Cost reductions in nascent forms of Renewable Energy Technology (RET) are essential for them to contribute to the energy mix. Policy intervention can facilitate this cost reduction; however, this may require a significant investment from the public sector. These cost reductions fall into two broad categories: (1) incremental cost reductions through continual improvements to existing technologies, and (2) radical innovation where technologies that significantly differ from the incumbents are developed. This study presents a modelling methodology to integrate radical innovation in RET experience curve and learning investment analysis, using wave energy as an example nascent RET. This aims to quantify the potential effects of radical innovation on the learning investment, allowing the value of successful innovation to be better analysed. The study highlights the value offered by radical innovations in long-term deployment scenarios for wave energy. This suggests that high-risk R&D efforts in nascent RET sectors, even with low success rates, could still present significant expected value in offsetting future revenue support.

Ocean energy is a promising source of clean renewable energy, with clear development targets set by the European Commission. However, the ocean energy sector faces non-technological challenges and opportunities that are frequently overlooked in deployment plans. The present study aimed to provide a critical evaluation of the ocean energy sector’s legal, institutional, and political frameworks with an identification and analysis of both barriers and enabling features for the deployment of ocean energy. In the first stage, a literature review on the current political and regulatory frameworks of a set of European countries was carried out, setting the basis for the main challenges and enabling factors faced by the sector. Secondly, a critical analysis of the main non-technological barriers and enablers was performed, which was supported by questionnaires sent to regulators, technology developers, and test-site managers. This questionnaire allowed us to collect and integrate the views, perceptions, and personal experiences of the main stakeholders of the ocean energy sector in the analysis. The most relevant insights were collected to guide future policy instruments, supports, and consenting measures in a more informed and effective manner and to help accelerate the development of the sector.

Stimulation treatments have been difficult to design and evaluate because of the numerous variables involved. A successful treatment has too long been defined as "one where the treatment was pumped without problems." A successful treatment should be defined as "one that provides the production predicted by the design process." The conditions associated with stimulation results and a method to design an optimum treatment with more accurate, predicted results are presented. The method combines both old and new technology associated with well performance testing (pressure transient testing and production systems analysis), pump-in tests to obtain certain critical variables in situ, and compilation of the obtained data to design an economically optimum stimulation that will provide predicted results. The method is used to optimize the design prior to spending any money for stimulation treatments. This optimization allows important economic decisions to be made and a treatment design that is based on those economics. The method also allows the evaluation of post-treatment results.

The design of effective and economically viable wave energy devices involves complex decision-making about the product based on conceptual design information, including stakeholder requirements, functions, components and technical parameters. The great diversity of concepts makes it extremely difficult to create fair comparisons of the relative merits of the many different designs. Conventional design approaches have proved insufficient to guarantee wave energy technologies meet their technical and economic goals. Systems engineering can provide a suitable framework to overcome the obstacles towards a successful wave energy technology. The main objective of this work is to review the well-established systems engineering approaches that have been successfully implemented in complex engineering problems and to what extent they have been applied to wave energy technology development. The paper first reviews how system information can be organised in different design domains to guide the synthesis and analysis activities and the definition of requirements and metrics, as well as the search for solutions and decision-making. Then, an exhaustive literature review on the application of systems engineering approaches to wave energy development is presented per design domain. Finally, a set of conclusions is drawn, along with some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of wave energy technology development.

A study was made of stimulation treatments being conducted in the Frontier Formation, southwestern Wyoming. The purpose of the study was to determine why some treatments were successful while others resulted in inadequate production increases. production increases. The initial step was to gather as much data as possible from treatments previously pumped. Although this information helped to pinpoint trends in previously pumped. Although this information helped to pinpoint trends in the field, it was of little value in determining the cause of stimulation failure. In an effort to get more information, minifracture treatments were pumped on new wells to determine fracture parameters. Bottom-hole pressures were also monitored during all pumping operations. Applying pressures were also monitored during all pumping operations. Applying current technology to these data led to a better understanding of how the fracture was propagating. On previous jobs, post-fracture temperature logs consistently indicated "in-zone" treatments, which could not be supported by the interpretation of bottom-hole treating pressures. The assumption that fractures were confined in the pay zone was also disproved by post-fracture, pressure buildup tests. These tests indicated that post-fracture, pressure buildup tests. These tests indicated that effective propped fracture lengths were far shorter than calculated fracture lengths. The key to successful stimulation was found to be controlled fracture height throughout the fracture. Our goal was to build an artificial barrier the length of the fracture using 100-mesh sand. Other techniques applied included lower pump rates, lowering breakdown pressures to avoid unwanted fracture geometry, and gut shooting the pay zone to predetermine the point of fracture initiation. Production results to date show a definite increase in the percentage of Production results to date show a definite increase in the percentage of successful stimulation treatments. Introduction A field study was performed to evaluate fracture stimulation treatments. After-fracture production rates were unpredictable and future drilling in the field was questionable from an economic viewpoint. The procedure to analyze the problem can be divided into three steps:analyzing old well-treatment data and charting production rate and treatment information by location within the field,applying proven completion techniques in the field to new wells that were ready to be completed andusing analysis methods presented by Nolte and Nolte and Smith, to determine how the fracture was propagating, and also to determine if changes in treatment design were yielding the desired effects. HISTORY OF PREVIOUS TREATMENTS The field had gone through a natural evolution in fracture treatment design over a period dating back to 1975. Early treatments were performed using a prepad of alcohol and carbon dioxide, followed by a prepad of linear gel prepad of alcohol and carbon dioxide, followed by a prepad of linear gel led water and carbon dioxide. The main fracture treatments consisted of up to 500,000 gal of high-pH, crosslinked, gel led water using a guar-gum gelling agent, and 100-mesh and 20–40 mesh volumes approaching one million pounds total sand. To date (1982), most of these early treatments still pounds total sand. To date (1982), most of these early treatments still maintain the highest production rate in the field. Later treatments (1976 to 1978) utilized a modified guar-gum gelling agent (HPG). Both prepads, along with the 100-mesh sand, were phased out. Other treatments evaluated included gel led oil fractures and emulsion fractures. Production results were less than favorable and, by 1979, activity in the Production results were less than favorable and, by 1979, activity in the field had slowed. After reviewing these treatments and completion techniques, observations included the following.