Energy on this world and elsewhere Instructor: Gordon D. Cates Office: Physics 106a, Phone: (434) 924-4792 email: cates@virginia.edu Course web site available at www.phys.virginia.edu, click on classes and find Physics 1110. or at http://people.virginia.edu/~gdc4k/phys111/fall13 October 31, 2013
Announcements Lectures 1-17 are posted. - Midterm November 14. Homework will be posted on Oct. 31 Homework will be due on November 7. Office hours Wednesday, 6-8 pm. You are allowed a 1-page cheat sheet, 8.5x11 or equivalent. ONE SIDE ONLY, and it must be HAND WRITTEN.
Readings (post Feynman and Energy and Technolgy) Muller, Energy for Future Presidents - Preface and Intro - Section I (all), Chapters 1-3 - Section II (all), pre-chapter material, and Chapters 4-7 - Section III, chapters 8-10 Richter, Beyond Smoke and Mirrors - Intro - Chapter 1. - Part I (all), Climate, Chapters 2-5 - Part II, Energy, Chapters 6-10 Class Notes through Chapter 4, Chapt 5 available soon.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel - how is it made? Inputs include oil from plants and methanol Outputs include glycerol and biodiesel
Glycerin is a byproduct of making biodiesel
What do we do with all that glycerin? About one pound of glycerin is produced for every gallon of biodiesel Possibilities from the above article in a publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture A feedstock for chemical production to replace petroleum-based chemicals. Converting it to hydrogen (and other stuff) to use as an energy source. An Austrian firm has devised a way of burning it in specially adapted engines to produce electricity (note that in general crude glycerin does not burn very cleanly). A Belgian firm is building... a methane digester system that uses crude glycerin and resulting biogas from a commercial-scale biodiesel facility to power the plant itself. But for now, make no mistake, there is a glut in crude glycerin supply.
Research indicates biodiesel is quite promising: in particular, it is scalable!! 1350 citations as of October 30, 2013, EXTREMELY FAMOUS PAPER
Land area needs for various biodiesel sources
Biodiesel from Algae, becoming a reality?
Maybe not...
Solix actually sold this system at some point Solix claims they have reached 3000 gallons per acre per year. Christi s lesser algae number, 58,700 liters per hectare, comes to 6,279, not that much bigger.
Solix s Dream? (Their illustration anyway) Artist s conception of large-scale Solix Biofuels plant in Colorado
IGCC and algae production Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology together with with algae farms represent and interesting approach to both liquid fuel and electricity needs. An IGCC plant would cleanly produce electricity with roughly 40-50% efficiency from coal. A warm stream of relatively pure CO 2 would supply an adjacent algae production facility. Biodiesel would be produced from the algae. While the CO 2 from the coal would still be released into the atmosphere, 2-3 times the energy would be gained per pound of CO 2 released.
An actual IGCC application? Not quite... at least not for now
Land area for creating sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs using algae 441 million acres devoted to cropland (for comparison). 22.2 million acres The land required to produce sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs (upper estimate of Chisti, 2007)
Land area for creating sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs using algae 441 million acres devoted to cropland (for comparison). 22.2 million acres The land required to produce sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs (upper estimate of Chisti, 2007) This is a very big deal - it is the first biofuel we have discussed that might actually solve our problems!
Comparison between algae and soybeans for creating sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs 441 million acres devoted to cropland (for comparison). 22.2 million acres The land required to produce sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs using algae (upper estimate of Chisti, 2007) 2.67 billion acres The land area required to produce sufficient biodiesel for all our transportation needs using soybeans (Chisti, 2007).
Wind
Moving Windmills, a film about William Kamkwamba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ard374mfk4w
Moving Windmills, a film about William Kamkwanda http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ard374mfk4w
Wind: the fastest growing source of energy
Wind: the fastest growing source of energy But what are the limits?
Fraction of U.S. generation of electricity due to wind (%) 0.15 0.19 0.28 0.30 0.37 2.92 2.38 1.94 1.39 0.68 0.86 0.46 `00 `01 `02 `03 `04 `05 `06 `07 `08 `09 10 11 3.00 2.40 1.80 1.20 0.60 0 The growth is impressive, but how far can it go in terms of absolute fraction?
Absolute fraction internationally as of 2009 Projected Wind Electricity as a Proportion of Electricity Consumption 22% 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% Approximate Wind Penetration, end of 2009 Approximate Wind Penetration, end of 2008 Approximate Wind Penetration, end of 2007 Approximate Wind Penetration, end of 2006 Denmark Portugal Spain Ireland Germany Greece Netherlands UK Italy India Austria U.S. Sweden France Australia Canada Turkey China Brazil Japan TOTAL Source: Berkeley Lab estimates based on data from BTM Consult and elsewhere Figure 4. Approximate Wind Energy Penetration in the Twenty Countries with the Greatest Installed Wind Power Capacity Multiple sources had suggested that the limits in the U.S., like Denmark, may be around 20% of all electrical generation.
Absolute fraction internationally as of 2012 As Denmark moves well above 20%, this raises the question of whether or not the U.S. could as well.
Rapid growth of wind energy (GW) Capacity Annual 12 10 8 6 4 2 Annual US Capacity (left scale) Cumulative US Capacity (right scale) 36 30 24 18 12 6 0 0 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Production Tax Credit (PTC) temporarily lapsed Cumulative Capacity (GW) Source: AWEA project database Figure 1. Annual and Cumulative Growth in U.S. Wind Power Capacity A Production Tax Credit, or PTC, is an actual credit given for the production of a certian amount of electricity that HAS ACTUALLY BEEN GENERATED. The current PTC is about 2.3 cents per kwhr, which ends up being worth more like 2.9 cents per kwhr when other factors are factored in.
Summer Generating Capacity 2.4 3.9 4.4 6.0 6.5 45.2 39.1 34.3 24.7 16.5 8.7 11.3 `00 `01 `02 `03 `04 `05 `06 `07 `08 `09 10 11 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0 Notice the stall in growth between 2009 and 2010. According to the LA Times it has picked up again for this year, but I don t know whether this agrees with official projections.
International total and incremental generating capacities
NREL worked with AWS Truepower for more than a decade to update U.S. wind resources maps. The new maps include wind data at 80 m. Saturday, November 2013 WIND POWER9,TODAY
Electricity by source By Source, 2009 1 Other 5% Natural Gas 23% 45% Coal Hydroelectric 2 Power 7% 20% Nuclear Electric Power If wind were responsible for 20% of U.S. generation, that would take a huge bite out of fossil fuel use.
Electricity by source If wind were responsible for 20% of U.S. generation, that would take a huge bite out of fossil fuel use.
This report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides lots of great information on Wind Power.