NSERC/Cenovus/Alberta Innovates Associate Industrial Research Chair in Energy and Environment Systems Engineering and Cenovus Energy Endowed Chair in Environmental Engineering
Alberta's renewable electricity transition - costs and emissions.
Davis M, Moronkeji A, Ahiduzzaman M, Kumar A. Assessment of renewable energy transition pathways for a fossil fuel-dependent electricity-producing jurisdiction, Energy for Sustainable Development, 2020, 59: 243-261. Click for link to paper
Life cycle costs of electro-chemical battery storage.
Rahman MM, Oni AO, Gemechu E, Kumar A. The development of techno-economic models for the assessment of utility-scale electro-chemical battery storage systems. Applied Energy, 2021, 283: 116343. Click for link to paper
Electricity generation decarbonization emissions and water use projections.
An integrated assessment framework for the decarbonization of the electricity generation sector. Applied Energy, 2021, 288: 116634. Click for link to paper
Rail and pipeline transportation costs by production scale.
Verma, B. Nimana, B. Olateju, M. M. Rahman, S. Radpour, C. Canter, et al., "A techno-economic assessment of bitumen and synthetic crude oil transport (SCO) in the Canadian oil sands industry: Oil via rail or pipeline?," Energy, vol. 124, pp. 665-683, 2017.
Click for link to paper.
Integrated energy flow Sankey diagram for Canada, 2012.
M. Davis, M. Ahiduzzaman, and A. Kumar, "Mapping Canadian energy flow from primary fuel to end use," Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 156, pp. 178-191, 2018.
Click for link to paper.
Cost distribution for hydrogen production from hydropower in Western Canada for the upgrading of bitumen from oil sands.
B. Olateju and A. Kumar, "A techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production from hydropower in Western Canada for the upgrading of bitumen from oil sands," Energy, vol. 115, pp. 604-614, 2016.
Click for link to paper.
Conceptual schematic of a wind-hydrogen plant.
B. Olateju, A. Kumar, and M. Secanell, "A techno-economic assessment of large scale wind-hydrogen production with energy storage in Western Canada," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 41, pp. 8755-8776, 2016.
Click for link to paper.
Life cycle well-to-wheel GHG emissions for diesel derived from different North American conventional crudes.
M. M. Rahman, C. Canter, and A. Kumar, "Well-to-wheel life cycle assessment of transportation fuels derived from different North American conventional crudes," Applied Energy, vol. 156, pp. 159-173, 2015.
Click for link to paper.
System boundary and unit operations involved in well-to-wire GHG emissions assessment for shale gas electricity generation in China.
R. Raj, S. Ghandehariun, A. Kumar, and M. Linwei, "A well-to-wire life cycle assessment of Canadian shale gas for electricity generation in China," Energy, vol. 111, pp. 642-652, 2016.
Click for link to paper.
A GIS-based optimization approach for province-wide waste availability assessment and siting for waste conversion facilities in Alberta
M. M. U. H. Khan, M. Vaezi, and A. Kumar, "Optimal siting of solid waste-to-value-added facilities through a GIS-based assessment," Science of the Total Environment, vol. 610-611, pp. 1065-1075, 2018.
Click for link to paper.
Map overview of natural gas supply chain routes from Canada to Europe
K. Sapkota, A. O. Oni, and A. Kumar, "Techno-economic and life cycle assessments of the natural gas supply chain from production sites in Canada to north and southwest Europe," Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering.
Click for link to paper.
Market penetration of clean mineral mining technologies into regional Canadian markets.
A. Katta, M. Davis, A. Kumar, "Assessment of greenhouse gas mitigation options for the iron, gold, and potash mining sectors," Journal of Cleaner Production, 118718, 2019.
Click for link to paper.
About the Chair program
This Chair program conducts research in the area of energy systems and their impacts on the environment, focusing on assessments of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. While there has been considerable fundamental and applied research on the development of technologies for energy production, conversion, and use, systems-level research required to understand and evaluate their nexuses with the environment has received less attention. Currently, there is limited research in Canada on detailed energy-environmental systems assessments of these issues.
Canada has a large energy sector with an energy hub in Alberta, and policy/decision makers and the industry they regulate need a detailed scientific knowledge base on which to formulate new energy-sector policies and predict environmental impacts. The NSERC Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Energy and Environmental Systems Engineering is aimed at providing this knowledge base.
The production, conversion, and use of energy, directly and indirectly, have environmental impacts. In recent years, the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) has emerged as one of the most important environmental issues. Energy production, conversion, and use are also associated with fresh water consumption. As energy demand increases, water requirements to sustain this demand also increase. Another key interaction the energy sector has with the environment is disturbances in land use patterns. Hence, energy production has a close nexus with air emissions (GHGs), water use, and land use changes. Canada’s large energy sector has to deal with these issues. These issues are critical for Alberta because of the intensity of activities that province. This Chair program assesses water and land use footprints in these areas.
This research initiative is a unique opportunity for a strategic relationship in energy and environmental systems engineering between academia, industry, and the province of Alberta, with the support of the federal government through the NSERC IRC Program. The outcomes of the Chair program will help make better choices on future energy systems for Canadians.
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