Rachel Camilla Thomson

The University of Edinburgh | UoE · Institute for Energy Systems (IES)

Wave energy has the potential to play an important role in the UK's electricity mix in the coming years and it is important to understand the interactions of wave energy converters with the environment before considering them viable alternatives for other technologies. The aim of this study was to identify the environmental impacts of the deploymen...

Existing dispatch and infrastructure investment tools for modelling the Scottish energy system do not currently include solar photovoltaic (PV) resource. This paper describes the development of three spatially and temporally explicit solar resource datasets for use in these models, for domestic, commercial roof-mounted and ground-mounted arrays. Th...

Purpose: To date, very few studies have attempted to quantify the environmental impacts of a wave energy converter, and almost all of these focus solely on the potential climate change impacts and embodied energy. This paper presents a full life cycle assessment (LCA) of the first-generation Pelamis wave energy converter, aiming to contribute to th...

There is considerable uncertainty over the effect of wind power on the operation of power systems, and the consequent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions displacement; this is used to project emissions reductions that inform energy policy. Currently, it is approximated as the average emissions of the whole system, despite an acknowledgement that wind wi...

A detailed study of the potential impact of low voltage (LV) residential demand-side management (DSM) on the cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is presented. The proposed optimisation algorithm is used to shift non-critical residential loads, with the wet load category used as a case study, in order to minimise the total daily cost and emissio...

The continued drive to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in order to mitigate climate change has led to an increase in demand for low-carbon energy sources, and the development of new technologies to harness the available energy in the wind, waves and tides. Many controversies surround these technologies, however, particularly with regards to t...

The paper presents a detailed study of the potential impact on the cost and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through low voltage (LV) residential demand-side management (DSM). The proposed optimisation algorithm is used to shift non-critical residential loads, with the wet load category used as a case study, in order to minimise the total daily cost...

The Pelamis wave energy converter is emerging as one of the most promising devices to harness the available power in the waves. This study examines the environmental impacts of the device, presenting the results as a set of impact potentials, and demonstrating that it performs well in comparison to other renewable energy converters and fossil-fuell...