The Interface of Infrastructures, Markets, and Natural Cycles - Innovative Modeling and Control Mechanisms for Managing Electricity, Water and Air Quality in Texas

The goal of this project is to demonstrate that the operation of electricity generation and water supply infrastructures can be made more resilient and sustainable by integrating assessments of air quality and water availability into electricity generation dispatching decisions. The project will:

(1) Create integrated infrastructure/markets/natural cycles models using the state of Texas as a source of data and as a geographic and temporal test-bed.
(2) Evaluate the resiliency of the integrated system to a series of challenges or "shocks&quto; to test resiliency and sustainability
(3) Assess alternative technical, economic and institutional mechanisms for incorporating assessments of air quality and water availability into the operation of electricity generating systems; these alterations will include changes to existing wholesale power markets, air quality regulation, and emissions markets, as well as potential developments in water markets.

The results of this research will provide new methods for improving the resilience of electrical and water infrastructures. A major outcome of the work will be the proof of principle for a next-generation framework for managing the impact on emissions and water use of electricity generation by integrating advanced meteorological information with existing and potential market developments in electricity generation, air quality management, and water availability. This framework will also help in understanding a broader set of impacts from perturbations in the integrated system.