Making The Business Case For Investment in Renewable Energy
Recently published research by College of Business Professor of Management, Dr. Jacob Cherian, assess the economic feasibility and environmental impact of a business model for a system with a biomass based solid oxide fuel cell and a gas turbine system combined with the organic flash cycle.
Recently published research by College of Business Professor of Management, Dr. Jacob Cherian, assess the economic feasibility and environmental impact of a business model for a system with a biomass based solid oxide fuel cell and a gas turbine system combined with the organic flash cycle. To evaluate optimum performance a multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm is used with the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. This analysis finds that for fuel costs of 6 $/𝐺𝐽 and electricity price of 0.10 $/𝑘𝑊ℎ, the total net present value at the end of plant lifetime is 9.8 × 105 $ and the payback period is 4.25 years which implies that the plant is feasible for construction from an investment perspective. Furthermore, simulation results indicated that the proposed hybrid system could yield significant energy savings.
Prof. Cherian explained that these findings were important as they contributed to the current climate change challenges and related to the United Nations sustainable development goal (SDG) 7 which seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Furthermore, one of the targets of SDG7 by 2030 is to enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology; including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and to promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology. Prof. Cherian said "By strengthening the business case it is easier for the financial community to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency to support climate change action".
Cheng, C., Cherian, J., Sial, M. S., Zaman, U., & Niroumandi, H. (2021). Performance assessment of a novel biomass-based solid oxide fuel cell power generation cycle: Economic analysis and optimization. Energy, 224, 120134. https://doi.10.1016/j.energy.2021.120134
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