Efficiency Deficiency: Fossil Fuels Just Can't Compete

Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum (oil), and natural gas are so abundant on our planet that despite their lower efficiency rates in generating electricity, they eclipsed the 100-percent efficient renewable resources of wind and hydro power. Efficiency here means the amount of electricity generated per unit of the resource.

The technology for harnessing the full power of the wind and water currents took a bit more time to develop, but now many areas of the United States and the European Union have these renewable energy plants, windfarms and small hydro installations that generate electricity 100 percent efficiently.

In going from source to electricity, coal, gas and diesel range from a mere 35 percent for coal to around 60 percent for the liquid fossil fuels. The excess burned fuels pollute the air and runoff into water streams as sludge. Without proper government regulation in place, dirty emissions from these resources would be even worse today than they already are.

Researchers have noted that the Levelized Cost of Electricity or LCOE for wind, in particular has become decidedly less than its polluting competitors - the fossil fuels. The chart below shows figures from Lazard research institute's LCOE analysis.

Wind as low as $37, Gas Combined Cycle at $61. (Lazard, LCOE, 2014)

Wind's efficiency has finally demonstrated that it can be cost effective, too. Remarkable advances in solar photo voltaic (PV) technology have even placed it in head-to-head price competition against its pollution-emitting competitors, especially coal. (I apologize for the smaller sice of the chart. Click here for full report.)

Some electricity service companies in the U.S. offer individuals the option for electricity, powered completely by renewable resources like wind (with a growing portion of solar and small hydro in the mix). These environment friendly resources have consistently beaten electricity prices in U.S. states for the past few years. So, citizens now have the option of helping the environment and saving on their electric bills, while maintaining their standard of living.

In sum, many of the benefits of the less efficient, yet abundant fossil fuel resources have become more costly in comparison to the rising benefits and falling costs of clean, efficient resources like wind, solar and small hydro. The video below shows the construction of a windfarm for your viewing pleasure.

How to Build a Windfarm. (Source: YouTube, Smithsonian Channel, 2014)

Thanks for reading. Next up, tales from the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas, and it's not where you think. See you on September 1st!

Inverse Realities: Pittsburgh and Beijing, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Today's post seeks to highlight, in brief, a simple connection between industrial production and air pollution.

In the 1940s, Pittsburgh was a global industrial leader in its steel mills and in the strength of its factory production and banking sector. The air pollution levels that accompanied the city during this industrial and economic boom ironically clouded the city so heavily, it had become an unhealthy and relatively undesirable place to live, as seen in the first photo below.

Pittsburgh, by the 1990s had seen a grand transformation from a heavy industry to a services-based economy, and likewise in much of the technologically advanced countries of the world. The city is now regularly ranked among the nicest to live in the United States for quality of life. The blue skies have largely returned from its industrial past to reveal one of the most unique skylines in the country, as appears in the second photo below. The question remains: where did its industry and pollution go?

Industrial smog blocks the sun in 1940s downtown Pittsburgh. (Photo courtesy of ffffound.com)

The blue skies have returned to reveal Pittsburgh's unique skyline . (Photo courtesy of acousticalsociety.org)

In answer to the industry/pollution question, this blog post will highlight simply one aspect of an otherwise complex explanation. Inverse realities for Pittsburgh and Beijing in answer to the question can be shown in a few photographs.

The 1940s in Beijing, China were still a few years decades shy of the country's industrial boom from around 1980. Thus, as seen in the photo below, the blue skies are clear and can easily be viewed despite this early color photograph of downtown Beijing in 1946.

A sunny day in pre-industrial Beijing in 1946. (Photo courtesy of Dmitri Kessel, LIFE Magazine)

Fast forward to 2014, Beijing experienced an extended smog crisis that engulfed the city after decades of unchecked heavy industrial growth. Much like the 1940s photo of industrial Pittsburgh, downtown Beijing is shrouded in heavy and unhealthy smog, also blocking what could be an otherwise sunny day for the Chinese capital.

Downtown Beijing during 'Smog Crisis' of 2014. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

Finally, the connection between heavy industry and stagnating air pollution in cities appears for itself. Critics have been quick to point the finger at China for the amount of pollution it puts into the atmosphere each year, but they forget that the pollution-causing industry had been exported to the East from the already developed West (US, Canada, Europe, Japan). China's economic development has grown so fast in just the past 30 years that one may ask the question, in another 30 years, what cities or countries will shoulder the blame for accepting exported industry, jobs - and environmentally damaging pollution?