A New Suggestion for Distributed Generation with

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A New Suggestion for Distributed Generation with Social and Environmental Profits in Small Power Plants using Renewable Energy Sources M.Z.Fortes

M.R.Gouvêa

Abstract— This paper intends to investigate and suggest a new methodology for the location of small power plants that takes into account the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept. In other words the location of small power plants should be evaluated considering not only the economic aspects but also the social and environmental ones. This means choosing the area and evaluating the best technology for the equipment in that particular location, as a result of the fuel extracted from renewable sources. The paper proposes an integrated solution using mathematical functions that take into account the economic, social and environmental variables, based on the concept of universalization of electric energy. This paper presents a suggestion for universalization, so that a study can be made with a new comparative focus between the different types of technology and the opportunities to set up small thermoelectric power plants in micro-areas, using the renewable resources available on site. The proposed model may be used as an initial study for the assessment and development of a small region, based on the existence of a thermoelectric power plant, as well as a reference to indicate the various opportunities for the use of the agroindustrial waste in the region. Index Terms— Renewable Energy Sources, Energy conversion, Energy resources, Fuels, Power distribution planning and Power generation planning.

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I. INTRODUCTION

HE importance of electric energy in modern societies and the environmental impact that the expansion of its offer causes, has originated research for technical solutions that are socially integrated and will attract investments to support the demand requirements and, at the same time, promote social development, preserving the environment. In this scenario, a large number of factors influence the solutions. They involve the cost of setting up the power plants, using different kinds of technology, the types of environmental impact they cause and the social benefits for the communities where such power plants are built. Particularly, the building of small power plants has attracted the attention of specialists in models to expand the offer, not only to promote the universalization of the service in isolated areas, but also to rationalize the supply in urban areas. This is the so-called distributed generation. This paper presents guidelines for a proposal to implement distributed generation, considering the technical, economic, environmental and social aspects, indicating opportunities for

C.M.V.Tahan

and

F.Z.Fortes

investment in the increase of generation, in an environment of sustainable development.

II. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to present the guidelines for a model that identifies the opportunities of growth of the electric power offer, based on the use of distributed generation with different technologies, while respecting environmental restrictions and promoting social development. A possible application of this model is in the supply of isolated areas, thus contributing to a solution for the universalization of the electric power service and, at the same time, to a different point of view in the design of projects, bearing in mind the Kyoto Protocol . III. THE KYOTO PROTOCOL From December 1 to 11, 1997, more than 160 nations met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate binding limitations on greenhouse gases, pursuant to the objectives of the Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992. The outcome of the meeting was the Kyoto Protocol, in which the developed nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, relative to the levels emitted in 1990. The developed countries commit themselves to reducing their collective emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least 5%. Each country’s emissions target must be achieved by the period 2008-2012. It will be calculated as an average over the five years. Cuts in the three most important gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CO4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) – will be measured against a base year of 1990 (with exceptions for some countries with economies in transition). Cuts in three long-lived industrial gases – hydro fluorocarbons (HFC´s), per fluorocarbons (PFC´s), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) – can be measured against either a 1990 or 1995 baseline. ( A major group of industrial gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC´s, are dealt with under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer). The six gases are to be combined in a “basket”, with reductions in individual gases translated into “CO2 equivalents” that are then added up to produce a single figure. Countries will have a certain degree of flexibility in how they make and measure their emission reductions. They will

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pursue emissions cuts in a wide range of economic sectors. The Protocol encourages governments to cooperate with one another, improve energy efficiency, reform the energy and transportation sectors, promote renewable forms of energy, phase out inappropriate fiscal measures and market imperfections, limit methane emissions from waste management and energy system, and protect forest and other carbon “sinks”.

IV . CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS Some concepts used in this proposal are presented in this topic. A. Sustainable Development In 1997, the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission), agreed on a definition of sustainable development that is now generally recognized as the standard: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It can be defined as "A change process in which the exploration of the resources, the orientation of the investments, the technological development and the institutional change are in harmony and they improve the existent potential and future to satisfy the human need." Development involves a progressive transformation of the economy and society. A development path that is sustainable in a physical sense could theoretically be pursued even in a rigid social and political setting. But physical sustainability cannot be secured unless development policies pay attention to such considerations as changes in access to resources and in the distribution of costs and benefits. Even the narrow notion of physical sustainability implies a concern for social equity between generations, a concern that must be extended to equity within each generation. The understanding of Sustainability, inspired by the Brundtland definition, created the concept of “The Triple Bottom Line”. The Triple bottom line (TBL) focuses corporations not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add – and destroy. At its narrowest, the term is used as a framework for measuring and reporting corporate performance against economic, social and environmental parameters. B. Technology of Distributed Generation Distributed generation – (DG) - is understood in this text as a power supply with load below a hundred MVA, either integrated or not to the energy distribution grid, whose primary source can be hydraulic, fossil fuels, biomass, wind or photovoltaic energy. C. Evaluation of the Environmental Impact The environmental impact caused by a power plant in the

proposed model is evaluated by the composition of several factors. Some of them are easily quantified, as the emission of pollutants or the noise level in urban areas, while others, involve special aspects of the sources of primary energy, not always susceptible to be expressed through objective indexes, as for instance, the collision of birds against wind generators and pollutant residues on cadmium plates in photovoltaic generators. D. Evaluation of the Social Benefit Among the several indexes of human development and living conditions, the present model has considered the IDH Index of Human Development, the IDH-M - Index of Human Development –M (at the municipal level) and the ICV - Index of Living Conditions. The last two are calculated by the IBGE – Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, for all the Brazilian municipalities at the time of the census, every ten years. The IDH, which gave the Nobel Prize to its creators Mahbud ul Hag and Amartva Sen, considers the level of income, the longevity of the population and the degree of educational maturity. The income is evaluated by GDP/capita calculated using the methodology of parity of purchasing power between countries; the longevity of the population is expressed by the life expectancy and health conditions and, the degree of educational maturity is evaluated through the adult literacy combined with the enrolment in the three levels of education. E. Universalization of the Service. Recently, in April of 2002, the Brazilian National Congress passed Law Number 10.438, determining that the entity which regulates the electric service - ANEEL – Electric Power National Agency, shall set the periods for the power companies to reduce or eliminate the number of ‘withoutlight’ (people with no power supply) in their concession areas. The aim is to achieve the Universalization of the Service, in other words, to make electric energy available to the entire Brazilian population. V - PROPOSED MODEL A. General guidelines The proposed model, to identify opportunities for the expansion in the offer of electric energy, through distributed generation in a specific area of study, involves: - defining a region for the study and subdividing it into areas to be defined by their coordinates (x,y); - characterizing each area through indexes that express the level of social and economic development as well as environmental quality; - creating functions able to quantify the indexes mentioned in the previous item; - building a menu of units of distributed generation using

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different technologies, with their main technical and economic characteristics; - proposing alternatives to install distributed generation in areas (x,y), using the units available in the menu; - calculating the social, economic and environmental impact of the alternative, through the calculation of the cost/benefit set by the functions defined above, taking into account the power plants as proposed in the study under way. - identifying the advantage or disadvantage of the use of carbon credit as the funds to finance the project. Therefore, the model is based on the correlation between the characteristics found in the areas being studied and the alternatives for the offer of generation, resulting in several possible solutions, of different levels of cost x benefit, which are analyzed in search of the most promising ones. The main challenge for the construction of the proposed model lies in setting the functions that indicate the social and environmental impact of building a unit of distributed generation in a specific region. Thus, the building of the model foresees the gradual and modular implementation of functions that can express the performance of an alternative, considering different complexity levels, from the use of analyses containing the most simple aspects to representations of more complex factors. It is important to remember that the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept focuses on corporations, not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add – or destroy. At its broadest, the term is used to capture the whole set of values, issues and processes that companies must address in order to minimize any harm resulting from their activities and to create economic, social and environmental value. This involves being clear about the company’s purpose and taking into consideration the needs of all the company’s stakeholders – shareholders, employees, business partners, governments, local communities an the public. This concept has been taken into account in the classical literature when we talk about location of small power plants.

B. Characterization of the areas within the region under study The region under study is divided into areas, defined geographically by their coordinates UTM (x,y) and characterized by their attributes: - social : IDH, rates of electric power supply and rates of employment ; - economic: the increase in added value for municipality under study, when the needs for electric energy supply are met; - available natural resources: expressed by the origin and availability of primary sources of energy, such as:

hydroelectric potential for small hydroelectric power plants, wind potential, favorable atmosphere for biomass cultures for energy uses, availability of fossil or vegetable oils ,etc; - environmental : expressed by the concentration level of pollutant with CO2, methane, SOx, NOx - facilities : represented by the road net and existent electric grid. C. Alternatives of Distributed Generation A ‘j’ alternative of distributed generation consists in a proposal to set up a group of "n j" energy-producing units with ‘t’ characteristics, installed in several areas (x,y) within the region under study. The main technical and economic specifications of the ‘t’ unit are: - unitary power; - generation cost; - technology in use; - emissions of pollutants; - potential of job generation; - primary source requested. Thus, alternative Alt(j) is represented as follows: Alt(j) = {G(t k, x k, y k)}, with k = 1, n j D. Evaluation of the Performance of Alternatives An Alt(j) alternative of distributed generation is evaluated by means of a figure of merit F (j), which is associated to the alternative, and is the result of the composition between the relationship of cost/benefit f (t k, x k, y k) for each one of the ‘n j’units set up, respectively, in the ‘n j’ areas (x k, y k). Thus: F (J) = S {L K X F (T K, X K, Y K)} With k = 1, n j and 0