimates wererobust when parameter values were varied. Modelling experiments showed that increasing growth rates forregenerating stands in the stemwood scenario could substantially reduce time to carbon sequestration parity.We discuss the use of the two metrics (time to carbon sequestration parity and time to carbon debt repayment)for assessing the effects of forest bioenergy projects on GHG emissions and make recommendations on terminol-ogy and methodologies for forest bioenergy studies.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the results of a year-long survey that was distributed to stakeholders in wind-diesel systems in remote Canadian communities were discussed, including utilities, wind energy technology manufacturers, project developers, researchers, and governments.
49 citations
Authors
Showing all 13 results
| Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. R. Hastings-Simon | 8 | 16 | 346 |
| Tim Weis | 5 | 9 | 219 |
| Alison Bailie | 5 | 16 | 116 |
| Amy Taylor | 2 | 2 | 29 |
| Matthew Bramley | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Marlo Raynolds | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Nathan Lemphers | 1 | 1 | 90 |
| Jesse Row | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Aletta Leitch | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Lindsay Wiginton | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Tom-Pierre Frappé-Sénéclauze | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Dave Lovekin | 1 | 1 | 38 |
| Matt McCulloch | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Related Institutes (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2014 | 1 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 1 |