1. Modeling River Basin Dynamics and Drought in British Columbia

The purpose of this research project is to examine river flows and determine the impact that drought could have on British Columbia’s ability to generate electricity from hydro sources in the future. It will be necessary to develop a model of extant hydroelectric generating facilities on British Columbia’s major rivers (the reservoirs and hydropower dams) plus a potential Site C on the Peace River. Much of the work will involve knowledge of engineering relationships. The model will be built in Matlab/GAMS and will be needed to support further work indicated in project 7.
(Authors: student, A. Sopinka, and G.C. van Kooten)

2. Ranch Management in Zambia

A ranch near Livingstone, Zambia produces cattle for meat. The purpose of this research project is to develop a decision support model for the ranch that will enable the owner to maximize revenues over the longer run subject to various constraints. The important constraints to be considered concern a production function relating precipitation to forage availability at various times during the year and then to cattle/meat production. The project involves aspects of bioeconomics, farm management, data collection, econometric analysis, and mathematical modeling. This project will lead to a detailed report followed, perhaps, by a research paper in the future. (Authors: S. Mann, and G.C. van Kooten)

3. Global Penetration of Renewables

4. Pricing of Electricity (forecast and economic theory/model)

5. Ethanol/Biodiesel (alternative transportation fuel)