Energy Use Flashcards
What does primary electricity include (UK) (sources)?
- Hydropower
- nuclear power
- wind
- PV
- tidal
- wave
- solar thermal
- geothermal
What proportion of global total primal energy supply was renewable in 2017?
~4%
Which sector has the highest % of renewable electricity usage?
Heating and Cooling - accounts for 51% of our energy use, with 9.8% of that from renewable energy.
IN what order is the total global energy consumption (2017) ?
Terra Watt Hours (TWh)
What portion of the worlds energy currently (2017) comes from renewable resources?
~14%, but if traditional biofuels are ignored, only ~4% are renewable
Which sector is the most decarbonised?
The electricity (power) sector - however, it accounts for the least amount of energy used, below transport and heating and cooling.
What sector is the biggest contributor to carbon emmissions?
heating and cooling
Green house gases absorb ______?
Infared radiation (heat) heading out from the earth and re-emit in a random direction.
How much have average global temperature risen by since 1990?
1 degree celcius
What is the current annual rise in sea levels?
3mm/yr
What is ‘Global Warming Potential’?
The metric by which the contribution of green house gasses to warming are defined - since different gases have varying levels of effect.
What percentage of green house gas emissions is accounted for by carbon dioxide?
around 75%
What did the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 achieve?
- it set cutting targets for 192 industrialised nations
- each pledging to cut their yearly emissions by varying amounts (averaging 5.2%)
What was the Paris Climate Agreement outcome?
- keep long-term global average temp increase well below 2degrees above pre-industrial levels?
- aim to limit the increase to 1.5degrees
how many gCO2/kWh currently produced by UK electricity generation?
207gCo2/kWh
aiming for <100 by 2033
What was the main contributor to electricity generation a decade ago vs now?
Used to be coal, now gas.
What dominates world wide electricity generation from non-fossil fuels?
By far hydropower at ~75%
What is the grid?
the Great British electricity generation and
transmission network, connecting power stations and major substations and ensuring that electricity generated anywhere on it can be used to satisfy demand elsewhere. Several ‘grids’, or wide area synchronous grids, operate across Europe.
What is the national grid?
A high voltage electricity transmission network in England, Wales and Scotland. They are responsible for ensuring the UK’s supply and demand of power are matched.
What are two types of Secondary Response? And what times to respond do they take?
Spinning Reserve (e.g. pumped storage or thermal power stations spinning but not connected) - 30 seconds to 2 minutes
STOR (e.g. thermal power stations not spinning) 20 minutes
