Innovative contracting in infrastructure design and maintenance
This paper describes the results of research into the contract arrangements and design processes for contractors in the road infrastructure industry. The changing institutional environment has led the industry to believe that more opportunities can be realised to the benefit of society (lower cost, higher quality, more efficient design and design process) when contractors are allowed more 'design freedom' in their contracts with governments. We have explored the technical design space, and developed a framework to structure this space. Next, we identified, through many indepth interviews and case studies, a number of technical, organisational and institutional opportunities, threats and barriers for granting more design space. Finally, the paper discusses the conclusions that could be drawn from the mapping of the opportunities onto the bottlenecks, and it shows that much can indeed be gained, but that many of these opportunities for cost reduction or value improvement are hampered by large, inert institutional settings.
Collaborative research to support transition towards integrating flood risk management in urban development
Urban development and regeneration present windows of opportunity to help reduce flood vulnerability. Much recent research stresses the need for better integration of flood risk into planning processes. However, there is limited experience in incorporating flood risk management in urban planning. Demonstration projects can help in overcoming this lack of experience and facilitate a transition towards integrated flood risk management and spatial planning; taking longer term flexible and adaptive approaches. This paper demonstrates that the process of research, if collaborative, can contribute to the better integration of flood risk in urban planning. Collaborative research can support demonstration projects and their wider uptake, as well as policy development and subsequently a transition to integrated flood risk management. It also provides greater freedom to use different approaches, consider a broader range of problems and solutions, bring stakeholders together and facilitate capacity building. This paper calls for collaborative research that facilitates social learning and is impact focussed, preferably supporting innovative demonstration projects.
Techno-economic analysis of chemical looping combustion with humid air turbine power cycle
Abstract Power generation from fossil fuel-fired power plant is the largest single source of CO2 emission. CO2 emission contributes to climate change. On the other hand, renewable energy is hindered by complex constraints in dealing with large scale application and high price. Power generation from fossil fuels with CO2 capture is therefore necessary to meet the increasing energy demand, and reduce the emission of CO2. This paper presents a process simulation and economic analysis of the chemical looping combustion (CLC) integrated with humid air turbine (HAT) cycle for natural gas-fired power plant with CO2 capture. The study shows that the CLC–HAT including CO2 capture has a thermal efficiency of 57% at oxidizing temperature of 1200 °C and reducer inlet temperature of 530 °C. The economic evaluation shows that the 50 MWth plant with a projected lifetime of 30 years will have a payback period of 7 years and 6 years for conventional HAT and CLC–HAT cycles respectively. The analysis indicates that CLC–HAT process has a high potential to be commercialised.