Alternative Energy in America

Alternative Energy in America Brian Heins CBE 562 September 28th, 2006 CBE Perspective: Mass Balance  Mass Balance: Aside from meteors (input) and astronauts (occasional output), the Earth weighs a constant 5.972 x 1024 kg  Other Facts: – The diameter is about 12,756 km – Cross-sectional area: 1.28*1014m2 CBE Perspective: Energy Balance  Assuming the Earth only receives input energy from the Sun: – Solar constant = 1370 W/m2 – On a clear day: 1000 W/m2 at the surface – This corresponds to 1.05*1019 Btu/day (1 Btu = 1055 J = 1055 W*s) CBE Perspective: Energy Balance  Fortunately for us, this energy does not accumulate for long.  A few possible conversions: – [Photosynthesis] Chemical energy – [Solar Panels] Electrical energy – [Wind] Kinetic energy – [Evaporation] Potential energy  Eventually, back to heat: – [Thermal radiation] Off the planet We Know Many Types of Energy  Fossil Fuels – – – – – – Coal Fuel Oil Kerosene LPG Natural Gas Oil  Renewables – – – – – – Bioenergy Geothermal Hydrogen Hydropower Solar Wind  Others – Nuclear – Fusion Alternative to what?  Fossil Fuels? – Major source of pollution – Will not last forever  Nuclear? – Radioactive waste – Will not last forever  Itself? – Hydroelectric dams fill with silt – Geothermal sites cool down over time Goal of Alternative Energy  Provide energy to meet demand  Be renewable and/or sustainable  Be “green” – Non-polluting – Environmentally friendly – Little or no greenhouse gas emissions What is the demand? Consumers Question: Who Consumes the Most? Commercial End Usage (1999) Natural Gas Space Heating Water Heating Cooking Cooling Lighting Office Equipment Refrigeration Ventilation Other (Trillion BTU) Electricity 155 37 65 793 716 555 266 226 Fuel Oil 167 6 1,483 275 200 8 59 288 6 Commercial Usage  Natural Gas:  Electricity:  Fuel Oil: 2,023 Trillion BTU 3,098 Trillion BTU 197 Trillion BTU  Total Usage: 5.32 Quadrillion BTU  Equivalent to 39 Cubic Miles of Gasoline Commercial Comparison Daily Solar Energy Incident Upon US 99.31% Annual US Commercial Energy Usage 0.69% Residential Usage Percentage Usage By Energy Type Annual Usage (Trillion BTU) Electricity Fuel Oil Kerosene LPG Natural Gas 3890 710 50 380 4840 Cost to User ($ / Million BTU) 25.80 8.91 11.09 14.87 9.70 Space Heating 10% 82% 100% 74% 69% 13% 24% 13% 8% Air Conditioning 15% Water Heating 9% 18% 67% Appliances Residential Totals  Natural Gas:  Electricity:  Other Fuels: 4,840 Trillion BTU 3,890 Trillion BTU 1,140 Trillion BTU  Total Usage: 9.87 Quadrillion BTU  Energy ~ 700,000 Space Shuttle Launches (1 Shuttle Launch ~ 1.5*1010 BTU) Transportation Natural Gas Petroleum Alcohol Fuels Elec. Elec. Losses 1998 2004 666 705 24,537 27,004 117 296 17 26 38 58 Total 25,259 27,793 (Trillion BTU) Industrial Energy Usage (1998)  Look at seven major industries: – Aluminum – Chemicals – Forest Products – Glass – Metal Casting – Petroleum – Steel Aluminum 660 Trillion BTU/yr Chemicals 7374 Trillion BTU/yr Forest Products 654 Trillion BTU/yr Glass 293 Trillion BTU/yr Metal Casting 367 Trillion BTU/yr Petroleum 6500 Trillion BTU/yr Steel 2194 Trillion BTU/yr Industrial Total (1998)  18.0 Quadrillion BTU’s from these industries  That’s: 18,000,000,000,000,000 BTU’s  Or: 8.1 Trillion McDonald’s Big Macs (1 Big Mac = 560 Cals = 560,000 cals = 2222 BTU’s) Industrial Comparison Daily Solar Energy Incident Upon US 97.70% Annual US Industrial Energy Usage 2.30% Grand Total For 1998  95.2 Quadrillion BTU’s  Includes a lot of electrical losses which were not included in previous totals  ~700 Cubic miles of gasoline  ~6 million shuttle launches  ~Energy of everyone on earth eating 7,000 Big Macs Overview (2004) Values are given in quadrillion BTU Energy Usage History Year 1949 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Coal 11.981 12.347 11.167 9.838 11.581 12.265 11.598 12.077 12.971 12.663 12.663 13.584 13.922 13.766 15.04 15.423 15.908 15.322 15.894 17.071 17.478 17.26 18.008 18.846 19.07 19.173 18.992 19.122 19.835 19.909 20.089 21.002 21.445 21.656 21.623 22.58 21.914 21.904 22.321 22.39 Coal Imp. -0.007 0.001 -0.01 -0.006 -0.018 -0.058 -0.033 -0.026 -0.007 0.056 0.014 (s) 0.015 0.125 0.063 -0.035 -0.016 -0.022 -0.016 -0.011 -0.013 -0.017 0.009 0.04 0.03 0.005 0.01 0.035 0.027 0.058 0.061 0.023 0.046 0.067 0.058 0.065 0.029 0.061 0.051 0.138 Nat. Gas 5.145 5.968 8.998 12.385 15.769 21.795 22.469 22.698 22.512 21.732 19.948 20.345 19.931 20 20.666 20.394 19.928 18.505 17.357 18.507 17.834 16.708 17.744 18.552 19.712 19.73 20.149 20.835 21.351 21.842 22.784 23.197 23.329 22.936 23.01 23.916 22.906 23.628 23.069 22.991 Petroleum 11.883 13.315 17.255 19.919 23.246 29.521 30.561 32.947 34.84 33.455 32.731 35.175 37.122 37.965 37.123 34.202 31.931 30.232 30.054 31.051 30.922 32.196 32.865 34.222 34.211 33.553 32.845 33.527 433.84 34.67 34.553 35.757 36.266 36.934 37.96 38.404 38.333 38.401 39.047 40.13 Total 29.002 31.632 37.41 42.137 50.577 63.522 64.596 67.696 70.316 67.906 65.355 69.104 70.989 71.856 72.892 69.984 67.75 64.037 63.29 66.617 66.221 66.148 68.626 71.66 73.023 72.46 71.996 73.519 75.055 76.48 77.488 79.978 81.086 81.592 82.65 84.965 83.182 83.994 84.487 85.649 Nuclear 0 0 0 0.006 0.043 0.239 0.413 0.584 0.91 1.272 1.9 2.111 2.702 3.024 2.776 2.739 3.008 3.131 3.203 3.553 4.076 4.38 4.754 5.587 5.602 6.104 6.422 6.479 6.41 6.694 7.075 7.087 6.597 7.068 7.61 7.862 8.033 8.143 7.959 8.232 Hydro. 1.425 1.415 1.36 1.608 2.059 2.634 2.824 2.864 2.861 3.177 3.155 2.976 2.333 2.937 2.931 2.9 2.758 3.266 3.527 3.386 2.97 3.071 2.635 2.334 2.837 3.046 3.016 2.617 2.892 2.683 3.205 3.59 3.64 3.297 3.268 2.811 2.242 2.689 2.825 2.725 (in quadrillion BTU) W,W,&A 1.549 1.562 1.424 1.32 1.335 1.431 1.432 1.503 1.529 1.54 1.499 1.713 1.838 2.038 2.152 2.485 2.59 2.615 2.831 2.88 2.864 2.841 2.823 2.937 3.062 2.662 2.702 2.847 42.8 2.939 3.068 3.127 3.006 2.835 2.885 2.907 2.64 2.648 2.74 2.845 Geothermal NA NA NA 0.001 0.004 0.011 0.012 0.031 0.043 0.053 0.07 0.078 0.077 0.064 0.084 0.11 0.123 0.105 0.129 0.165 0.198 0.219 0.229 0.217 0.317 0.336 0.346 0.349 0.364 0.338 0.294 0.316 0.325 0.328 0.331 0.317 0.311 0.328 0.339 0.34 Solar NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA (s) (s) (s) (s) (s) 0.055 0.06 0.063 0.064 0.066 0.069 0.07 0.071 0.07 0.07 0.069 0.066 0.065 0.064 0.064 0.063 Wind NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA (s) (s) (s) (s) (s) (s) 0.022 0.029 0.031 0.03 0.031 0.036 0.033 0.033 0.034 0.031 0.046 0.057 0.07 0.105 0.115 0.143 Total 2.974 2.978 2.784 2.929 3.398 4.076 4.268 4.398 4.433 4.769 4.723 4.768 4.249 5.039 5.166 5.494 5.471 5.985 6.488 6.431 6.033 6.132 5.687 5.489 6.294 6.133 6.158 5.907 6.156 6.065 6.669 7.137 7.075 6.561 6.599 6.158 5.328 5.835 6.082 6.116 Elec. Imp. 0.005 0.006 0.014 0.015 (s) 0.007 0.012 0.026 0.049 0.043 0.021 0.029 0.059 0.067 0.069 0.071 0.113 0.1 0.121 0.135 0.14 0.122 0.158 0.108 0.037 0.008 0.067 0.087 0.095 0.153 0.134 0.137 0.116 0.088 0.099 0.115 0.075 0.078 0.022 0.039 Total 31.982 34.616 40.208 45.087 54.017 67.844 69.289 72.704 75.708 73.991 71.999 76.012 78 79.986 80.903 78.289 76.342 73.253 73.101 76.736 76.469 76.782 79.225 82.844 84.957 84.704 84.643 85.992 87.619 89.283 91.25 94.256 94.769 95.192 96.836 98.961 96.472 97.877 98.311 99.74 State Comparisons (2001) So what’s the global outlook?  The United States is one country. For good or for bad…  A recent Exxon Mobil study found that “oil should remain plentiful and affordable at least through 2030.”  This is based on the fact that the world has consumed about 1 trillion barrels of “easy” oil.  There are an estimated 6-8 trillion barrels of total within the Earth.  About 40% of these are “easy.” Alternative Energy  Enough of that!  Let’s take a look at: – Bioenergy – Fusion – Geothermal – Hydrogen – Hydropower – Solar – Wind Guesses?        Bioenergy Fusion Geothermal Hydrogen Hydropower Solar Wind Alternative Energy Breakdown 0.063 0.143 Geothermal Hydroelectric 1.989 2.725 2.845 0.56 0.296 0.34 Solar Wind Biomass Wood Waste Alcohol Fuels Data from 2004. Values in quadrillion BTU. Renewable energy still only accounts for 6.1% of the United States’ total energy consumption. Bioenergy Bioenergy  Combines the fun of shredding things and burning them for energy  Also known as Biomass  Largest renewable energy source (passed hydroelectric in 2000)  Main sources: wood, municipal waste, and alcohol fuels Wood, Paper, Pulp, Lumber, etc.  Three sources: – Forests – Civic projects – Lumber and paper waste (Black Liquor) Other Sources of Bioenergy  Municipal waste (any guesses where this comes from?)  Alcohol fuels – Ethanol in gasoline – Biodiesel  Animal fat or vegetable oil transformed with alcohol  E-diesel: an ethanol diesel mix – 2.81 billion gallons of ethanol made from corn (not necessarily used for energy) Notes for Bioenergy  Paper mills actually consume about 40% of the bioenergy produced annually  Biomass still pollutes  But: no net carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere  Maximum annual supply 8 quadrillion BTU (1990) Fusion Fusion  Can you say theoretical? Fusion  Fusion output has increased by a factor of a trillion since 1970 (computers: only 100,000)  France to be future site of a fusion power plant Fusion  No major comments  So far, major consumer of energy – No fusion reactor has ever produced more energy than needed to sustain it  See what happens… Geothermal Geothermal  Use Earth’s heat as energy  Power plants usually use mile+ deep wells: – Dry steam – Flash steam – Binary-cycle Steam turns turbine directly Hot water vaporizes to form steam and power turbines Use water to vaporize more volatile liquids Geothermal  Provide local heating/cooling with shallow wells (heat pump applications) – Heat a building or a community – Melt snow under roads – Pasteurize milk  Most geothermal reservoirs are located in Western States, Alaska, and Hawaii  Future goal: extract heat from magma Geothermal  Home town example: Fond du Lac High School  Estimated 40% reduction in energy costs Geothermal  Overall, the United States has enough energy to supply 2.8 million average homes  Most houses are unable to use geothermal electricity directly  Instead: use ground source heat pumps to lower heating and cooling costs – Need knowledgeable contractors and capital – Payback time of 2-10 years Hydrogen What is the government doing? Hydrogen and Efficiency  Hydrogen can be produced in a plant at about 60% efficiency  Electricity has an efficiency of 35%  Automotive hydrogen fuel cells are about 40-60% efficient  Automobile gasoline is only about 30% efficient Hydrogen Basics  Energy content: – 120 MJ/kg for hydrogen versus 44 MJ/kg for gasoline – 8 MJ/liter for liquid hydrogen versus 32 MJ/liter for gasoline Hydrogen Basics  Storage: – Need to store 5-13 kg of hydrogen to compete with gasoline – As a gas: 5,000-10,000 psi – As a liquid: -252.8°C Hydrogen Basics  Storage: – Via adsorption or absorption: Hydrogen Basics  Hydrogen is produced in many ways: – Steam reforming of natural gas (methane) – Water Splitting via combinations of:  Chemicals  Heat  Light  Biological Systems – Full list: http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/production/basics.html Hydrogen Usage  Fuel cells are the main way hydrogen is utilized.  Fuel cell animation: http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/fuelcells/animation/intro.html  Many fuel cells contain fuel processors which must reform the fuel before it can enter the fuel cell stack (for fuel cells running on methane, gasoline, etc.) Hydrogen Usage  Efficient over a range of outputs, from 1kW to hundreds of MW.  Efficiency of 80% for co-generation uses (produce both electricity and heat) Hydrogen Challenges Cost – $25-35/kW (for automobile uses) Durability – largely untested System Size – currently large and heavy Energy management – needs large heat exchangers, etc.  Full list:     http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/mypp/pdfs/fuel_cells.pdf Excerpt from Report: Hydropower Types of Hydropower  Impoundment – Stores water behind a dam in a reservoir  Diversion or run-of-river – Diverts water from a river through turbines – May not require a dam  Pumped storage – Able to pump water from a low reservoir to a high reservoir when demand is low Hydroelectric Turbines  3 Common types: Pelton, Francis, Propeller  Range in size from 200 to 800 megawatts  Vary based on head: from 10-300 ft to 506,000 ft  Various flow arrangements available Hydroelectricity  Essentially emission-free  Causes “fish injury and mortality from passage through turbines, as well as detrimental effects on the quality of downstream water.” Solar Solar  Popularly thought of as one of those alternative energy sources…  Only accounts for 1% of total renewable energy consumed Solar Types  Concentration – Produce steam by concentration light – Looks to be viable (according to government)  Photovoltaic cells – Untreated surface reflects 30% of the light – High and low wavelengths are useless, only about 45% of the light can be utilized – Lose efficiency due to recombination of charges, resistance, and high temperatures Photovoltaic Comments  Emission-free  Why such little popularity? – Usually costs more than local utilities – Costs increases dramatically to go from 95% availability to 99.99% availability Solar Types  Solar Heating – Passive (technically, this provides a ridiculous amount of energy… which we will ignore) – Active  Liquid or gas heated by sunlight  Heat rooms or water  Can be stored for later (liquid usually) Solar Types  Solar Lighting – Used to be common – Thomas Edison came along – Coming back as hybrid lighting  Hybrid Lighting – Optic fiber route sunlight into hybrid fixtures – Sensors monitor input light and adjust electricity to maintain brightness Wind Wind  Fastest-growing alternative energy  A form of solar energy (though technically, everything is)  Wind turbines are growing larger and more efficient  Current GE Prototype is 3.6 megawatt (300 operating 35% of the time would produce 1 trillion BTU) How it Works (Horizontal Axis) v Wind Comments  Clean, relatively cheap, minimal land use  More expensive than standard power plant both initially and based on power output  Wind is intermittent  Good locations are often remote  Noise, appearance, bird-smacking abilities are also possible issues Pie Chart Review 0.063 0.143 Geothermal Hydroelectric 1.989 2.725 2.845 0.56 0.296 0.34 Solar Wind Biomass Wood Waste Alcohol Fuels Data from 2004. Values in quadrillion BTU. Renewable energy still only accounts for 6.1% of the United States’ total energy consumption. Projections References               http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/enduse_consumption/intro.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/byfuels/2001/byfuel_el.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/byfuels/2001/byfuel_fo.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/byfuels/2001/byfuel_kr.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/byfuels/2001/byfuel_lpg.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/byfuels/2001/byfuel_ng.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/aluminum/energy_use.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/chemicals/energy_use.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/forest/energy_use.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/glass/energy_use.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/metalcasting/energy_use.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/petroleum/fuel.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab98/steel/energy_use.html http://www.ecoworld.com/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=306 References            http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/factoids/funfacts.htm http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/overview.html http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CSM/story?id=1140560 http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/storage/basics. html http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/uses/transportation.html http://www.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/overview.html http://www.alliantenergygeothermal.com/stellent2/groups/public/d ocuments/pub/geo_act_sch_001349.hcsp http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/995653330_5.html http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar/ http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_how.html http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_ad.html