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economics of sustainability > energy > Flashcards

energy Flashcards

1
Q

what are the main production factors?

A

labour, capital, land, technology, energy and materials

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2
Q

what is energy and capital/labour in the short run?

A

they are complementary in the short run

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3
Q

what is energy and capital/labour in the long run

A

they are substitutes in the long ru

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4
Q

what is the organic energy economy

A

it is based on plant, animal and human energy

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5
Q

what is primary energy?

A

as found in nature, it is not transformed . it is extracted or captured directly from natural resources

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6
Q

what are examples of primary energy?

A

crude oil, natural gas, coal, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, geothermal, biomass

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7
Q

what is secondary energy?

A

they are manufactured fuels. all sources of energy that result from the transformation of primary sources

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8
Q

what are examples of secondary energy

A

refined oil products such as petrol or kerosene. electricity generated from primary energy sources

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9
Q

what are the natural units of measure?

A

the usual way the quantify of a fuel is measured ie oil is barrels or tonnes, natural gas is cubic metres

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10
Q

what is energy units?

A

the energy content of a fuel, there are many units in use such as calories, joules, MWH

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11
Q

what type of unit is energy?

A

it is a stock

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12
Q

what type of unit is power?

A

it is a flow over time

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13
Q

what is capacity?

A

capacity is the ability to provide a flow of power over time

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14
Q

what is the overnight cost

A

overnight capacity cost is the cost of buying capacity

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15
Q

what are the vertically independent activities in the electricity industry?

A

generation, transmission, distribution, supply

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16
Q

what is the supply activity in the electricity industry?

A

it is the sale of electricity to end users. it involves the metering, billing, purchasing and contracting

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17
Q

what is the generation activity in the electricity industry?

A

it is the production and conversion of electric energy

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18
Q

what is the transmission activity in the electricity industry?

A

it is the transmission of electricity at high voltages over long distances

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19
Q

what is the distribution activity in the electricity industry?

A

it is the transportation of low voltage electricity in local networks. it consists of overhead lines, cables , switchgears, transformers, control systems and meteres

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20
Q

what are the characteristics of the electricity industry?

A

it is capital intensive, it has large sunkn costs, it has a large economic life, it is a network industry (vertically integrated - upstream generation transmission, downstream reticulation and delivery) , demand and supply must match in real time

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21
Q

what are the characteristics of the product of the electricity industry?

A

it is derived demand as people want electricity for its services , non storable commodity (storage is too expensive) , homogenous product, a flexible and clean energy source (at point on consumption)

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22
Q

what are the characteristics of electricity?

A

it is a nonstorable commodity, demand can vary sharply over time, demand is price inelastic in the short run, supply is very inelastic at high demand levels, power stations can fail suddenly, most stations can only change output slowly

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23
Q

what are the characteristics of the electricity system?

A

physical laws govern network operations in real time to maintain frequency, voltage and stability of the network
system operators must carry reserves to meet unexpected demand
network congestion may limit geographic expanse of system and competition
loop flow introduces complex interactions between generators

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24
Q

what are the cost characteristics of electricity generation technologies at base load?

A

there is a high capital cost and a low variable cost eg nuclear, hydro , wind and solar

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25
Q

what are the cost characteristics of electricity generation technologies at mid-merit?

A

medium capital cost and medium variable cost eg coal

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26
Q

what are the cost characteristics of electricity generation technologies at peakload?

A

low capital costs and high variable costs eg gas, fuel oil

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27
Q

what are the cost structures of nuclear power?

A

high investment cost, low running cost and then a high decommissioning and waste disposal cost

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28
Q

what are the problems with assessing investment in generations ?

A

there is the issue of predicting future capacity such as coal and renewables
the issue of obtaining sites with consent
the issue of predicting the future carbon price

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29
Q

.what are the long run drivers of electricity demand?

A

price, income and the new uses and appliances such as electric vehicles

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30
Q

why is it important to load manage?

A

infrastructure needs to be paid to meet peak demand, if peak demand can be managed there are great savings in generations and distribution, smooth demand is what load management tries to achieve so it will avoid the recruitment of generators with high variable costs therefore lowering peak price

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31
Q

what is load management#?

A

it is the active control of electricity consumption

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32
Q

what is the definintion of fuel poverty

A

under the low income high cost definition, a household is fuel poor if they have required fuel costs above the average and were they to spend that amount they would be left with a residual income below the official poverty line

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33
Q

what are the characteristics of the electricity sector?

A

options in supply as there are various generation sources
versatility in the end use
integration through complex systems
various inefficiency at each stage

34
Q

what is the land requirement for a natural gas plant or nuclear power plant?

A

0.2km^2

35
Q

what is the land requirement for a large fossil plant?

A

2km^2

36
Q

what is the land requirement for a hydropower plant?

A

640km^2

37
Q

what is the net capacity factor of a power plant ?

A

it is the ratio of its actual output over a period of time to its potential output if it were possible for it to operate at full nameplate capacity continuously over the same period of time

38
Q

what is the power of a wind turbine related to?

A

it is related to the square of the turbines diameter and the cube of the wind speed

39
Q

what is the relationship between the windspeed and the distance above ground

A

windspeed increases the further above ground which is why they build taller turbines

40
Q

what is the load factor of an land wind turbine

A

it is 30% of its capacity

41
Q

what is the reserve capacity of a wind turbine?

A

the cost of an extra 20% of spare capacity is 0.3-0.5 p/KWh of wind

42
Q

what does the price duration curve show?

A

it shows how at the start the price per energy is high when the generation technology is at peak load. this is due to the fact that there is high variable costs but after a longer duration the costs will decrease as we switch from peak load to mid merit to then the baseload. this transition occurs due to the implementation of new electricity generators which increase supply

43
Q

what is thermal efficiency?

A

it is the electrical energy out divided by the thermal energy in

44
Q

what is the thermal efficiency of a new open cycle steam turbine in ideal conditions#/

A

25%

45
Q

what is the thermal efficiency of a new conventional steam in ideal conditions?

A

38%

46
Q

what is the cut-in wind speed?

A

the wind speed in which the wind turbines gain a power output

47
Q

what is the rated wind speed?

A

the speed at which the power output does not change at any speed greater than that

48
Q

what is the storm protection shut down?

A

the wind speed for which the turbines are turned off to prevent damage

49
Q

what are three ways for carbon capture and storage?

A

pipes can transport the CO2 safely from the factories to an aquafier where deep groundwater can store the CO2
pipes can transport the CO2 safely to unmineable storage which releases methane which can be used as an energy sources
pipes can transport the CO2 safely from the factories to an old field which can increase the amount of crude oil produced

50
Q

will planting trees solve the carbon capture and storage problem?

A

the best plants in europe capture carbon at 15 tons of CO2/ha/yr. the average person outputs 11 tons of CO2/yr we need 0.75ha of forest per person so we will need 0.75 ha of forests per person. as the UK has a population of 66.65 million that is 50 million ha so that is more than twice the area of Britain. this is unrealistic

51
Q

what is solar thermal?

A

using the sunshine for direct heating of buildings and water

52
Q

what is solar photovoltaic?

A

generating electricity from solar

53
Q

what is solar biomass?

A

using trees, bacteria , algare , corn, soy beans, or oilseed to make energy fuels, chemicals or building materials

54
Q

what is fod?

A

it is the same as biomass except we shovel the plants into humans or other animals

55
Q

what is the issue with energy transitions towards sustainable goals?

A

low carbon economies requires new energy technologies
new technologies require research and development at every stage of the value chain
research and development investments require economic incentives. there is market failure in research and development

56
Q

what are renewables obligations certificates?

A

they are green certificates issued for eligible renewable electricity generated within the UK and supplied to customers by a licensed supplier. ROCS are issued by ofgem to accredited renewable regenerators. they are electronic certificates

57
Q

what is a contract for difference?

A

it is a private law contract between low carbon electricity generator and the low carbon contracts company, a government-owned company
a generator party to a CFD is paid the difference between the strike price and the reference price

58
Q

what is the strike price?

A

a price for electricity reflecting the cost of investing in a particular low carbon technology

59
Q

what is the reference price?

A

a measure of the average market price for electricity in the great britain market

60
Q

what is the purpose of the contract for difference?

A

it gives greater certainty and stability of revenues to electricity generatoes by reducing their exposure to volatile wholesale prices, whilst protecting consumers from paying higher support costs when electricity prices are high

61
Q

what is a feed in tariff?

A

it is a policy mechanism that is designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies

62
Q

what are net energy metering?

A

they are methods designed to accelerate investments in renewable energy technologies by allowing energy producers to be compensated for the energy they feed back into the grid

63
Q

how many power meters does the Net energy metering (NEMS) require?

A

1 power meter

64
Q

how many power meters does the feed in tariffs (FITS) require?

A

2 power meters

65
Q

what is a physicists recipe for decarbonisation?

A

1) electrify transport which gets transport off fossil fuels and makes transport more energy efficient
2) to supplement solar thermal heating, they should electrify most heating of air and water in buildings using heat pumps ( 4 x as efficient as electrical heaters)
3) ger all the green electricity from a mix of 4 sources: own renewables, clean coal, nuclear and other countries renewables

66
Q

what are innovation policy issues?

A

there are issues with research development and demonstration. liberalisation has had a negative effect on private research and development. public Rand D remains limited compared to the 70s and 80s and private R&D is subject to market failure
there is issues with capacity promotion which is becoming increasingly costly, market conditions are uncertain and the medium term competitiveness prospects are limited

67
Q

what is the innovation chain?

A

technologies have to traverse a long and expensive path to the from idea to market.

68
Q

what are the stages of the innovation chain?

A

1) basic R&D
2) applied R&D
3) demonstration]
4) commercialisation
5) market accumulation
6)diffusion

69
Q

what are the two causes of movement along the innovation chain?

A

there is the market pull and the product/technology push. the government uses policy interventions and the business and finance community uses investment to move from research to the consumer

70
Q

what is the technological valley of death?

A

it is the stage between the seed funding and the early stage financing

71
Q

what is the commercialisation valley of deathj?

A

it is the stage between early stage financing and the peak funding

72
Q

what are six sources of financing?

A

corporate research and development, venture capital, private equity, R&D grants and tax benefits, debt financing under government guarantees,d ebt financing

73
Q

what is the curve for the development stage look like on th cumulative cash flow against time graph?

A

it is a U shaped cuve which starts at 0 then decreases in the negative Y axis originally slowly then becomes steeper until it flattens out and then eventually curves upwards and the curve crosses x axis becoming postive

74
Q

what are the barriers to investment in the basic R&D stage?

A

it is mostly technical but partly economic

75
Q

what are the barriers to investment in the Applied R&D stage?

A

it is mostly technical but partly economic

76
Q

what are the barriers to investment in the demonstration stage?

A

it is mostly economic, second most important is technical then it is social then lastly it is political

77
Q

what are the barriers to investment in the commercialisation stage>?

A

it is mostly economic , then social then political and technical

78
Q

what are the barriers to investment at the market accumulation stage?

A

it is mostly social then it is political then it is economic then it is technical

79
Q

what are the barriers to investment at the diffusion stage?

A

it is mostly political but then it is social and economic

80
Q

what are the cost effects of learning by doing and learning by research?

A

there is a reduction in the unit cost of producing a good

81
Q

what are some conclusions about research and development?

A

there is a need to combine a technology push and a market pull
public R&D to support basic and collaborative research
future systems will use multiple technologies so conventional technologies ( fossil fuel , nuclear) will remain significant for time to come
there are barriers to renewable energy

economics of sustainability (12 decks)

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