Chapter 4
An Enduring Energy Future
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An Enduring Energy
Future
In 1992, GŸssing was a to wn in Austria that was considered one of the poorest areas.
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Nine years later in 2001, they became an energy self -suffi cient town.
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They produce biodiesel from the local rapeseed that is used for cooking oil and the
production of anim al feed.
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They also use heat and power from the sun.
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New industries were buil t and openings for jobs expanded in the town.
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Today, GŸssing has cut their carbon emi ssions by more than 90 percent.
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Many cities li ke GŸssing are trying to come up with ways to lower their carbon emi ssions by
creating low-carbon renewable energy.
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Even though most of the world is still not making efforts to stop poll ution and fossil fuels.
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Despite the economi c costs, threats to human health and the environment.
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Fossil fuels used to be cheap and abundant but since they were used so inefficiently their
prices rose dramatically !
Cont.
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Globally the attention should be on the need to shift to wards renewable sources so they could
reduce CO2 emi ssions and methane in order to reduce the effects of clim ate change.
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Comm ercial buil dings are being created to be more energy effi cient and even zero-net-energy
buil dings that produce all its own energy on site with renewable energy and emi ts no CO2.
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The United Kingdom has consented that all new homes buil t after 2016 and all comm ercial
buil ding made after 2019 must be zero-carbon.
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Solar heating and thermal storage in buil dings can lower additional heating and placement o f
windows and roof shading can reduce cooli ng needs.
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Solar thermal panels are cost effective and can provide water and space heating.
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The development of Ņsmart gridsŅ, which use information technology to manage supply and
demand will be important to achieving the full potential of renewables and multiple
distributed storage devices.
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Most remaining problems are due to regulatory rules
Smarter Central Power with large Scale Renewables
ｷ
Central electric generating stations will continue to be part of the electricity supply
system in order to take advantage of an energy resource to meet large industrial or urban loads.
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Generating Capacity worldwide is now about 2 million MW, demand growth and the
need to replace existing plans will require 6 million MW more by 2030 a cost of $5.2 trillion.
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Electricity Generation today accounts for 41% of global primary energy use.
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Thermal power plants typically convert only one third of the energy
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5- 10 % of electricity is lost in transmission distribution and voltage adjustments.
Cont.
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The Middle East, Asia, India, China, Australia and the U.S also have enormous solar
resources.
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China’s wind resources alone could generate far more electricity than that country
currently uses.
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United States wind energy in just a few states could meet a total national electricity
demand.
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The United States, Egypt Brazil, Canada, China and Russia transmit power from Dams
to cities hundreds of miles away.
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New lines were required to bring electricity from large nuclear facilities and from coal
plants near mines.
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Renewable resources , including geothermal, biomass, ocean thermal, and hydro
power can provide large scale base load power.
In the United States, adding new transmission to
transport wind energy from the Great Plains to population
centers would yield large net economic savings for
customers.
• Smart grid technologies, now being installed in Africa, Asia,
Europe, New Zealand and the U.S, will be able to smoothly
integrate all types with renewables, electric vehicles Electrical
storage facilities and distributed generation while enhancing
grid reliability.
•The Danish power company DONG is making conventional
power plants more flexible so they can be turned down or
even off, when the wind is blowing
continued
• As Reported by the German Aerospace Center DLR ,
projects that by 2030 renewables could generate at
least 40% of national electricity in 13 out of 20 largest
economies.
• Wind, Hydro and biomass power will likely achieve
the greatest market shares.
• By tapping the potential of all renewables the world
can move away from fossil fuel in the next
decades,will not only create a more secure and far
less polluting electricity but also reduce the threat of
climate change.
Heating and Cooling with
Renewables
•Heating and cooling account for 40-50% of global energy
demand
•Absorption cooling, bioheat, cogeneration, concentrating
solar thermal, district heating/cooling, geothermal high-temp
heat, ground-source heat pump, passive solar heating,
passive cooling, seawater/lake cooling, solar thermal heat
system -- these are some heating/cooling alternatives to fossil
fuels (Pg. 140)
•Several of these systems are available anywhere
Waste Not, Want Not
•
•
Heat expelled from power plants during electricity generation could
meet the region’s demands for heating using district heating
Energy recovery methods:
– Waste heat, manure, food industry waste, landfill gas, wastewater, steam
and gas pipeline pressure differentials, fuel pipeline leakages/flaring
– In the U.S. these recovery methods could generate almost 100,000MW of
electricity - enough to provide 19% of nation’s electricity
•
•
•
Fats & oils can be converted into renewable diesel and jet fuel
Construction debris, waste paper, plastic, wood, lawn trimmings
(anything containing carbon, oxygen and hydrogen) can be converted
into some type of motor fuel
Algae can convert as much as 80% CO2 released from coal/naturalgas fired power plants
Scaling Up Renewables
• Some analysts say renewable energy is
too small-scaled and too dispersed to
meet worlds energy needs.
• However, if current growth
rates continue, wind will
generate more electricity
than nuclear power in 2020.
Scaling Up Renewables
Continued
• Energy is required to move away from
fossil fuels.
• Building massive numbers of new wind,
solar, geothermal, and biomass plants
will require large amounts of energy.
• However, unlike conventional power
plants, once most of these are built,
they require no further energy to
operate.
Kicking the Habit
• Shifting to renewable energy will require
replacing an entire complex system.
• To avoid catastrophic climate change,
this transition must be accelerated.
• Success stories should be scaled up,
and strategies must be shared between
countries.
Kicking the Habit Continued
• Several regulatory and policy changes
could put humanity on course to avoid
impacts of climate change.
– Increase carbon prices over time
– Taxing industry for their carbon emissions
– Reward environmental innovation with tax breaks
• This would give industry a reason to
stop using carbon-intensive fuel and
increase their use of renewable
resources.
Kicking the Habit Continued
• Policies also need to be created to
increase efficiency and reduce demand
on an individual level.
– Financial incentives (low-cost loans and
tax benefits to purchase renewable and
energy-saving technologies)
– Tighten efficiency standards for lighting
and appliances