Document Type

Closed Project

Publication Date

Winter 2014

Instructor

Tugrul Daim

Course Title

Energy Technology Innovations

Course Number

ETM 510/610

Subjects

Wind power -- Pacific Northwest -- Government policy, Wind power -- Social aspects, Wind power plants -- Effect of tax incentives on

Abstract

Wind energy is generally the cheapest renewable energy technology, and it is the only one ready for large-scale deployment. Wind energy investment has been growing rapidly due to government support. In this project, we analyzed the policies driving wind power adoption in the Pacific Northwest. We built a HDM model to identify the driving forces behind wind power adoption from policy perspective, economic perspective, and environment perspective. For policy perspective, we considered production tax credit (PTC), Washington state initiative (I-937), energy trust policy, federal clean renewable energy bonds, over supply and subsidies, and wind farm location selection. For economic perspective, we considered job created for wind farms, tax revenue for rural communities, easement payment for farm owners, demand of wind turbines and turbine component, and stabilization of wholesale electricity costs. For environmental perspective, we considered reductions of ecological footprint, carbon emissions, water consumptions, and toxic pollutions thanks to wind energy. We identified that policy is still the main factor of wind adoption in the Pacific Northwest. Without additional tax incentives for the Pacific Northwest there will likely be a reduction in wind sites. We confirmed that wind energy benefits the economy and environment. As technology continues to improve, so will the benefits associated with this maturing technology.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

This project is only available to students, staff, and faculty of Portland State University

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/21646

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