Show your work in all math exercises for full marks
I. GIS Assignment: Energy and the Environment (10 points)
Gas flaring, when associated gas produced from a reservoir during oil
production is flared or burned off, has been identified as a significant
contributor to climate change (World Bank GGFR). According to the World
Bank, ‘thousands of gas flares at oil production sites around the globe burn
approximately 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, causing more
than 300 million tons of CO2 to be emitted to the atmosphere”. There is also
evidence that flaring can have significant negative health effects on
surrounding communities as well.
We’ll explore these issues here using data visualization in GeoDa. Remember to Label
your maps with a title that describes the map as well. And include map legends in all
maps.
1. 5pts First, NOAA has provided some detailed data on global gas flaring here:
http://skytruth.org/viirs/ . Included in the ‘hw2’ zip file is a shapefile of the world
(called “world_electricity”). The columns labeled “bcm_x” stand for billion cubic
meters of flared gas in year x. Create a map of the distribution of flared gas in
2016. Which countries were the top 5 countries for gas flaring in the world? Has
the top 5 ranking changed between 2012 and 2016?
2. 5 pts The world shapefile also includes columns showing the percentage of the
population in each country with access to electricity for each year where data is
available labeled “XYear” (so X2012 is the percentage of the population in each
country with access to electricity in year 2012). Create a map of the distribution
of access to electricity in 2012. What are the bottom 5 countries for access to
electricity in the world?
Given your observations of distributions of flares globally in question 1, what
would your suggestion be to a policy maker in a country interested in expanding
electricity access? (Assuming the optimal outcome for policymakers is 100%
access)
II. Solar panels and Cost Benefit Analysis (5 points)
You are considering an investment in energy conservation (solar panels on
your roof) that has a lifetime of 5 years. It will cost you $130 to install (these
are very inexpensive panels…) and will reap benefits in terms of energy saved
of $10 in year 1, $20 in year 2, $30 in year 3, $40 in year 4 and $50 in year 5
a. Would the installation be a good investment if your discount rate were a
constant 5% over the 5 years? Why or Why not?
III. Climate Change policy (5 points)
(Kolstad, 238). Suppose we have 100 different firms emitting pollution. The
Ministry of the Environment (MOE) currently regulates these firms by
requiring specific pollution control equipment to be installed by each firm.
The MOE is considering issuing tradable permits to each firm indicating how
much pollution the firm may emit. Permits would be issued in such a way as
to result in the same amount of pollution as the technology regulations.
Briefly (in one paragraph or less) discuss the implications of switching to
tradable permits on the likelihood of seeing research and development to
reduce the cost of pollution control.