JOURNAL OF ENERGY PLANNING AND POLICY RESEARCH
Year:2018 | Volume:4 | Issue:10|Papers Count:7

In the past, power generation expansion planning was mainly based on a cost minimization target subject to acceptable level of system reliability. Nowadays, environmental considerations have changed into important planning priorities increasing the capacity expansion costs. Socially, this increase is compensated by the reduction in external costs caused by lower levels of emissions. In this paper, emission constraints have been imposed on generation capacity expansion planning of a grid much the same as Iran power grid for the period of 2005-2023 using WASP package. Changes in system expansion costs have been compared with changes in environmental damage costs. According to the results, in long term the increase in capacity expansion cost caused by imposing emissions constraints is compensated with reduction of external costs of emissions.

Energy is one of the primary inputs for the production of goods and services. Higher production and growth requires energy efficiency improvements. Categorizing provinces into homogenous industrial clusters, this study evaluates the energy productivity of industrial energy use of Iran Provinces. Energy efficiency as measured by a non-parametric Data Envelop Analysis model (DEA) for the period of 1385-1393, is used as a proxy for energy productivity. According to the results, there are considerable disparities in industrial energy productivity within industrial provincial clusters. In the cluster consisting of Tehran, Isfahan, and Khuzestan, the highest energy productivity belongs to Isfahan has and Khuzestan has the lowest energy productivity. Khorasan Razavi has the lowest energy efficiency in the fourth industrial cluster. Hormozgan has the lowest energy efficiency in the fifth cluster.

This paper aims at exploring Iran’ s optimal strategy for natural gas export using Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach. Ten potential importers of Iran’ s natural gas and seven rival exporting countries have been designated as agents. The conceptual framework is designed based on three factors: price, infrastructure, and risk. Using Anylogic software, interactions and behaviors of importers and exporters have been simulated. The model simulates natural gas trade between these countries over a nine-year horizon. The empirical results of this study indicate that, in the first period, Iran’ s gas export targets based on their priorities include Turkey, Iraq and Armenia. After completion of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and subject to the construction of Iran-Oman gas pipeline, Iran will expand its exports to these countries significantly in the second period. Iran will expand pipeline exports to Georgia and start its LNG exports to India and China over the third period.

After restructuring the power industry, choosing a proper auction rule has been considered as a main challenge. Uniform price auctions and discriminatory (pay-as-bid) auctions have been widely used. This paper tries to compare the costs of the Electricity market under uniform auction and pay-as-bid auction using agent based modeling. Using Roth-Erev algorithm and based on the data of Iran electricity market for 2014, cost of the electricity market has been simulated and compared under the two auction mechanisms. According to the results under pay-as-bid auction, diversion of players from their marginal costs is more likely mainly because of its settlement rules. Since Iran's electricity market is ruled under pay-as-bid auction, revision in its auction structure is recommended to the Electricity Market Regulatory Board.

According to climatological evidences the globe is highly suffering from an unprecedented climate change destructing the surficial layer of the earth and increasing the sea level as a result. Human made changes due to new life styles, environmental pollutions, manipulating the vegetation have ultimately caused grieve disorders in the nature ending into climate change. Mega-cities have been exposed to a critical environmental problem dubbed as “ Urban Heat Island” (UHI), which is caused by temperature increases in urban environments. Recent studies indicate that heat generated by humans' activities is the main cause of UHI. In this study the urban anthropogenic heat generation in various cities has been reviewed and as a case study, the anthropogenic heat in Tehran has been analyzed. Finally, the effects of street orientation, seasons, and urban density on anthropogenic heat generation have been examined.

Iran's economy, like most other oil-exporting countries is extremely vulnerable to oil price fluctuations. Due to the high share of oil sector in GDP, oil price fluctuations can destabilize the economy leading to high inflations. In this study based on the annual data for the period of 1982-2015 and using quantile regression method, inflation as the dependent variable is regressed on oil prices, GDP, liquidity and trade openness. According to the results, there is a positive relationship between inflation and oil price fluctuations in different deciles. The effect of GDP and trade openness on inflation is negative and the effect of liquidity is positive.

Commercialization of new innovative ideas is considered to be one of the main reasons of rapid technological advances in industrialized countries. In these countries, R&D management, technology endogeneity, completion of the research cycle through commercialization of scientific findings foster the economic growth. The intensifying challenge of compatibility in the global economy has forced policy makers to rethink about their economic development strategies as they find innovation, entrepreneurship, and knowledge-based businesses as the main building blocks of competitive advantage. Renewable energy is one of the innovative sectors of energy industry requiring a paradigm shift for its development. In this paper we use qualitative research method and interviews with experts to figure out a conceptual model for commercialization of renewable innovations.