The trend towards energy supply diversification has pushed the United States to the point of exportation. A mix of renewable energy resources like wind and solar, plus aging nuclear and hydropower installations combined with an abundance of liquid natural gas or LNG now aptly describes the present energy portfolio.
LNG has emerged as the cleaner burning alternative to heavier fossil fuels like coal and petroleum. While coal and petroleum still provide the vast majority of the world's energy needs, the two fossil fuels are expected to diminish significantly in the coming decades with US LNG exports expected to increase exponentially.
Currently, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the three major fossil fuels - LNG, coal and petroleum - still account for the majority of domestic energy consumption in the form of electricity, heat and transportation fuels. The EIA pie chart below shows that the three fossil fuels account for 81 percent of current US energy needs with nuclear and renewables at 19 percent. However, the coal and petroleum portions of the pie have been decreasing in the face of rising LNG production and growth of renewables.
Petroleum and coal will continue to shrink as natural gas and renewables grow.
On a final note, it feels great to return sharing fresh enerbytes again. Thank you for reading. Happy Holidays, everyone!
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.
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!
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.
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 NewsTM story of the month.
I appreciate your stopping by.
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 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 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)
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.
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.
Finally, 195 countries around the world came to an agreement on how to address climate change through such measures as curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and financial aid from rich to poor countries as they follow their individual paths to economic development.
Only time will tell whether the ambitious agreement will take hold once countries are able to begin signing, and then ratifying the measures from April 2016. Moreover, the agreement will only come into effect if 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions ratify the agreement by 2020. Even then, the text only contains "aims" and "promises" from countries rather than more specific targets attached to negative consequences for not adopting them within a set time range. (For the full text of the agreement, click on the hyperlink: 2015 Paris Agreement.)
Following suit, the first video below offers a brief summary of the agreement itself, while the second explains some common misconceptions about climate change.
What you need to know about the Paris climate agreement (video: USA Today, 12/12/2015)
What people get wrong about climate change (video: VOX, 12/12/2015)
This year's climate conference in Paris may be the most significant such meeting since 1998's conference in Kyoto. Despite the number of international signatories gathered in Japan, including US President Bill Clinton, the agreed greenhouse gas emission cuts failed to be adopted into law by many of the countries after that conference's close. The primary reason was that five of the worlds largest polluters, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (also known as the BRICS) were exempt from the emissions cuts to 1990 levels due to their "developing" economies that all other countries still had to adopt.
This year's Conference of Parties (or COP21) aims to expand the dialogue on climate change. Recent agreements between the world's two largest polluter's, China and the United States, may give the needed push to set the wheels of sustainable development, clean energy and environmental resilience in motion.
The video below summarizes COP21 as it takes place from Monday, yesterday through next Friday, December 11 in Paris. Compliments for the video would be in order to the production team at GreenTV.
Thanks for reading. See you with a summary report on the conference on December 15.
Fuel cells transform chemical energy from a fuel into electricity. The chemical reaction that happens inside the cell takes positively-charged hydrogen ions, and becomes electricity when combined with an oxidizing element like oxygen. (i.e. hydrogen + oxygen = H2O = Steam!)
These devices will be one of many energy storage options that will provide for the seamless flow of electricity from otherwise intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar.
The video below comes courtesy of the Environmental Defense Fund. It explains what a fuel cell is, how it works, and its practical application even in supplementing the electricity already on the grid. As you will see, Bloom Energy's fuel cells are unique for their size, resource-use efficiency, and lack of toxic byproducts such as acid.
To all of my American readers: I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. To all of my readers around the world: Thank you for stopping by and see you on December 1!
Smart Grids are reclaiming the crumbling electric grid of the United States. The current grid is still basically the one that Thomas Edison designed long before his death in 1931. His design allowed heavy, coal fire plants to provide electricity for both residential and industrial needs. Updating, rather than re-doing the grid since that time has looked more like a patch work job, than that of a technologically modernizing country.
One element of new Smart Grids popping up is the Microgrid. Just as it sounds, the Microgrid distributes electricity on a micro scale together with or separate from the larger grid around it. Critical infrastructures from one building or as much as an entire town or city neighborhood can fall under the power protection of these isolated grids. They come in handy during times of man made or natural disaster. While diesel or natural gas back-up generators were the 'go-to' back up systems of the past, renewable resources like the solar and wind with utility size battery storage increasingly attract the attention of public and private investors worldwide.
Microgrids and How the Work
(Video courtesy of CockrellSchool)
The Hoboken, New Jersey Microgrid project is a perfect example of how locally resourced backups can protect electricity access even when the surrounding grid has gone into power outage. One characteristic of all Microgrids, as you will see in the video, becomes the close collaboration between communities, local, state and federal authorities, along with civil society groups and private sector companies.
How Microgrids Improve Resiliency in Power Outages | Clean Energy Supply
First off, I would like to apologize for the month-long hiatus, but now we're back in business with lots of grid to cover.
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In the past few years, local utilities, the mass media, and product commercials have been using the term "smart grid" with regard to electricity metering at your home, breakthrough technologies, electric cars, and even home appliances.
All of these elements belong to the ongoing transformation of the United States electric grid from the one that inventor Thomas Edison designed over 100 years ago, entailing one-direction delivery from heavy, sooty coal-fire plants to end users, and into a flexible 21st-century grid that allows for two-way communication between utility, independent electricity producers, and individuals.
Renewable sources like solar and wind, small hydro, geothermal plus energy storage innovations currently and eventually will replace the country's reliance on old fossil-fuel technology as part of the Smart Grid.
The video below from the U.S. Department of Energy offers a basic explanation of what the Smart Grid does, and how it will evolve as the country moves forward.
The next post (Coming Sunday, November 1) will show an exciting, real-life application of the Smart Grid in New Jersey.
Pennsylvania has a power-house legacy from the first
commercial oil well at Titusville to its unrivaled coal reserves and now to the
natural gas locked in the Marcellus Shale formation. Though oil and coal
production have largely fallen by the wayside, Pennsylvania possesses so much
natural gas under its mountains that it has been named the Saudi Arabia of
natural gas.
Saudi Arabia holds by far the largest proven reserves and
speculated petroleum (oil) resources under its sandy landscapes. A member of
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), it takes the leading
role in policy and production decisions within the group.
Meanwhile, the Keystone State of Pennsylvania has grappled
with its emergent role as global leader in proven natural gas reserves and
production potential. The debate within the state has centered on imposing
higher taxes on extracting companies, so that they may be more properly
regulated in their activities, and the free market approach which proponents
argue will attract more drillers to the state.
The controversy lays in the extraction method called “hydraulic
fracturing,” or more commonly referred to as “fracking.” The process involves
blasting water and a mixture of chemicals deep underground to fracture or frack the natural gas from the shale
rock formation. The current governor, Democrat Tom Wolf has been a strong
advocate for greater regulation and revenue for the state through taxing the
companies, while the Republican majority in both houses of Pennsylvania’s
legislature contend that such taxation would discourage the companies from
doing business in the state.
Below is a video on the fracking process. It is available on
YouTube, and it comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection.
As usual, thank you for reading. See you on the 15th!
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!
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?
It's official. Hawaii has enacted state renewable energy standards to tap into its endowment of sustainable resources for a more promising energy future. The Aloha State will transform solar, geothermal and wind energy to provide 100% of its electricity needs by 2045. The 30-year time period allows for a gradual transition, technological investment and community efforts necessary to become the country's first state economy backed by totally clean energy.
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) or Solar Thermal Panels in Hawaii. Photo Courtesy of Energy Industries and bizjournals.com
State Governor David Ige signed the state legislature's renewable portfolio standards (RPS) bill into law in June. Upon taking office, Ige called for this ambitious, yet reasonable agenda due to economic analyses indicating that foreign fossil fuel imports drain Hawaii's economy of billions of dollars each year which could be otherwise invested in the development of the state's indigenous energy resources.
Volcanic Activity, Volcano National Park, "The Big Island," Hawaii Image Credits: "Puu Oo cropped" by G.E. Ulrich, USGS, 2015.
According to the Chair of the State House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, Rep. Chris Lee, "renewable energy projects are already producing cheaper power than new fossil fuel projects in Hawaii, and it’s only going to get cheaper as renewable technology advances, unlike fossil fuels which will only grow more expensive as they become more difficult to extract from a shrinking supply." On this chord, he adds, "the faster we move toward renewable energy the faster we can stop exporting billions from our local economy to import expensive fossil fuels."
To emphasize the key role that communities will play in the 30-year process, an additional measure signed by Ige states that all Hawaiian residents should enjoy the benefits of this energy transition. The law contains provisions for renters, condominium owners and others without their own roof space to form hui, or special gatherings and assemblies to create local solar farms or to purchase electricity from the closest facility. In doing so, all citizens will share in this transition from costly fossil fuels from abroad to the limitless benefits of an indigenous, sustainable energy system.
Note the powerful sunlight reflecting off the waters of Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii.
For more summary details on Hawaii's 100% renewable energy standards, take a look at the Press Release from Governor's Office.
Weather and Climate relate to each other, but they are not the same. In short, weather events like rain and snow are highly unpredictable by nature, whereas climate is the overall, long term analysis of weather events.
Weather is highly unpredictable. Think of winter snow terms, flooding spring showers, rumbling summer storms and hurricanes as summer transitions into autumn. The further away from the present moment, the less reliable the local weather guy's forecasts will be. Next time you check the "weather report," take note of the present conditions, hourly predictions, the 2-day outlook, and the exclusive 7-day forecast or however long the app predicts. Next, as those days pass, keep track of how much the forecast changes during that same predicted period of time. You'll notice that even with today's technology, weather events remain largely unpredictable by nature.
Aftermath of an unpredictable "pop up" storm cell (Philadelphia area, 23 June 2015)
On the other hand, climate is highly analytical and looks at the overall weather conditions like temperature and precipitation in a particular place over a particular period of time. The amount of time could be as small as one day in a certain season, or up to even thousands or millions of years. Technology for climate scientists, or climatologists, continues to improve, so relatively accurate observances of changes in climate overtime and their effects can be calculated and presented as in the image below.
At the surface for years 1961-1990. Image Credit: Robert A Rhohde of the Global Warming Art Project.
