HIL seminar: Improving hydropower reservoir operation by using snow-related information

December 10th, 2014, Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. in room V2.12, Politecnico di Milano – Como Campus.

Improving hydropower reservoir operation by using snow-related information

Quentin Desreumaux PhD. Candidate, University of Sherbrooke, Canada

Abstract

The Rio Tinto Alcan company operates a large aluminum plant in Northern British Columbia, Canada. This location has been chosen because of the large hydropower capacity available. However, this system is quite challenging to manage due to its particular location. The hydrology mainly piloted by snow, the flood management or the fish preservation are just a part of the constraints the operators have to deal with. To help them, an optimization tool have been recently developed. After a complete overview of this real case problem, we will discuss the modeling of the problem. We will also focus on the inclusion of different hydrological information and on the effectiveness of the management policy provided by each of this exogenous variable. As a result, an information based on the snow cover leads to the best policies in a multi-objective framework

Short CV

Quentin Desreumaux is a PhD student at The University of Sherbrooke, Canada. His works focus mainly on the value of hydrological and climatic information on reservoir operations.

HIL seminar: behavioural methods for environmental economics

November 13th, 2014, Thursday,  at 2:00 p.m. in Palazzo Natta, Politecnico di Milano – Como Campus.

Behavioural methods for environmental economics

Giovanna d’Adda, Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

Abstract

Behavioral economics is increasingly used to inform public policy and foster socially desirable outcomes. The seminar gives a brief overview of the main behavioral drivers of individual decisions, and focuses specifically on applications to the energy sector. Lines for future research in the field are discussed, including the role of information, feedback, social norms, and leadership.

Short CV

Giovanna d’Adda obtained her PhD in Economics from Università Bocconi, with a thesis on the conservation of natural resources  in developing countries. Her research focuses on the effect of social norms, leadership and non-monetary incentives on individual behavior, more particularly in the field of ethics and environment protection. She has a collaboration with Politecnico di Milano in the context of COBHAM research project (The role of consumer behaviour and heterogeneity in the integrated assessment of energy and climate policies), led by Massimo Tavoni.

Strada 2.0 stakeholders meeting

The first meeting of the Strada 2.0 Project with the stakeholders took place in Bellinzona on October 29th, 2014. The meeting involved the environment and fishing sectors of the Lake Verbano and Lake Ceresio system.

The Strada 2.0 Project is a follow-up of the previous STRADA-Verbace Project, aimed to the realization of a online monitoring system of the effects of lake Maggiore and lake Lugano management.

SmartH2O general meeting

The first general meeting of the SmartH2O project took place in Reading (UK) on October 27th-29th, 2014.

The SmartH2O project aims to study, understand and modify water customers’ behaviors in order to achieve quantifiable water savings by raising their awareness and by designing and implementing monetary schemes, thus also improving the efficiency and business operations of water companies.