Fresh Enerbyte Country of the Month: China

China's has one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Energy providers within China race each year to keep pace with this growth. The country's yearly energy consumption has become so large that it totals more than the next two countries combined - the United States and India, according to data from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (2014).

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported that the level of Carbon Dioxide emissions have stalled worldwide even as economies such as China's continue to expand. Typically, CO2 emissions couple with economic growth. Electricity demand for industrial and individual users, plus fuels for the transportation sector create this economic-emissions correlation. The IEA chart below shows this recent break from the expected norm of the past.

The IEA report notes that the expansion in renewable energy sources, particularly in countries such as China have contributed to this break in global energy-related CO2 emissions. (IEA, 2016)

The video below provides an overview of China's largest wind farm and investment in renewable energy infrastructure as a whole.

World's Largest Wind Farm | China's Future Megaprojects: Part 6 (TDC, YouTube, 2016)

Thank you for visiting. See you on the 20th with the news story of the month.

Storing the Sun, Wind into the Future: The Growth of Energy Storage on the Power Grid

Renewable energy resources have quickly been increasing their piece of the power production pie in recent years. The growth of utility, commercial and residential energy storage solutions have been credited as a primary reason.

A major drawback to renewable resources is their intermittent nature. When the sun sets each evening and when the wind blows softly, there is no way to compensate for this lack of emission-free fuel. Whereas traditional fossil fuel resources and radioactive nuclear power still occupy the largest portions of the power production pie due to the ability to amp up or lower the amount of fuel fed into power plants to backup consumer demand at any given moment.

Growing energy storage solutions have become real game changers for the use of green energy sources as well as the overall nature of the future electric grid.

The video below briefly discusses the current dynamics of energy storage and offers a glimpse of its evolving role in electricity production and service.

(Video courtesy of Energy Storage North America, 2016)

I kindly thank you for your interest in better understanding all things energy. See you all on the 10th with the Enerbyte Country of the Month. Stay tuned!

Cracks in the Nuclear Power Ceiling: Rising Costs Outweigh Generated Power Benefits?

Exelon Generation Corp. recently announced that it will be closing two of its highest performing nuclear power plants in the the state of Illinois.

The plants at Clinton and Quad Cities have lost a combined $800 million in the past seven years. The power stations will retire in June 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Nuclear power plants have high capital (financial) costs over their lifetime. Generally, private investments,bank loans and the all-important, legislative support become necessary for plants to thrive. Exelon noted increasing costs associated with running nuclear plants in recent years. According to the company's website, the "costs to operate the facilities consist of labor, maintenance outages, fuel, capital investments and substantial property taxes paid to host communities." (See Exelon below.)

For continued use of nuclear power, the case to build to investors, bankers and governments has been one of guaranteeing that a combined cost from $2-4 billion all the way up to $9 billion for the construction of a new plant can be justified in the face of these less capital-intensive, more environmental and community friendly options coming into the market. In fact, the Union of Concerned Scientists noted back in 2009 that even after more than 50 years of nuclear power, it remains, "...too expensive to finance...." (See UCS below.)

To finish our news of the month, here is a video on Nuclear Power from the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt: In a Nutshell.

Please be sure to check out the links below and the YouTube Channel Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell. Kurzgesagt hosts several explanatory videos that makes science simpler to understand.

Thanks for your reading! See you July 1st!

Exelon: http://www.exeloncorp.com/newsroom/exelon-statement-on-early-retirement-of-clinton-and-quad-cities-nuclear-facilities
UCS: http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-power/cost-nuclear-power#.V2gmMo-cF1t

Canada, the Enerbyte Country of the Month

Canada is June's country of the month for a profile of its current energy system.

The country ranks 2nd globally in geographic size behind Russia, and over this vast territory lives a  population of 36 million (Statistics Canada, 2016). Canada has two official languages of French and English with the latter spoken largely in the Province of Quebec. It has an advanced technological society with a diversified, service-based economy that ranks among the world's largest.

Accordingly, the energy system developed similarly to that of other top economies of the world. Its electric grid and transportation needs are predominantly built around fossil fuel resources. The largest pieces of the pie chart below show the proportion that fossil fuels and nuclear power (~88%) play in providing for the country's energy needs, while the smallest pieces reflect the smaller role belonging to renewables (~12%).

Source: Natural Resources Canada, Energy Markets Factbook, 2014-2015.

Despite the present dominance of fossil fuels and nuclear power in Canada's energy pie, several factors have been contributing to a renewable energy revolution that may achieve near 100% renewable energy production within a generation. The video below comes from the Canadian Renewable Energy Co-Operative group, Our Power. It offers a brief explanation of what is powering Canada's energy transition.

Source: Our Power Canada, YouTube, 2016.

See you all on the 20th for the Enerbyte News^TM story of the month. I appreciate your stopping by.

Water Makes Power

Humanity's use of water as a source of power dates back thousands of years. Most recently it has been used as a source of renewable electricity.

In fact, the first electric grid in the United States was actually powered by the flow of a river. It provided enough electricity for a nearby factory plus the surrounding community where many of the workers lived.

The United States Department of Energy posted a video on the basics of water use for electricity, called hydroelectricity. The video explains how hydropower has become the largest source of renewable electricity production in the US. In the past, there had been concern over the environmental effects of large-size dams due to ecosystem disruption and associated methane gas emissions from the reservoirs they created. Methane is four times worse per unit than even Carbon Dioxide as a Greenhouse Gas. However, the video shows how technological developments have been addressing this issue as well as expanding the use of this plentiful, renewable resource.

Video: US Department of Energy, 2013, Energy 101: Hydropower

Thank you for reading and see you on the 10th with our first Enerbyte Country Profile!

Philadelphia Pioneers Electrified City Transport

Philadelphia will soon become the first big city on the East Coast to host a fleet of battery-electrified buses. The electrified transport on wheels arrive thanks to a $2.5 million grant to the metro area's public transport system, SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).

The Proterra Catalyst buses will roll out on Philadelphia streets as part of the ongoing Greeworks program. Each of the 25 buses can carry up to 77 passengers and will look very similar to those city residents have already been taking.

Below is a video from Philadelphia's Office of Sustainability. It details this new and exciting step towards a cleaner and greener future for Philadelphia and hopefully other East Coast cities (New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington) to follow.

Video Courtesy of ETA Agency and Jay Leno's Garage (YouTube, 2014)

Fusion in the News: Not on Your Bistro Plate, but on a Different Sort of Nuclear Cuisine

Fusion bistro restaurants involve combining two types of cuisines on one plate. Japanese Raman noodles topped with an Italian Bolognese sauce, or Mexican quesadillas filled with French duck á l’orange would come to mind as far as culinary fusion goes.

The type of fusion in recent news has been of a different sort of combination – that of two atoms into one. Nuclear fusion occurs when two lighter atoms of one element combine together to make one heavier atom. Hydrogen atoms have typically been used to fuse into Helium. On the Periodic Table of Elements from high school chemistry class, you may recall that hydrogen is the lightest element with one proton in its nucleus, while helium the next lightest at two protons. Hydrogen is also the most abundant element in the universe.

Stars like our sun, all use nuclear fusion to make heavier elements. The process of nuclear fusion on that massive scale produces an almost inexhaustible amount of heat and light while making heavier elements like gold, silver, copper and iron. 

The Big Nuclear Fusion Reactor in the Sky, the Sun (Image: Public Domain, Synthonic.net)

Unlike the dangerous radioactivity, volatility and toxic waste associated with nuclear fission, nuclear fusion produces lower levels of radioactivity than the earth emits on any given day. The hydrogen-plasma fusing process can only exist within a magnetic contained reactor, and stops abruptly upon hitting the side of the reactor. The meltdowns, toxic plumes, and area evacuations associated with post-nuclear fission disasters like Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, cannot happen under conditions of nuclear fusion.

So far, projects have only been able to sustain nuclear fusion for a matter of minutes at best. Despite billions of dollars spent in research and development, national and international efforts have not yet achieved a sustained reaction that would become a virtually inexhaustible source of clean electricity.

The video below explains the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.

Fusion Energy Explained (Video: PhD Comics, YouTube)

Thank you for reading and happy viewing.

Here to Stay! Historically Low Oil Prices per Barrel (at least for 2016)

As promised one month ago, this post will attempt to summarize the otherwise complex topic of oil price per barrel and its impact on the global economy.

Generally speaking, when there is too much supply of oil compared to what the world needs on any given day, the price per barrel will go down. Likewise, when oil supply fails to keep up with what the world market demand on any given day, the price goes up.

Over the past decade or so, oil prices reached historic low levels due to the growing, oil-thirsty economies of China, India, and other developing countries. Prices well over $100 per barrel reflected the growing demand, and higher prices for consumers at the pump, as well as for consumer goods like food and clothing. The low prices also meant lower government revenues for oil exporting states in the Middle East, Russia, and in Latin America. These states base much of their budget on income from their oil exports.

Since the June 2014 start of the crude oil price collapse, the average monthly price has fallen from $105 high to $31.33 as of 1 February 2016. As the timeline chart shows below, there are small spikes in the price over time, yet the overall trend has been lower prices.

Crude Oil Price Collapse from July 2014 (Source: Macrotrends.net)

Energy analysts note that the low prices are likely to stick around for 2016. Below, the animated video below from Bloomberg Business offers a few discussion points of what the energy sector will look like in the upcoming year, and beyond.

Why 2016 Could Be a Turning Point in the Energy Revolution (Source: YouTube, Bloomberg Business)

All of the videos and images found on this blog are easily found on YouTube or on the Internet. Thank you for reading.

Happy New Year, 2016! ...and boy, is it warm out there!

Best wishes to all for the new year, 2016!

At the close of 2015, it appears that many areas around the world have been experiencing unusually warm temperatures for the winter season.

In the video below, meteorologist and economist Jim Roemer discusses some of the economic benefits for many countries in years when the South Pacific's warm El Nino currents are particularly strong. Keeping in mind his expertise in these areas, his perspective offers but one assessment of why the winter has been warm, and even that it may not be so bad for economies around the world.

Is the Warm Winter Because of El Nino or Climate Change? (Video: Bloomberg Business, 12/28/2015)

See you all on January 15. The impact of sustained low oil prices per barrel will be the topic of the day with thoughts from energy expert Stephen Schork.