Visualization and analysis of multiobjective solutions to the energy and transportation investment optimization problem

Most U.S. energy usage is for electricity production and vehicle transportation, two interdependent infrastructures. The strength and number of the interdependencies will increase rapidly as hybrid electric transportation systems, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric trains, become more prominent. There are several new energy supply technologies reaching maturity, accelerated by public concern over global warming. The U.S. Energy Information Administration suggests that national expenditures on electric energy and transportation fuels over the next 20 years will exceed $14 trillion, four times the 2010 federal budget. Additionally in 2008, electricity generation and transportation accounted for almost 60% of US greenhouse emissions. Intentional and strategic energy system design at the national level will have very large economic and environmental impact. This talk explores the use of different multivariate analysis techniques – graphical and analytical – on data simulated by the NETPLAN software which models the long-term planning problem to produce the best possible investment portfolios, in terms of cost, sustainability and resiliency. The objective is to understand the relationship between the multiple responses and multiple explanatory variables for the best portfolios. ∗This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0835989. 1 Table of contents