Energy Economics Flashcards
Is Nuclear power unprofitable?
It isnt so much that it’s uneconomic. investors like capital assets that produce big profits on small amounts of product with low operating costs. wind and solar tick those boxes because they get priority grid access and are heavily subsidized. in some places, they get paid the highest bid price even when they bid the lowest because of how the markets are set up.
Why doesn’t the utility like nuclear power?
Utilitiy execs are gaming the market because they get paid on new capital that they put to use. Nuclear plants last a long time.
Can nuclear be profitable at today’s makret prices?
Retail is $15/MWh is $0.15/kwh. that’s perfectly acceptable for nuclear, which typically produces at about $0.06/kwh. The problem is that renewable instability can drive prices negative when they surge… the markets are setup to make sure they (renewables) get paid at the expense of dispatchable assets. investors game this.
How do wind turbines use energy?
Wind turbine manufacturers do not include electricity consumption in the specifications they provide. Among the wind turbine functions that use electricity are the following:
* Yaw mechanism (to keep the blade assembly perpendicular to the wind; also to untwist the electrical cables in the tower when necessary) — the nacelle (turbine housing) and blades together weigh 92 tons on a GE 1.5-MW turbine
- Blade-pitch control (to keep the rotors spinning at a regular rate)
- Lights, controllers, communication, sensors, metering, data collection, etc.
- Heating the blades — this may require 10%-20% of the turbine’s nominal (rated) power
- Heating and dehumidifying the nacelle — according to Danish manufacturer Vestas, “power consumption for heating and dehumidification of the nacelle must be expected during periods with increased humidity, low temperatures and low wind speeds”
- Oil heater, pump, cooler, and filtering system in gearbox
- Hydraulic brake (to lock the blades in very high wind)
- Thyristors (to graduate the connection and disconnection between generator and grid) — 1%-2% of the energy passing through is lost
- Magnetizing the stator, the induction generators used in most large grid-connected turbines require a “large” amount of continuous electricity from the grid to actively power the magnetic coils around the asynchronous “cage rotor” that encloses the generator shaft; at the rated wind speeds, it helps keep the rotor speed constant, and as the wind starts blowing it helps start the rotor turning (see next item); in the rated wind speeds, the stator may use power equal to 10% of the turbine’s rated capacity, in slower winds possibly much more
- Using the generator as a motor (to help the blades start to turn when the wind speed is low or, as many suspect, to maintain the illusion that the facility is producing electricity when it is not,‡ particularly during important site tours or noise testing (keeping the blades feathered, ie, quiet)) — it seems possible that the grid-magnetized stator must work to help keep the 40-ton blade assembly spinning, along with the gears that increase the blade rpm some 50 times for the generator, not just at cut-in (or for show in even less wind) but at least some of the way up towards the full rated wind speed; it may also be spinning the blades and rotor shaft to prevent warping when there is no wind…
How much did global electricity usage grow between 2007 and 2020?
(from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2020/09/07/managers-of-40-trillion-make-plans-to-decarbonize-the-world/)
From 2007 to 2020, annual global electricity use alone went from about 15 trillion kWhs to over 24 trillion kWhs. And that will continue to increase until about 2040, to probably over 35 trillion kWhs/year.
What is coal doing?
According to the International Energy Administration, global coal demand reached an all-time high in 2018 and is estimated to remain flat until the mid-twenties, despite temporary drops from local policy decisions or because of the pandemic.
What are oil and Natural Gas doing?
Oil and natural gas have been increasing worldwide although a glut in gas storage, the pandemic and mild temperatures have led to a slight global drop in demand this year (2020).
How do we decarbonize oil usage?
We need to replace internal combustion engines with mostly electric vehicles charged with non-fossil fuel-generated electricity.
How much oil do we use?
Oil use averages over 90 million barrels/day, 70% of which goes towards transportation.
How much electricity would we need to instead charge an all-electric vehicle fleet?
The equivalent in electricity to charge an all-electric vehicle fleet is about 28 billion kWhs/day, the output of almost 2,000,000 MW of new installed generation. This is another 10 trillion kWhs/year, bringing our total future energy needs worldwide to about 45 trillion kWhs/year.
How much would that cost?
At a world average price of 14¢/kWh, that represents about $6 trillion/year.
How much is spent globally on fossil fuel subsidies?
http://www.oecd.org/fossil-fuels/data/
We spend over $5 trillion globally on fossil fuel subsidies and these would be freed up for this task of decarbonization if we forgo fossil fuel.
What would be the healthcare savings if we forego use of coal?
if a society uses coal for over 30% of its energy needs, their health care costs increase about 10%. Global spending on health care totals about $8 trillion, so replacing coal could save up to $800 billion/year. That, plus ending the subsidies, could well pay for most of this huge change.
How deadly is coal?
Studies show coal kills ten times more people than any other energy source per kWh produced, and ten times more people in the developing world than in America, because of our Clean Air Act. These deaths are mainly from fine toxic particulates emitted from coal plants.
How many people die from coal pollution?
Coal kills about 500,000 people in China each year, but only about 15,000 Americans per year because of the Clean Air Act, the single piece of legislation that has saved the most American lives in history.
