Energy Development

8/6/2019 Energy Development

1/30

Energy development

___________________________________________________________________

Energy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and

secondary energy forms for supply, cost, impact on air pollution and water

pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy.

Technologically advanced societies have become increasingly dependent on

external energy sources for transportation, the production of many manufactured

goods, and the delivery of energy services. This energy allows people who can

afford the cost to live under otherwise unfavorable climatic conditions through

the use of heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning. Level of use of external

energy sources differs across societies, as do the climate, convenience, levels of

traffic congestion, pollution and availability of domestic energy sources. Contents

1 Renewable sources

1.1 Wind

1.2 Hydroelectric

1.3 Solar

1.4 Agricultural biomass

1.5 Geothermal

1.6 Tidal

2 Fossil fuels

3 Nuclear

3.1 Fission

3.2 Fusion


2/30


3/30


4/30

rapidly. The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15%

of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed

capacity of 158 gigawatts (GW) in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and

the United States. At the end of 2009, cumulative global photovoltaic (PV)

installations surpassed 21 GW and PV power stations are popular in Germany and

Spain. Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest

of these is the 354 megawatt (MW) SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.The

world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a

rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy

programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and

ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also

widely available in the USA.

Climate change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, and increasing

government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation,

incentives and commercialization. New government spending, regulation andpolicies helped the industry weather the global financial crisis better than many

other sectors. Scientists have advanced a plan to power 100% of the world's

energy with wind, hydroelectric, and solar power by the year 2030,

recommending renewable energy subsidies and a price on carbon reflecting its

cost for flood and related expenses.

While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologiesare also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human

development. Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small

solar PV systems. Micro-hydro systems configured into village-scale or county-

scale mini-grids serve many areas. More than 30 million rural households get


5/30

lighting and cooking from biogas made in household-scale digesters. Biomass

cookstoves are used by 160 million households.

The wind, Sun, and biomass are three renewable energy sources

Wind

Wind power harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind

turbines. These turbines cause the rotation of magnets, which creates electricity.

Wind towers are usually built together on wind farms. Wind power is growing at

the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 158 gigawatts

(GW) in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

At the end of 2009, worldwide wind farm capacity was 157,900 MW, representing

an increase of 31 percent during the year, and wind power supplied some 1.3% of

global electricity consumption. Wind power accounts for approximately 19% of


6/30

electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the

Republic of Ireland. The United States is an important growth area and installed

U.S. wind power capacity reached 25,170 MW at the end of 2008. As of

November 2010, the Roscoe Wind Farm (781 MW) is the world's largest wind

farm.

Wind power: worldwide installed capacity

Hydroelectric

In hydro energy, the gravitational descent of a river is compressed from a long run

to a single location with a dam or a flume. This creates a location where

concentrated pressure and flow can be used to turn turbines or water wheels,

which drive a mechanical mill or an electric generator.

In some cases with hydroelectric dams, there are unexpected results. One study

shows that a hydroelectric dam in the Amazon has 3.6 times larger greenhouse

effect per kWh than electricity production from oil, due to large scale emission


7/30

of methane from decaying organic material, though this is most significant as river

valleys are initially flooded, and are of much less consequence for more boreal

dams. This effect applies in particular to dams created by simply flooding a large

area, without first clearing it of vegetation. There are however investigations into

underwater turbines that do not require a dam. And pumped-storage

hydroelectricity can use water reservoirs at different altitudes to store wind and

solar power.

The Gordon Dam in Tasmania is a large conventional dammed-hydro facility, with

an installed capacity of up to 430 MW.


8/30

Solar

Solar power involves using solar cells to convert sunlight into electricity, using

sunlight hitting solar thermal panels to convert sunlight to heat water or air, using

sunlight hitting a parabolic mirror to heat water (producing steam), or using

sunlight entering windows for passive solar heating of a building. It would be

advantageous to place solar panels in the regions of highest solar radiation. In the

Phoenix, Arizona area, for example, the average annual solar radiation is 5.7

kWh/(mday), or 2.1 MWh/(myr). Electricity demand in the continental U.S. is3.71012 kWh per year. Thus, at 20% efficiency, an area of approximately 3500

square miles (3% of Arizona's land area) would need to be covered with solar

panels to replace all current electricity production in the US with solar power. The

average solar radiation in the United States is 4.8 kWh/(mday), but reaches 89

kWh/m/day in parts of the Southwest.

At the end of 2009, cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) installations surpassed 21

GW and PV power stations are popular in Germany and Spain. Solar thermal

power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354

megawatt (MW) SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.

China is increasing worldwide silicon wafer capacity for photovoltaics to 2,000

metric tons by July 2008, and over 6,000 metric tons by the end of 2010.

Significant international investment capital is flowing into China to support this

opportunity. China is building large subsidized off-the-grid solar-powered cities in

Huangbaiyu and Dongtan Eco City. Much of the design was done by Americans

such as William McDonough.


9/30

Nellis Solar Power Plant, the third largest photovoltaic power plant in North

America.

Agricultural biomass

Biomass production involves using garbage or other renewable resources such as

corn or other vegetation to generate electricity. When garbage decomposes, the

methane produced is captured in pipes and later burned to produce electricity.

Vegetation and wood can be burned directly to generate energy, like fossil fuels,

or processed to form alcohols. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy

programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and

ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also

widely available in the USA.

Vegetable oil is generated from sunlight, H2O, and CO2 by plants. It is safer to use

and store than gasoline or diesel as it has a higher flash point. Straight vegetable


10/30

oil works in diesel engines if it is heated first. Vegetable oil can also be

transesterified to make biodiesel, which burns like normal diesel.

Sugar cane residue can be used as a biofuel

Geothermal

Geothermal energy harnesses the heat energy present underneath the Earth. Two

wells are drilled. One well injects water into the ground to provide water. The hot

rocks heat the water to produce steam. The steam that shoots back up the other

hole(s) is purified and is used to drive turbines, which power electric generators.

When the water temperature is below the boiling point of water a binary system

is used. A low boiling point liquid is used to drive a turbine and generator in a

closed system similar to a refrigeration unit running in reverse. There are also

natural sources of geothermal energy some can come from volcanoes, geysers,


11/30

hot springs, and steam vents. The world's largest geothermal power installation is

The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.

Tidal

Tidal power can be extracted from Moon-gravity-powered tides by locating a

water turbine in a tidal current, or by building impoundment pond dams that

admit-or-release water through a turbine. The turbine can turn an electrical

generator, or a gas compressor, that can then store energy until needed. Coastal

tides are a source of clean, free, renewable, and sustainable energy.

Fossil fuels

___________________________________________________________________

Fossil fuels sources burn coal or hydrocarbon fuels, which are the remains of thedecomposition of plants and animals. There are three main types of fossil fuels:

coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Another fossil fuel, liquefied petroleum gas

(LPG), is principally derived from the production of natural gas. Heat from burning

fossil fuel is used either directly for space heating and process heating, or

converted to mechanical energy for vehicles, industrial processes, or electrical

power generation.

Greenhouse gas emissions result from fossil fuel-based electricity generation.

Currently governments subsidize fossil fuels by an estimated $500 billion a year.


12/30

The Moss Landing Power Plant burns natural gas to produce electricity inCalifornia.

Nuclear

___________________________________________________________________

Fission

Nuclear power stations use nuclear fission to generate energy by the reaction of

uranium-235 inside a nuclear reactor. The reactor uses uranium rods, the atoms

of which are split in the process of fission, releasing a large amount of energy. The

process continues as a chain reaction with other nuclei. The energy heats water to

create steam, which spins a turbine generator, producing electricity.


13/30

Depending on the type of fission fuel considered, estimates for existing supply at

known usage rates varies from several decades for the currently popular

Uranium-235 to thousands of years for uranium-238. At the present rate of use,

there are (as of 2007) about 70 years left of known uranium-235 reserves

economically recoverable at a uranium price of US$ 130/kg. The nuclear industry

argue that the cost of fuel is a minor cost factor for fission power, more

expensive, more difficult to extract sources of uranium could be used in the

future, such as lower-grade ores, and if prices increased enough, from sources

such as granite and seawater. Increasing the price of uranium would have little

effect on the overall cost of nuclear power; a doubling in the cost of natural

uranium would increase the total cost of nuclear power by 5 percent. On the

other hand, if the price of natural gas was doubled, the cost of gas-fired power

would increase by about 60 percent.

Opponents on the other hand argue that the correlation between price and

production is not linear, but as the ores' concentration becomes smaller, the

difficulty (energy and resource consumption are increasing, while the yields are

decreasing) of extraction rises very fast, and that the assertion that a higher price

will yield more uranium is overly optimistic; for example a rough estimatepredicts that the extraction of uranium from granite will consume at least 70

times more energy than what it will produce in a reactor. As many as eleven

countries have depleted their uranium resources, and only Canada has mines left

that produce better than 1% concentration ore. Seawater seems to be equally

dubious as a source.

Nuclear meltdowns and other reactor accidents, such as the Fukushima I nuclearaccident (2011), Three Mile Island accident (1979) and the Chernobyl disaster

(1986), have caused much public concern. Research is being done to lessen the

known problems of current reactor technology by developing automated and

passively safe reactors. Historically, however, coal and hydropower power


14/30


15/30

laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), has

worked on developing the use of thorium as an alternative to uranium in reactors.

Rubbia states that a tonne of thorium can produce as much energy as 200 tonnes

of uranium, or 3,500,000 tonnes of coal. One of the early pioneers of the

technology was U.S. physicist Alvin Weinberg at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in

Tennessee, who helped develop a working nuclear plant using liquid fuel in the

1960s.

Diablo Canyon Power Plant Nuclear power station.

Fusion

Fusion power could solve many of the problems of fission power (the technology

mentioned above) but, despite research having started in the 1950s, no

commercial fusion reactor is expected before 2050. Many technical problems

remain unsolved. Proposed fusion reactors commonly use deuterium, an isotope


16/30

of hydrogen, as fuel and in most current designs also lithium. Assuming a fusion

energy output equal to the current global output and that this does not increase

in the future, then the known current lithium reserves would last 3000 years,

lithium from sea water would last 60 million years, and a more complicated fusion

process using only deuterium from sea water would have fuel for 150 billion

years.

Cost by source

___________________________________________________________________

The following chart does not include the external, weather-related costs of using

fossil fuels.

Large energy subsidies are present in many countries (Barker et al., 2001:567-

568). Currently governments subsidize fossil fuels by $557 billion per year.

Economic theory indicates that the optimal policy would be to remove coal

mining and burning subsidies and replace them with optimal taxes. Global studiesindicate that even without introducing taxes, subsidy and trade barrier removal at

a sectoral level would improve efficiency and reduce environmental damage.

Removal of these subsidies would substantially reduce GHG emissions and

stimulate economic growth.

Increased energy efficiency

___________________________________________________________________

Energy efficiency is increasing by about 2% a year, and absorbs most of the

requirements for energy development. New technology makes better use of

already available energy through improved efficiency, such as more efficient

fluorescent lamps, engines, and insulation. Using heat exchangers, it is possible to


17/30

recover some of the energy in waste warm water and air, for example to preheat

incoming fresh water. Hydrocarbon fuel production from pyrolysis could also be

in this category, allowing recovery of some of the energy in hydrocarbon waste.

Already existing power plants often can and usually are made more efficient with

minor modifications due to new technology. New power plants may become

more efficient with technology like cogeneration. New designs for buildings may

incorporate techniques like passive solar. Light-emitting diodes are gradually

replacing the remaining uses of light bulbs. Note that none of these methods

allows perpetual motion, as some energy is always lost to heat.

Mass transportation increases energy efficiency compared to widespread

conventional automobile use while air travel is regarded as inefficient.

Conventional combustion engine automobiles have continually improved their

efficiency and may continue to do so in the future, for example by reducing

weight with new materials. Hybrid vehicles can save energy by allowing the

engine to run more efficiently, regaining energy from braking, turning off the

motor when idling in traffic, etc. More efficient ceramic or diesel engines can

improve mileage. Electric vehicles such as Maglev, trolleybuses, and PHEVs are

more efficient during use (but maybe not if doing a life cycle analysis) than similarcurrent combustion based vehicles, reducing their energy consumption during use

by 1/2 to 1/4. Microcars or motorcycles may replace automobiles carrying only

one or two people. Transportation efficiency may also be improved by in other

ways, see automated highway system.

Electricity distribution may change in the future. New small scale energy sources

may be placed closer to the consumers so that less energy is lost during electricitydistribution. New technology like superconductivity or improved power factor

correction may also decrease the energy lost. Distributed generation permits

electricity "consumers," who are generating electricity for their own needs, to

send their surplus electrical power back into the power grid.


18/30

Transmission

___________________________________________________________________

While new sources of energy are only rarely discovered or made possible by new

technology, distribution technology continually evolves. The use of fuel cells in

cars, for example, is an anticipated delivery technology.[citation needed] This

section presents some of the more common delivery technologies that have been

important to historic energy development. They all rely in some way on the

energy sources listed in the previous section.


19/30

An elevated section of the Alaska Pipeline.

Water

Fossil fuels

Shipping is a flexible delivery technology that is used in the whole range of energy

development regimes from primitive to highly advanced. Currently, coal,

petroleum and their derivatives are delivered by shipping via boat, rail, or road.Petroleum and natural gas may also be delivered via pipeline and coal via a Slurry

pipeline. Refined hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and LPG may also be

delivered via aircraft. Natural gas pipelines must maintain a certain minimum

pressure to function correctly. Ethanol's corrosive properties make it harder to

build ethanol pipelines. The higher costs of ethanol transportation and storage

are often prohibitive.

Electricity

Electricity grids are the networks used to transmit and distribute power from

production source to end user, when the two may be hundreds of kilometres

away. Sources include electrical generation plants such as a nuclear reactor, coal

burning power plant, etc. A combination of sub-stations, transformers, towers,

cables, and piping are used to maintain a constant flow of electricity. Grids may

suffer from transient blackouts and brownouts, often due to weather damage.

During certain extreme space weather events solar wind can interfere with

transmissions. Grids also have a predefined carrying capacity or load that cannot


20/30

safely be exceeded. When power requirements exceed what's available, failures

are inevitable. To prevent problems, power is then rationed.

Industrialised countries such as Canada, the US, and Australia are among the

highest per capita consumers of electricity in the world, which is possible thanks

to a widespread electrical distribution network. The US grid is one of the most

advanced, although infrastructure maintenance is becoming a problem.

CurrentEnergy provides a realtime overview of the electricity supply and demand

for California, Texas, and the Northeast of the US. African countries with small

scale electrical grids have a correspondingly low annual per capita usage of

electricity. One of the most powerful power grids in the world supplies power to

the state of Queensland, Australia.


21/30

Electric Grid: Pilons and cables distribute power

Storage

___________________________________________________________________

Methods of energy storage have been developed, which transform electrical

energy into forms of potential energy. A method of energy storage may be chosen

on the basis of stability, ease of transport, ease of energy release, or ease of

converting free energy from the natural form to the stable form.

Chemical

Some natural forms of energy are found in stable chemical compounds such as

fossil fuels. Most systems of chemical energy storage result from biological

activity, which store energy in chemical bonds. Man-made forms of chemical

energy storage include hydrogen fuel, synthetic hydrocarbon fuel, batteries and

explosives such as cordite and dynamite.

Gravitational and hydroelectric

Dams can be used to store energy, by using pumped-storage hydroelectricity,

excess energy to pump water into the reservoir. When electrical energy is

required, the process is reversed. The water then turns a turbine, generating

electricity. Hydroelectric power is currently an important part of the world's

energy supply, generating one-fifth of the world's electricity.


22/30

Thermal

There are several technologies to store heat. Thermal energy from the sun, for

example, can be stored in a reservoir or in the ground for daily or seasonal use.

Thermal energy for cooling can be stored in ice. Many thermal power plants are

set up near coal or oil fields . The thermal power plant is used since fuel is burnt

to produce heat energy whch is converted into electrical energy .

Mechanical pressure

Energy may also be stored pressurized gases or alternatively in a vacuum.

Compressed air, for example, may be used to operate vehicles and power tools.

Large-scale compressed air energy storage facilities are used to smooth out

demands on electricity generation by providing energy during peak hours and

storing energy during off-peak hours. Such systems save on expensive generating

capacity since it only needs to meet average consumption rather than peak

consumption.

Electrical capacitance


23/30

Electrical energy may be stored in capacitors. Capacitors are often used to

produce high intensity releases of energy (such as a camera's flash).

Hydrogen

Hydrogen can be manufactured at roughly 77 percent thermal efficiency by the

method of steam reforming of natural gas. When manufactured by this method it

is a derivative fuel like gasoline; when produced by electrolysis of water, it is a

form of chemical energy storage as are storage batteries, though hydrogen is the

more versatile storage mode since there are two options for its conversion to

useful work: (1) a fuel cell can convert the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into

water, and in the process, produce electricity, or (2) hydrogen can be burned (less

efficiently than in a fuel cell) in an internal combustion engine.

Vehicles

Fossil fuels

Petroleum and natural gas is used to power most transportation and buildings.


24/30

Energy flow in the U.S., 2008

Batteries

Batteries are used to store energy in a chemical form. As an alternative energy,

batteries can be used to store energy in battery electric vehicles. Battery electric

vehicles can be charged from the grid when the vehicle is not in use. Because the

energy is derived from electricity, battery electric vehicles make it possible to use

other forms of alternative energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear, or

hydroelectric.

Compressed air


25/30

The Indian company, Tata, is planning to release a compressed air powered car in

2008.

Sustainability

___________________________________________________________________

Energy consumption from 1989 to 1999

The environmental movement emphasizes sustainability of energy use and

development. Renewable energy is sustainable in its production; the available

supply will not be diminished for the foreseeable future - millions or billions of

years. "Sustainability" also refers to the ability of the environment to cope with

waste products, especially air pollution. Sources which have no direct waste

products (such as wind, solar, and hydropower) are seen as ideal in this regard.

Fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas are not renewable. Forexample, the timing of worldwide peak oil production is being actively debated

but it has already happened in some countries. Fossil fuels also make up the bulk

of the world's current primary energy sources. With global demand for energy

growing, the need to adopt alternative energy sources is also growing. Fossil fuels

are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to concerns about

global warming if consumption is not reduced.

Energy conservation is an alternative or complementary process to energy

development. It reduces the demand for energy by using it more efficiently.


26/30

Energy consumption from 1989 to 1999

Resilience

___________________________________________________________________

Some observers contend that the much talked about idea of energy

independence is an unrealistic and opaque concept. They offer energyresilience as a more sensible goal and more aligned with economic, security and

energy realities. The notion of resilience in energy was detailed in the 1982 book

Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security. The authors argued that

simply switching to domestic energy would be no more secure inherently because

the true weakness is the interdependent and vulnerable energy infrastructure of

the United States. Key aspects such as gas lines and the electrical power grid are

centralized and easily susceptible to major disruption. They conclude that a

resilient energy supply is necessary for both national security and theenvironment. They recommend a focus on energy efficiency and renewable

energy that is more decentralized.


27/30

More recently former Intel Corporation Chairman and CEO Andrew Grove has

touted energy resilience, arguing that complete independence is infeasible given

the global market for energy. He describes energy resilience as the ability to

adjust to interruptions in the supply of energy. To this end he suggests the U.S.

make greater use of electricity. Electricity can be produced from a variety of

sources. A diverse energy supply will be less impacted by the disruption in supply

of any one source. He reasons that another feature of electrification is that

electricity is sticky meaning the electricity produced in the U.S. is more likely

to stay there because it cannot be transported overseas. According to Grove, a

key aspect of advancing electrification and energy resilience will be converting the

U.S. automotive fleet from gasoline-powered to electric-powered. This, in turn,

will require the modernization and expansion of the electrical power grid. As

organizations such as the Reform Institute have pointed out, advancements

associated with the developing smart grid would facilitate the ability of the grid to

absorb vehicles en masse connecting to it to charge their batteries.

Energy consumption per capita (2001). Red hues indicate increase, green hues

decrease of consumption during the 1990s.


28/30

Future

___________________________________________________________________

Extrapolations from current knowledge to the future offer a choice of energy

futures. Some predictions parallel the Malthusian catastrophe hypothesis.

Numerous are complex models based scenarios as pioneered by Limits to Growth.

Modeling approaches offer ways to analyze diverse strategies, and hopefully find

a road to rapid and sustainable development of humanity. Short term energy

crises are also a concern of energy development. Some extrapolations lackplausibility, particularly when they predict a continual increase in oil

consumption.

Energy production usually requires an energy investment. Drilling for oil or

building a wind power plant requires energy. The fossil fuel resources (see above)

that are left are often increasingly difficult to extract and convert. They may thus

require increasingly higher energy investments. If the investment is greater than

the energy produced, then the fossil resource is no longer an energy source. This

means that a large part of the fossil fuel resources and especially the non-

conventional ones cannot be used for energy production today. Such resources

may still be exploited economically in order to produce raw materials for plastics,

fertilizers or even transportation fuel but now more energy is consumed than

produced. (They then become similar to ordinary mining reserves, economically

recoverable but not net positive energy sources.) New technology may ameliorate

this problem if it can lower the energy investment required to extract and convert

the resources, although ultimately basic physics sets limits that cannot be

exceeded.


29/30

Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around

the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The energy for the Green

Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas),

pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. The peaking of world

hydrocarbon production (peak oil) may lead to significant changes, and require

sustainable methods of production.

World energy consumption


30/30

An increasing share of world energy consumption is predicted to be used by

developing nations. Source: EIA.

Documents

Energy Development