Alternative electric generation impact simulator : aegis, description and examples

Abstract

This simulator should be viewed as a framework for assembling and manipulating information about the economics, emissions, ambient concentrations, and potential health impacts of different types and configurations of electric power generating facilities. The framework is probabilistic, and thus results in several measures of the range of various consequences, in other words, a graphic display of the quality of the various predictions. The current version of the model is to be considered a testing version, as there are certain approximations implicit in some of the manipulations, scaling procedures, and the data base is incomplete in portions. As a result of additional fundings, the data base should be at the state of the art by September 1979 and additional refinements to various manipulations, in particular the economic and dispersions, should be completed by June 1980. There are, nevertheless, a tremendous number of useful exercises that can be performed on the current model version. In addition, the simulator is structured so that it is easy to improve the sophistication of certain manipulations, or to replace generic data, or update or add new data. Versions of the simulator are available so that it can be operated in batch or interactive modes.