Design for commercialization (DFC): A systems approach for the design,economic evaluation,and diffusion of sustainable and renewable energy technology.
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文摘
Natural resources are used globally on such modern conveniences as transportation,industrial and energy production. Higher standards of living,rapid population growth,and technology all contribute to an increased demand for energy. However,extracting,processing,and using these resources to generate it can cause environmental problems,such as the disruption or destruction of ecosystems； a decrease in biodiversity,land,water,and air pollution. There is only a finite amount of these resources,and once they have been used completely,they are gone forever for all practical purposes. This is not a question of whether natural resources will be depleted or not,this is a question of when. Therefore,society as whole needs to do a better job at preventing the depletion of natural resources,conserving energy,preventing pollution,and developing a more sustainable way of living. A path to achieve this goal is to increase the amount of renewable energy production,and to expedite the development and commercialization of renewable energy technologies RETs) that allow us to reduce the demand for natural resources drastically. However,given the constantly increasing energy demand and an economic system that heavily subsides and relies on fossil fuels,how can RETs be developed and commercialized at a speed that could have a significant impact in preventing the depletion of natural resources? RETs face several barriers to commercialization that have been classified in four different domains； technical,economic,operational,and regulatory & policy. Moreover,research has identified the economic domain as the dominant factor in the commercialization of RETs,specifically,the economic feasibility and risk of RET projects. Furthermore,how can the methods of analyzing the economic feasibility of RET projects be improved in a way that investors have a better understanding of the risk and expected return on investment,so that the flow of capital invested can expedite the development and commercialization of RETs? Moreover,is there a comprehensive model that successfully and holistically addresses the commercialization challenges of RET projects? Design for commercialization,or DFC,is a proposed systems approach focused at the project level that could help answering these questions. With a unique emphasis on the economic domain,the results from a case study based on a wave energy farm system WEFS),indicate the efficacy of DFC and validate that RETs can satisfy industry economic feasibility and risk criteria,allowing their commercialization.