Energy technology

Smart has for some time been the buzz-word in energy circles. We should act energy-smart, we should have smart meters and smart grids. In the US we now hear several of the candidates for presidency claim that they want to support building of smart grids. In Europe the Commission has issued programmes for research on smart grids. But how smart can a grid really be and how will the grid show its’ smartness?

There seem to be at least three different perspectives of smartness that you want the grid to apply:
·         Economic Use of resources
·         Service improvement for utilities
·         Technical upgrading of functions

No doubt new technology and technology in development can make networks (grids) work better than only lining up electrons in order to be delivered through the wires. But can all the wishes be fulfilled or will some have priority over the others?

Investment in renewable fuels is booming. Last year, solar and wind are reported to have broken through the 100 BUSD wall and reached 117 BUSD, a growth over 3 years that averages more than 40% per year. Reportedly, there is no slow-down in sight - on the contrary! Growth 2007 was 20 BUSD above predicted values.

The road to sustainability is not straight. It may even hold diversions and impasses that we have to travel and travel back. This is annoying in itself and even more so when we have to do it at some speed. In the debate some of the dilemmas have been highlighted, dilemmas where our hearts and emotions may say one thing but where our brains and acts may say another. Do we have to choose between Food or Biofuel, Local Production or Global Trade, Consume or Save? Can the instruments we use to analyse and create sustainable systems help us solve, or at least navigate among, these dilemmas?

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Recently the IEA has issued its World Energy Outlook 2007 (WEO) and IPCC its 4^th Assessment report. Comparing the two shows that:
·         Present and planned policies and measures are not sufficient to halt global warming (WEO)
·         The technologies, policies and measures needed are known. They just need to be applied (IPCC)

The conclusion is obvious. We need a radical break in policies. The WEO even has an interesting note on that, called “What is stopping governments from implementing new policies?” (page 98). The answer is simply that stakeholder interests are blocking them, but now it is time to release the brakes!

The EU Strategy – out of pace.

With this need in mind, the EU communication on a strategic energy technology plan sounds thrilling, but the result is disappointing.

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The Lumina project, which is engaged in development of LED-lighting equipment, primarily for use in developing countries and in applications where people do not have access to conventional power, has studied the quality of White LEDs (WLED). The results are remarkable! In 26 batches studied, there is a huge variation in efficacy (Lumens/Watt) by a factor of 5! Even within the batches, there are enormous variations. So, quality management and assurance is of major importance for WLEDs before they can compete for any applications.

But that is not all!

LED (Light Emitting Diode) applications have so far looked rather odd when they have been advertised as replacements for lightbulbs. Now, there is an application with a replacement product for light tubes that also look like a tube.

As with so many other new products, they are tremendously expensive and in this case a tube will cost you 100-110€ a piece. However, if the technology works, that price will surely drop fast.

The answer might be - A capacitor!

In a recent IEA-workshop there was a good survey of the status of battery development delivered. The Li-ion batteries are almost ready to be used in plug-in hybrid vehicles but there is a further development needed to get batteries to the energy-density required for "standard-size" Electrical vehicle.

Eurima has suggested a "Road Map for Europe" towards "Better Buildings through Energy Efficiency" but this writer could not resist the pun in the heading! The road map suggest measures both (see below) for new buildings and existing buidlings and it roughly spells out as Building Codes for the new (with incentives to go above standard performance) and tax credits for the old.

Roadmaps have a tendency to be very simplistic and omit essential factors in describing the business environment, but in this case it comes closer to the true meaning of what a roadmap should contain.

The cost of CCS-technology is high (as with all new technologies for that matter) and may have backdraws. Standard and Poor, more known fro credit-rating, has announced figures between 450-900 USD/kW to be added to the plant cost in the area of 2500-3000 USD/kW. On top of that there will be a power loss of 15-25% per annum for the operation.

Furthermore there are legal risks for the leakage from the storage. So it is easy to see the interest from S&P if they should advice on financing for such technologies. Their point that energy efficiency is important and that utilities maybe should be more rewarded for that than for selling more energy is well taken, but how?

The Energy Technology Essentials series from the IEA has recently been extended with three new issues on Nuclear Energy, Hydrogen Production and Distribution and Fuel Cells.

The issue on Nuclear energy lays a very good characterization of the nuclear power production facilities, including 4th generation reactors and adressing costs, barries and potential. It includes as well waste reprocessing and disposal.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells are two reasonably new technologies that are growing very fast. Along with the costs, barriers and potential, the distribution and storage topics are also consistently covered.

Once again, the IEA officials were able to put together short but very complete documents on energy technology issues.

The energy package announced that a strategic energy technology plan, STP, should be made in the year 2007. Some of the preliminaries look even fuzzier than the quick sketching that was made in the package. There is however a chance for you to help put things on track. A public consultation is open on the web till May 13.

When the deep pockets consider what humanity needs for the future they come up with the idea to procure a space-ship! Then they launch a procedure, not unlike the Technology Procurement (TP), to tickle supplier competition for a huge price-sum. It is called X-prize. It has a high component of celebrities and stresses publicity as a driving force, at least to find the donors.

Now they have come up with a more down to earth project (no pun intended) for transportation. The idea is basically the same. A specification of what should be produced (just as TP), a huge reward (a little bit like TP) and a business-plan is required (where TP provided real customers).

 

There is a lot of hope to CCS as a solution to especially coal-fired power. But are these hopes in vain? There is evidence from experiments of CO2-injection that so called rapid mineral dissolution could create path-ways for the CO2 to escape back into atmosphere. And worse, on its way create toxic chemical reactions that could even affect ground-water. Certainly these experiments show that there is a risk that should not be under-estimated and that not all underground sites are useful.

Running with the heat of your hand

The American Stirling Company manufacturers Stirling engine gadgets and models for educational and demonstration purposes. Their newest model is the MM-7, powered by the heat from your hand. It needs only a 4 °C temperature differential to run. The FAQ page of their Web site presents a very clear explanation of the working principle of the Stirling engine, as well as comprehensive facts on its history and applications.

Stirling engines hardly qualify as new technology. Robert Stirling received a patent for his first air engine all the way back in 1816. At that time however, the only readily available metal was cast iron, which oxidizes rapidly when left in a very hot flame. So Stirling engines started life with a metallurgical if not technological disadvantage.

Non-Proliferation Treaty impedes widespread use of generation III nuclear reactors

One example of a generation III nuclear reactor is the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). The ESBWR rectifies a few important disadvantages of previous reactor generations. It incorporates improved fuel technology as well as passive safety systems. The reactor shuts down safely in any emergency without operator action or electronic feedback.

The ESBWR design reduces capital cost by 25 to 40 percent, a vitally important consideration in cash-strapped developing countries. This cost reduction has been made possible by simpler design of the circuits to incorporate natural circulatory forces and to modern computer-aided manufacturing technologies. The latter enables a modular approach to the nuclear plant construction.

Proliferation threads

The primary impediment to the use of generation III reactors in developing countries is the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Many proposals, but the road to construction is long

It has been three decades since the last nuclear power plant was constructed in the United States. This building freeze will soon come to an end. Recently thirteen large utilities have announced plans for a total of thirty nuclear plant construction projects. However, the road from project concept to actual construction is long.

Financial incentives granted

Utilities in need of new base load power plants have three main options. Combined cycle power plants are relatively clean and inexpensive to build, but natural gas prices have been rising steeply. Coal is a relatively cheap fuel, but coal fired power plants are costly to build and have high carbon emissions. The third option is nuclear power. This option received a boost by the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). EPAct offers a 1.8 cents/kWh production tax credit for up to 6,000 MW of new nuclear facilities. EPAct also offers stand-by support for the first six reactors constructed in the event of certain types of construction delays.

Many uncertainties

Despite these financial incentives, there are still many barriers to be overcome. Applications for the EPAct incentives must be handed in before the end of 2008. Getting all the necessary approvals for meeting this deadline is complex and expensive. Since building a nuclear power plant is expensive, low-cost financing is needed and at present it is still very uncertain how much the construction of a new nuclear plant will cost. Thus far, Wall Street has not shown any eagerness to get involved in financing nuclear energy. Human resources could also pose problems. Is the nuclear talent pool still large enough to meet the new staffing needs? The ageing of the nuclear technical staff is obvious, with 40% of the work force retiring in the next five years.

These uncertainties about financial and human resources limit the feasibility of the various U.S. nuclear power plant projects that have been announced. At present, it looks like no more than a handful of them will be realized.

Reference

The article ‘New Nuclear Plants Coming to the United States' by Bob Bellemare is published in Issue Alert (UtiliPoint.com).

Denmark has a tremendous experience from wind power in many applications. The major stakeholders have made an exhaustive report about "Key Environmental Issues" in off-shore wind, including some socio-economic angles, which may be useful in discussions about siting and consequences.

 

The grid of the future?

The idea of a superconducting grid is not new. But the increasing pressure on existing high-voltage transmission grids and recent large power outages in the U.S. and Europe has brought it into the spotlight again.

Two American scientists, Paul M. Grant and Chauncey Starr, have designed a Super Cable, a superconducting conduit cooled by hydrogen that can simultaneously deliver electrical power and hydrogen fuel. The cable contains a pair of DC superconducting wires at +/- 50 kV carrying 50 kA, a current far higher than in a conventional wire. Such a cable could carry approximately 5 GW over several hundred kilometres at nearly zero resistance. Since the cable carries hydrogen as its cryogenic coolant, it has the double advantage of transporting energy in chemical as well as in electrical form.