IE350 Alternative Energy Course

mln.
Please provide the answer: how many more time energy will be needed?
-5 use proper units
- 10 Do not induce any anachronism – all numbers should be for the same year.

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

the environment
Transporting oil is not without risk
pollution
theft and terrorism
Burning oil is not clean
pollution
greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions
Large reserves are in politically unstable countries
Human rights violations track with high oil prices
Easy half of oil has been pumped
Future oil will be more difficult to extract ∴ more expensive
Price instability

Oil and Gas Liquids

Blessings

Mostly used to for transportation, cars, trucks, aircraft, rail, etc.
Also used to make petrochemicals, asphalt, lubricants, electricity, etc.
Enables international trade
Is closely tied to world economies
Very easy to transport to refine and as final product
Burning has low acute hazards
Easily stored at distribution points
Exceedingly high energy density
1 barrel = $84,000 of manual labor
allows for long range transport
only fuel that enables air travel
Has established an infrastructure for other liquid fuels

Curses

to make petrochemicals, asphalt, lubricants, electricity, etc.
Enables international trade
Is closely tied to world economies
Very easy to transport to refine and as final product
Burning has low acute hazards
Easily stored at distribution points
Exceedingly high energy density
1 barrel = $84,000 of manual labor
allows for long range transport
only fuel that enables air travel
Has established an infrastructure for other liquid fuels

Oil drilling & refining is hazardous
to workers, fire, explosion, etc.
spills into the environment
Transporting oil is not without risk
pollution
theft and terrorism
Burning oil is not clean
pollution
greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions
Large reserves are in politically unstable countries
Human rights violations track with high oil prices
Easy half of oil has been pumped
Future oil will be more difficult to extract ∴ more expensive
Price instability

Oil and Gas Liquids

Blessings

Curses

coal is not clean
high chronic hazards
pollution (gases, heavy metals, radioactivity, etc.)
greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions
sequestered products still hazardous
Centralized electric power generation
security risk
copious quantities of cooling water
most energy is lost to heat (>60%)
Environmental impacts
mining
emissions
tailings
Liquefaction losses of >50% before internal combustion losses of > 75%

Coal

Blessings

Mostly used to make electricity
Abundant domestically & world-wide (US has the most)
Abundance = affordable
Available from politically stable countries
Relatively easy to transport
Burning has low acute hazards
Easily stored at power plant
Operation independent of
weather dependent
seasons
time of day
Can be converted into a liquid fuel

Curses

most)
Abundance = affordable
Available from geopolitical stable locations
Relatively easy to transport
Burning has low acute hazards
Easily stored at power plant
Operation independent of
weather dependent
seasons
time of day
Can be converted into a liquid fuel

Coal mining is very dangerous
fires and explosions
black lung
Transportation can be hazardous
Burning coal is not clean
high chronic hazards
pollution (gases, heavy metals, radioactivity, etc.)
greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions
sequestered products still hazardous
Centralized electric power generation
security risk
copious quantities of cooling water
most energy is lost to heat (>60%)
Environmental impacts
mining
emissions
tailings
Liquefaction losses of >50% before internal combustion losses of > 75%

Coal

Blessings

Curses

from fractured bed rock
number of wells rapidly increasing
Transportation can be hazardous
pipeline explosions (old infrastructure)
liquefied natural gas is highly volatile
Greenhouse gas issues
burning produces CO2 emissions
leaked CH4 traps 72x the heat of CO2
Centralized electric power generation
security risk
copious quantities of cooling water
most energy is lost to heat (>60%)
Not a good transportation fuel
not a liquid ∴ different infrastructure
resource size doesn’t match the transportation sector’s size/demand
energy density is lower than gasoline

Natural Gas

Blessings

Very diverse fuel source
space and water heating
electricity generation
chemical production (e.g., fertilizer)
industrial manufacturing
cooking and clothes drying
dehumidifying and incineration
Can be piped directly to buildings for multiple uses
Somewhat easy to transport
Available from many countries, including politically stabile ones
Burning has low acute hazards
Can be stored for future use
For electricity generation vs. coal
spins up turbines faster
burns cleaner
smaller plant footprint (no trains)

Curses

from fractured bed rock
Transportation can be hazardous
pipeline explosions (old infrastructure)
liquefied natural gas is highly volatile
Greenhouse gas issues
burning produces CO2 emissions
leaked CH4 traps 72x the heat of CO2
Centralized electric power generation
security risk
copious quantities of cooling water
most energy is lost to heat (>60%)
Not a good transportation fuel
not a liquid ∴ different infrastructure
resource size doesn’t match the transportation sector’s size/demand
energy density is lower than gasoline

Natural Gas

Blessings

Very diverse fuel source
space and water heating
electricity generation
chemical production (e.g., fertilizer)
industrial manufacturing
cooking and clothes drying
dehumidifying and incineration
Can be piped directly to buildings for multiple uses
Somewhat easy to transport
Available from many countries, including politically stabile ones
Burning has low acute hazards
Can be stored for future use
For electricity generation vs. coal
spins up turbines faster
burns cleaner
smaller plant footprint (no trains)

Curses

dioxide has a GWP of exactly 1.
It is the baseline unit to which all other greenhouse gases are compared

roughly 305 billion tons of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these emissions have occurred since the mid 1970s.

consumption

World Consumption, Quads ≈ 400 (2005)
Armenian Energy Consumption, Quads = 0.1752
(0.0438%)

fold, EU 1.9 fold and Middle East 1.6 fold the world average
and in China 87% and India 30% of the world average.
One needs to update and verify these data…

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

efficient fuel combustion

Higher pipeline flows

Improved well efficiency

Lower line losses, higher substation efficiency

Improved productivity

More efficient motors & drives

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

- Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

mature and emerging markets Big potential for electrical energy efficiency

Source: International Energy Agency, Key World Energy Statistics, 2008

KWh

Armenia

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

fossil fuel formation

Plants take CO2 from air that contains it at 0.04% (was lower), to build carbohydrates (e.g. sugar).
Plants die, decompose through aerobic bacteria, returning CO2 to the atmosphere.

AIR CO2

fossil fuel formation

Plants take CO2 from air that contains it at 0.04% (was lower), to build carbohydrates (e.g. sugar).
Plants die, fall and stay in water.
CANNOT decompose through aerobic bacteria, CANNOT return CO2 to the atmosphere.

AIR CO2

fossil fuel formation

fossil fuel formation

We have the following chain of transformations:
dead plant – normal conditions.
peat (ïáñý) – normal conditions (1mm/year). Peatlands cover a total of around 3% of global land mass or 3,850,000 to 4,100,000 km². Fossil, but can considered as slowly renewing biomass fuel.
lignite (brown coal) – pressure of the few layers of sediment (heat cap. 10 to 20 MJ/kg).

fossil fuel formation

Now we have the following chain of transformations, since temperature increases by 20°C - 30°C for every km of depth:
Coal sedimentary rocks in sedimentary basins (24 MJ/kg = 6.67 kWh/kg, 26-33 MJ/kg for Anthracite).
Kerogen at 50°C (1 km below the surface).
Oil, gas at 100°C - 150°C (3-5km of depth), > 45 MJ/kg
Transformation into elemental carbon through metagenesis, over 150°C, below 5 km.

fossil fuel formation

Note that every 10°C increases the rate of oil generation by a factor of two:
100°C (3 km): 1% of unreacted kerogen converts to oil in 1 Million years!
110°C (3.4 km): 2%
120°C (3.8 km): 4%
130°C (4.2 km): 8%
140°C (4.6 km): 16%
150°C (5 km): 32%

to power a computer?

One can put this information to use to figure out how much coal is needed to power things. For example, running one 100 Watt computer for one year requires this much electricity:
100 W · 24 h · 365 days = 876000 Wh = 876 kWh
A typical Thermodynamic efficiency of coal power plants is about 30%. Of the 6.67 kWh of energy per kilogram of coal, about 30% of that can successfully be turned into electricity - the rest is waste heat.
Coal TPP-s obtain approximately 2.0 kWh electricity per kg of burned coal.
Plugging in this information one finds how much coal must be burned to power a typical computer for one year:

most abundant chemical element in the universe by mass, after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen.
Carbon has the ability to form long, indefinite chains with interconnecting C-C bonds. This property is called catenation. This property allows carbon to form an infinite number of compounds;
in fact, there are more known carbon-containing compounds than all the compounds of the other chemical elements combined except those of hydrogen (because almost all carbon compounds contain hydrogen).

carbon-12, or 12C, (98.89%)

crystal structure
Diamond,
Graphite,
Lonsdaleite,
C60,
C540,
C70,
Amorphous carbon
Carbon nanotube.

as coal, petroleumHydrocarbons (such as coal, petroleum, and natural gasHydrocarbons (such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas) amount to around 1000 gigatonnes, and oil reserves around 150 gigatonnes.
Carbon forms more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of coal (this includes inherent moisture). This is dependent on coal rank, with higher rank coals containing less hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, until 95% purity of carbon is achieved at Anthracite rank and above.

MJ/kg, 0.717kg/m3)
C3H8 – propane (48.9 MJ/kg)
C8H18 - 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane – gasoline (46 MJ/kg, H2 – 141.9 MJ/kg)
CxHy – general formula for hydrocarbons
CnH2n+2 – alkanes (petroleum)

the chemical equation for stoichiometricGenerally, the chemical equation for stoichiometric burning of hydrocarbon in oxygen is as follows:
For example, the burning of propane is:
The simple word equation for the combustion of a hydrocarbon in oxygen is:  
Or, for example: C8H18 + 12.5 O2 → 8CO2 + 9H2O + heat
(for 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane)

fossil fuel formation

Because coal is at least 50% carbon (by mass), then 1 kg of coal contains at least 0.5 kg of carbon, which is where 1 mol is equal to NA (Avogadro Number, = 6.022 ·1023mol-1) particles. This combines with oxygen in the atmosphere during combustion, producing carbon dioxide, with an atomic weight of (12 + 16 · 2 = mass(CO2) = 44 kg/kmol). of CO2 is produced from the present in every kilogram of coal, which once trapped in CO2 weighs approximately                                                                            .
This fact can be used to put a carbon-cost of energy on the use of coal power. Since the useful energy output of coal is about 30% of the 6.67 kW-h/kg(coal), we can say about 2 kWh/kg(coal) of energy is produced.

we can say that using electricity from coal produces CO2 at a rate of about 0.915 kg(CO2) / kWh, or about 0.254 kg(CO2) / MJ.

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

a general term applied to a group of rocks rich enough in organic material (kerogen) to yield petroleum upon distillation. The kerogen in oil shale can be converted to oil through the chemical process of pyrolysis. During pyrolysis the oil shale is heated to 445-500 °C in the absence of air and the kerogen is converted to oil and separated out, a process called "retorting".

system or petroleum reservoir is often thought of as being an underground "lake" of oil, but it is actually composed of hydrocarbons contained in porous rock formations.
Structural traps are formed by a deformation in the rock layer that contains the hydrocarbons (e.g., fault traps and anticlinal traps).

Volume of Void / Total Volume of Rock
Permeability = interconnectedness between the pores (compare with conductivity vs. resistivity in conductors)
Sedimentary Rocks

petroleum product (abbreviated bbl) is 42 US gallons (34.972 Imperial gallons or 158.987 L).
1 Gallon = 3.8 Liters.
This measurement originated in the early Pennsylvania oil fields, and permitted both British and American merchants to refer to the same unit, based on the old English wine measure, the tierce.

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

Cycle

Oil refinery - cracking

that are too expensive to exploit with current technology

Lecture #3 - Energy Resources: Carbon Cycle

resources

Reserves vs. Resources ?
Discovered vs. Expected.
Role of technology for:
Discovering the non-renewable resources;
Extraction.

resources

Discovering techniques

Extraction techniques

B

Undiscovered

Discovered

A

Unprofitable

Profitable

Depleted

Reserves

Discovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, economic (profitable)

resources

Discovering techniques

Extraction techniques

B

Undiscovered

Discovered

A

Unprofitable

Profitable

Depleted

Reserves

Discovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, economic (profitable)

resources

Discovering techniques

Extraction techniques

B

Undiscovered

Discovered

A

Unprofitable

Profitable

Depleted

Reserves

Discovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, sub-economic

Undiscovered, economic (profitable)

Hubbert
to Spring Meeting of the Southern District, API

use what we know."
M. King Hubbert

curve)
Extraction past the peak dictates transition time
It takes decades to transition to new technologies

Scenario A

Decades

resources

Solar Constant = 1366 W/sq.m.
Sahara’s surface area = 9,000,000 sq.m.
If we use 10% of Sahara with 10% efficiency, we will get 800 Exajoules/year!
This is twice as much as current world consumption.
I can see the future «Ocean Solar Power Plants», that produce Hydrogen!
However, population grows exponentially!