• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • 2018 - Mines Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • 2018 - Mines Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Mines RepositoryCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    Login

    Mines Links

    Arthur Lakes LibraryColorado School of Mines

    Statistics

    Display Statistics

    Quantitative sustainability modeling and assessment of US transportation energy systems, including case studies of alternate biofuel production and orbital transportation systems

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Harris_mines_0052E_11601.pdf
    Size:
    5.768Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Harris, Tyler M.
    Advisor
    Landis, Amy E.
    Date issued
    2018
    Keywords
    energy production and consumption
    logistic growth curve modeling
    space elevator
    life cycle assessment
    biofuel production on abandoned mine land
    orbital transportation systems
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/11124/172517
    Abstract
    This research identified and assessed the sustainability risks of existing and emerging US transportation energy systems using quantitative sustainability engineering methodologies including life cycle assessment (LCA) and growth curve modeling. A macro-level analysis of US energy and transportation system dynamics was performed to identify system level sustainability impacts and risks. Two case studies were explored with the aim of identifying where policy and technological solutions could improve sustainability: alternative biofuel production and orbital transportation systems. The findings demonstrated that logistic growth curve modeling fixed condition forecasts can be used to evaluate macro US energy and biofuel production systems. The macro-level assessment suggested the need for significant efforts to ensure the sustainable development of US energy and fuel production through 2040 with appropriate policy support employing such sustainability methodologies. Findings regarding alternate biofuel production demonstrated that biofuels cultivated on marginal lands could noticeably contribute to increased sustainable fuel production in the US. The environmental impact assessment results for biofuel cultivation on abandoned mine land showed the modeled land amelioration and biofuel production process produced significantly less environmental impact than other commonly employed reclamation processes. US biofuel policy would benefit from including such biofuel production on marginal lands in production goals. Furthermore, this research included the first LCA of orbital transportation systems including a proposed space elevator with comparison to existing terrestrial megaprojects. Results showed that the space elevator has the potential to be an environmentally- and cost-effective means for payload delivery to Earth’s orbits, and that reusable rocket launch infrastructure such as with the Falcon Heavy significantly reduced environmental and cost impacts. These quantitative sustainability models, assessment, and case studies revealed them to be a robust and versatile set of tools and that sustainable engineering can shed light on potential paths to a more sustainable future.
    Rights
    Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.
    Collections
    2018 - Mines Theses & Dissertations

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.