There is:
* conventional energy--fossil fuels ("oil, coal, natural gas"), nuclear fission and hydroelectricity
* renewable energy--geothermal, wind, solar, biomass
* others
* dirty--coal tar, shale oil, liquified and gasified petroleum, etc.
* clean--fusion, ocean thermal energy conversion, solar power from space, etc.
A glance in the right column shows that oil is #1, coal #2 and natural gas #3. Hydroelectricity from large dams is nearing a limit, so the 6% will only begin to drop. All other renewables only currently add up to 2%.
China today uses more energy than the USA, with Russian #3. China burns a little more than half the coal, and coal remains, still, against all common sense, but because of economics, as the energy form that year after year is the fuel that increases more than anything else. Renewable energy is a virtual drop in the bucket. The U.S. is #2 in coal consumption. All this coal goes to generate electricity. Global warming? Not taken seriously. Interestingly enough, the U.S. has 22.6% of the known coal reserves, Russia 14.4% and China 12.6%. The USA has 62% of the world oil shale reserves. Comets, like Halley's, have been detected to contain high grade shale.
Most of the world effort for the renewables goes towards electricity production. However, it should be kept in mind that, depending on the locale, electricity is only from 30-40% of the energy used. Ground transport, winter heating and aviation are more important. For the analysis this week, though, I will later focus on renewable electricity. In the past I've harped on the need to do more about transportation.
Windpower is a utility venture. Very few homes are located in good wind regimes, which require an average speed of 14 miles per hour. One reason is the cubic relationship to wind speed. A 7 MPH site produces one-eighth the energy of a 14 MPH location. However, there is merit to placing a small wind device to remove the heat from your attic, thus reducing air conditioning.
On the other hand, note how solar PV below is still very expensive, so government continues to provide tax incentives. The average electricity price in the U.S. is 12 cents/kWh, while that of locations like Hawaii can exceed 35 cents/kWh.
Using life cycle analysis and common sense, then, one can logically determine that electricity prices will jump in the future with the coming carbon tax and Peak Oil, so go ahead and install a PV system, especially today with those incentives if you live in a place like Hawaii. On the other hand, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange shows petroleum, today around 107/barrel, at 78/barrel in December of 2021! But, come on, you can't really believe that price, can you?
This table provides everything you need to know about the availability and cost of electricity:
PLANT TYPE CAPACITY FACTOR COST(cents/kWh)
Coal 85% 10.0Coal with CC 85% 14.1Natural Gas 87% 7.0NG with CC 87% 9.3New nuclear 90% 11.3Geothermal 92% 10.0Biomass 83% 12.0Wind 34% 10.0Solar PV 25% 16.0Solar Thermal 20% 25.1
CC means carbon capture. The reason Friday will be devoted to energy storage has to do with the middle column, showing that wind and solar are intermittent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average attained yet another all-time high today, up to 15,568.
-
There is a disturbance each off the coasts of Africa ("Atlantic Ocean") and Mexico ("Pacific Ocean"). Where are the hurricanes in the East Pacific and West Atlantic this year?
-
Source: altenergyprograms.blogspot.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment