Energy Use

Question 1

What does primary electricity include (UK) (sources)?

Answer 1

• Hydropower
• nuclear power
• wind
• PV
• tidal
• wave
• solar thermal
• geothermal

Question 2

What proportion of global total primal energy supply was renewable in 2017?

Answer 2

~4%

Question 3

Which sector has the highest % of renewable electricity usage?

Answer 3

Heating and Cooling - accounts for 51% of our energy use, with 9.8% of that from renewable energy.

Question 4

IN what order is the total global energy consumption (2017) ?

Answer 4

Terra Watt Hours (TWh)

Question 5

What portion of the worlds energy currently (2017) comes from renewable resources?

Answer 5

~14%, but if traditional biofuels are ignored, only ~4% are renewable

Question 6

Which sector is the most decarbonised?

Answer 6

The electricity (power) sector - however, it accounts for the least amount of energy used, below transport and heating and cooling.

Question 7

What sector is the biggest contributor to carbon emmissions?

Answer 7

heating and cooling

Question 8

Green house gases absorb ______?

Answer 8

Infared radiation (heat) heading out from the earth and re-emit in a random direction.

Question 9

How much have average global temperature risen by since 1990?

Answer 9

1 degree celcius

Question 10

What is the current annual rise in sea levels?

Answer 10

3mm/yr

Question 11

What is ‘Global Warming Potential’?

Answer 11

The metric by which the contribution of green house gasses to warming are defined - since different gases have varying levels of effect.

Question 12

What percentage of green house gas emissions is accounted for by carbon dioxide?

Answer 12

around 75%

Question 13

What did the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 achieve?

Answer 13

• it set cutting targets for 192 industrialised nations

- each pledging to cut their yearly emissions by varying amounts (averaging 5.2%)

Question 14

What was the Paris Climate Agreement outcome?

Answer 14

• keep long-term global average temp increase well below 2degrees above pre-industrial levels?
• aim to limit the increase to 1.5degrees

Question 15

how many gCO2/kWh currently produced by UK electricity generation?

Answer 15

207gCo2/kWh

aiming for <100 by 2033

Question 16

What was the main contributor to electricity generation a decade ago vs now?

Answer 16

Used to be coal, now gas.

Question 17

What dominates world wide electricity generation from non-fossil fuels?

Answer 17

By far hydropower at ~75%

Question 18

What is the grid?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What is the national grid?

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

What are two types of Secondary Response? And what times to respond do they take?

Answer 20

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