Do you see that we use energy resources efficiently?
Conventional energy resources are very limited. So, we must use them with highest savings and great care. Unfortunately, this is not the case; whenever you direct your sight, you see that people are wasting these precious resources and misusing them.
On the other side, scientists and engineers could not until now produce efficient conversion methods for these resources. Think about the conversion efficiency of thermodynamic machines.
The present civilization, which is based on machines driven by energy, may be in danger if we do not make up our minds for the issue of energy.
What is your opinion on this matter?
The answer to your question is no. The government and the energy industry have still many things to do in order to have in force an appropriate energy efficiency policy with excellent results. Improved energy efficiency is a shared policy goal of many governments around the world. The benefits of more efficient use of energy are well known and include reduced investments in energy infrastructure, lower fossil fuel dependency, increased competitiveness and improved consumer welfare. Efficiency gains can also deliver environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution.
However, tracking trends in energy efficiency and comparing the performance of countries is not straightforward. Energy efficiency is only one of a number of factors that impact energy use, so it is perfectly possible to have improved energy efficiency, while still seeing rises in energy consumption. The overall message is clear; the current rate of energy efficiency improvement is not nearly enough to overcome the other factors driving up energy consumption. As a result, we are heading for an unsustainable energy future. We must find new ways to accelerate the decoupling of energy use and CO2 emissions from economic growth.
However, realizing this potential will require strong and innovative action on the part of governments. Governments also need to put greater efforts into improving the availability, timeliness, quality and comparability of the detailed data needed to target and evaluate the new policies that will be required.
Despite the recent improvements in energy efficiency, there still remains a large potential for further energy savings across all sectors. For instance, analysis of industry shows that the application of proven technologies and best practices on a global scale could save between 18% and 26% of current primary energy use in industry. The largest savings potentials can be found in the iron and steel, cement and chemical and petrochemical sectors.
In the electricity generation sector, if all countries produced electricity at current best practice levels of efficiency, then fossil fuel consumption for public electricity generation could be reduced by between 23% and 32%.
The largest savings of both energy and CO2 emissions are from improving the efficiency of coal-fired plants. On a regional basis, just under half the global savings would be from OECD countries, with the remainder from developing and transition countries.
Accelerating energy efficiency improvements is a crucial challenge for energy and climate policies. The rate of energy efficiency improvement needs to be increased substantially to achieve a more secure and sustainable energy future. There are some signs that the rate of improvement in energy efficiency has been increasing slightly in the last few years, as a result of the many policies recently initiated by different countries. It is important to highlight that a large potential remains for further energy efficiency gains. All governments must learn from the best practices of others and act now to develop and implement the necessary mix of market and regulatory policies, including stringent norms and standards. This should be complemented by efforts to drive down the CO2 intensity of electricity production by moving towards a cleaner technology mix.
@Abdelhalim, I do find we do not use efficiently available energy, and it is a world problem! To begin a discussion, let's talk about energy efficiency!
http://eetd.lbl.gov/ee/ee-1.html
ljubomir, could you outline the conversion efficiency for the different energy conversion techniques to facilitate the discussion?. Thank you.
The answer to your question is no. The government and the energy industry have still many things to do in order to have in force an appropriate energy efficiency policy with excellent results. Improved energy efficiency is a shared policy goal of many governments around the world. The benefits of more efficient use of energy are well known and include reduced investments in energy infrastructure, lower fossil fuel dependency, increased competitiveness and improved consumer welfare. Efficiency gains can also deliver environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution.
However, tracking trends in energy efficiency and comparing the performance of countries is not straightforward. Energy efficiency is only one of a number of factors that impact energy use, so it is perfectly possible to have improved energy efficiency, while still seeing rises in energy consumption. The overall message is clear; the current rate of energy efficiency improvement is not nearly enough to overcome the other factors driving up energy consumption. As a result, we are heading for an unsustainable energy future. We must find new ways to accelerate the decoupling of energy use and CO2 emissions from economic growth.
However, realizing this potential will require strong and innovative action on the part of governments. Governments also need to put greater efforts into improving the availability, timeliness, quality and comparability of the detailed data needed to target and evaluate the new policies that will be required.
Despite the recent improvements in energy efficiency, there still remains a large potential for further energy savings across all sectors. For instance, analysis of industry shows that the application of proven technologies and best practices on a global scale could save between 18% and 26% of current primary energy use in industry. The largest savings potentials can be found in the iron and steel, cement and chemical and petrochemical sectors.
In the electricity generation sector, if all countries produced electricity at current best practice levels of efficiency, then fossil fuel consumption for public electricity generation could be reduced by between 23% and 32%.
The largest savings of both energy and CO2 emissions are from improving the efficiency of coal-fired plants. On a regional basis, just under half the global savings would be from OECD countries, with the remainder from developing and transition countries.
Accelerating energy efficiency improvements is a crucial challenge for energy and climate policies. The rate of energy efficiency improvement needs to be increased substantially to achieve a more secure and sustainable energy future. There are some signs that the rate of improvement in energy efficiency has been increasing slightly in the last few years, as a result of the many policies recently initiated by different countries. It is important to highlight that a large potential remains for further energy efficiency gains. All governments must learn from the best practices of others and act now to develop and implement the necessary mix of market and regulatory policies, including stringent norms and standards. This should be complemented by efforts to drive down the CO2 intensity of electricity production by moving towards a cleaner technology mix.
Thank you Jorge for your valuable essay about the explaining the necessity of increasing the efficiency of the energy generation and the energy consumption.
You said:As a result, we are heading for an unsustainable energy future.
You agree with me that our energy supply may run in danger in the future if we do not change our energy generation and consumption habits.
But you speak about the role of energy industry and government. What about the role of the society?
Aria, good evening. Thank you for your comment. Your opinion is that the solution of the energy demand will be by using renewable energy.This is easy said but very hard realizable. The reason is that renewable energy sources are characterized by low density so that their initial cot of exploitation is relatively high.
In my opinion, there are two things that must be done simultaneously:
- Increasing the efficiency of energy conversion of the conventional and renewable sources.This is the job of scientists and engineers
- Changing the bad habits of extravagant energy consumption. This is the job of the whole society
It may come the day to be forced to limit our energy consumption.This day is not very far.
Good evening
@Abdelhalim, this MIT summary is a good resource for the different energy conversion techniques! It covers historic energy conversion sequences, modern energy conversion sequences, relates energy sources and conversion processes...! Conversion efficiency is a key metric!
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-081j-introduction-to-sustainable-energy-fall-2010/lectures-and-readings/MIT22_081JF10_lec03a.pdf
Yes, Abdelhalim, I am sure that with the current trend in the consumption of some conventional energy sources, some of them will be exhausted in this century, if no new important reserves are found.
The society could and should play an important role in the reduction of the consumption of energy sources, should support the use of equipment that consume less energy, change the use of some energy sources for others, among other measures, but this actions will have the purpose of delaying the exhaustion of some energy sources, but will not solve the lack of sufficient energy sources in a certain period of time..
Thank you Ljubomir for the useful link. Thank you Jorge for your agreement with my point of view.
Concerning our behavior towards energy consumption, i want to give a demonstrative example: A private car has an efficiency of about 0.25. Most of the time it is occupied by one person while it can accommodate five persons. Then its transport efficiency will be 0.2. Consequently, the overall efficiency is 0.05, only five percent. Let us translate this into fuel, the car is tanked by 100 liter, the useful part is only five liter and the waste is 95 liter. Is that acceptable? This is catastrophic If we added the cost of environmental effects of burning the hundred liter of fuel the situation will be very bad. Huge losses? Who cares?
This is not the only example, there are many.
This is why i asked my question. DO you see that the subject deserves this question?
In my opinion, there are a number of measures that can be adopted in order to reduce the consumption of energy. In the USA cars with only one passenger cannot use the high speed part of the highway. The purpose of this measure is to force drivers to take more passengers if he/she wants to move fast. In other countries, such as Singapore are imposing the payment of a fee if a driver wishes to go to the center of the city in his/her car. Other countries are reducing of eliminating the payment of the public transport system from time to time in order to stimulate the used of the public transport system and to reduce the use of car in specific days of the week.
Industry and research are business oriented, which means that money not the environment or the energy is the driving force for their activities. This was the case in the past. the present and will be the case for the future unless governments take actions. Unfortunately, governments can be less interested and think business wise as well, i.e. they act for the present interest of their people which can be against those ethics of environment and energy conservation. Global actions under big umbrellas like the UN face as well the reluctance of the governments. Can we expect rich nations to cut down on heating/cooling or go back to use more efficient energy transportation products. Can we expect industrial countries to slow its production of goods and to encourage consumers in other countries to reduce their purchases. Can we expect people easily to go to their -energy efficient- old habits. I think that the whole world is not yet up to the challenge of your question, Prof. Zekry, regardless of all the rumble, and they will wake up someday but might be a bit late. Thanks. @AlDmour.
Hello All, great discussion topic with some very useful answers. We all agree that technology is still not mature enough to drive electrical network from a renewable energy source. Solar energy is by far the most matured technology but this still requires (as others have mentioned) some more thrust from governments. Even when we reach that stage, it would take another few decades for these units to be used in developing world.
However, there are some methods that could be employed to make better use of alternative energy resources in the meantime. A very good percentage domestic power consumption in developing world is used in cooking (see this for example https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/cooking.pdf). It is relatively easy to replace this with a zero cost solar cookers - that are cheap, easy to maintain and also a healthy option! So where is the problem? Very small uptake, solar cookers are either unheard of or not available in most of the developing countries -what a waste.
Thanks,
Tahmina
In my professional experience I have noticed that if a building is designed as Zero net energy, it still does not achieve its objective. I studied the behavior of the occupants Znet building and realized that human behavior is one of the major drivers as compared to other building occupants of the same organization. We have been trying to address the given issue from one angle and I believe a multi-facet approach is needed.
Second problem I see is, which is out of the scope of the question above, when we calculate the carbon sequestration through renewable sources such as solar, we do not take into account the product life cycle, the amount of energy used to manufacture and shipping of these solar panels.
By making the best use of our energy resources, New Zealand’s economy can run more efficiently and more productively.
An efficient and renewable energy system means managing both the supply and the demand side. It means making the most of all the opportunities available to us to conserve energy, use energy efficiently and use as much renewable energy as is practical.
As well as significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and renewable energy deliver many co-benefits: energy is more affordable for businesses and families; businesses are more productive with better international competitiveness; we have a more secure electricity system; people are healthier from living in houses that are warmer and drier; and more jobs are created.
More energy efficiency
Efficiency makes good business sense. Even apart from the benefits to our environment and making effective use of our limited resources, saving energy will deliver bottom line cost savings to businesses of any size. Efficient energy use also increases competitiveness in challenging economic times.
More renewable energy
Advances in technology mean we have an increasing number of ways available to us to power our homes, businesses, factories and farms.
Concern about climate change and peak oil has lead to a greater focus on renewable energy.
New Zealand has an excellent range and supply of renewable energy resources.
Most of the time these resources will be developed on a large scale, but there is also a way of supplying local communities with smaller scale energy generation. This is called distributed generation.
Achieving productivity gains will come if we continue to improve the efficiency of our electricity supply system.
A well-functioning energy system will also consider demand-side responses to maximise efficiency.
Thank you Mehdi for your efficient contribution. Really well expressed!
Abdelhalim, the answer is definitely no. the problem of environmental science and environmental movement is actually the fact that 99% of experts in this field do not have any clue what is going on, and they are not real scientists. Let me highlight 2 aspect of your question: 1) carbon footprint and 2) economic justification. And lets consider only one technology example-solar cells. So are these solar cells are efficient in terms of carbon footprint? (carbon footprint is amount of energy spend to produce any product). The answer is "No", it takes more energy to produce solar cells than solar cell generate during its lifetime. In the other words solar cell pollute environment. Well what is economic efficiency of solar cells? The solar cell electricity nowadays is 100-300 times more expensive than electricity obtain from coil. Moreover in Germany, which have the highers amount of solar cell for electricity production, the local authorities have to build fast the peak coil electrical station to compensate the electricity decay after sunset. Such electric stations are the dirties and most dangerous for humans. So the environmental lobby here do 2 things: first they take tax money and spend these to pollute environmental. Does this mean that solar cells are usefulness? No! they are useful for certain market domains....
Ohhh GOD. Vladimir
What did you say is very serious. Could you give us some evidence on your essay?
Please. It is said the pay back of the solar cells is three years.
On the other side, the energy prices is much lower than their real prices.
Thank you for your contribution. It shocked me.
Abdelhalim, for example Dale's paper: Energy Balance of the Global Photovoltaic (PV) Industry - Is the PV Industry a Net Electricity Producer? Environ. Sci. Technol., 2013, 47 (7), pp 3482–3489 DOI: 10.1021/es3038824 tell us that only from 2010 solar panels generate more energy than they use. Mean that before 2010 solar cells just polluted environment. Also Dale is motivated to say that now we are good now, so it is not an independent study and everything depends on how you will calculate the carbon footprint. The problem of solar cell is there high deposition temperature which also require a high vacuum conditions. More efficient are solar cells more energy they take. The most efficient solar cells take the same amount of energy and cost as to produce the Intel processor, About the economic part: in US the current $0.30/kW-hr solar cell(average over 30years) comparing with $0.06/kW-hr from gas. There was of course recent invasion of cheaper Chines solar cells, but who knows how good they are in 30 years scale.
You really do not have to be an expert to see examples of successful environmental technologies. Take for example solar boiler. It cost $2-5k, depending on country and manufacturers, their carbon footprint is relatively low and in some Middle East countries 90% of roofs held this solar boiler. The same story occur in Mexico nowadays. So apparently you do not need tax money, environmental movement etc to make such technologies to work. There is a lot of fraud and corruption in this area in all countries including US. I encourage you just to believe to what you can see with your own eyes.
Thank you Vile for your useful insight. I agree with your vision. I would like to site your comment:Politicians and voters seems to have no attention towards energy sector, before we have an energy shock
Yes Vladimir: i agree with your point of view that as you said:There is a lot of fraud and corruption in this area in all countries including US. I encourage you just to believe to what you can see with your own eyes.Thank you for your advice.
No we are not using them efficiently.
Some examples in my country:
1. Lights and Fans are on inside some train when no one is there inside it.
2. Diesel Generators are used to obtain good voltage during the evening.
3. Water overflow is a common problem in apartments.
But in transportation some saving is there in most places.
We regularly make technical due diligence on commercial project of twice the foot print of others. Many architects who signed up for LEED still design saw tooth roof arrangements facing South they create light areas using direct sunlight they do not know the basics of orientation. Most architects care more about their ego than building users comfort and well being. Until we stop the double standards we will continue to frivolous waste energy.
By making the best use of our energy resources, New Zealand’s economy can run more efficiently and more productively.
An efficient and renewable energy system means managing both the supply and the demand side. It means making the most of all the opportunities available to us to conserve energy, use energy efficiently and use as much renewable energy as is practical.
As well as significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and renewable energy deliver many co-benefits: energy is more affordable for businesses and families; businesses are more productive with better international competitiveness; we have a more secure electricity system; people are healthier from living in houses that are warmer and drier; and more jobs are created.
More energy efficiency
Efficiency makes good business sense. Even apart from the benefits to our environment and making effective use of our limited resources, saving energy will deliver bottom line cost savings to businesses of any size. Efficient energy use also increases competitiveness in challenging economic times.
More renewable energy
Advances in technology mean we have an increasing number of ways available to us to power our homes, businesses, factories and farms.
Concern about climate change and peak oil has lead to a greater focus on renewable energy.
New Zealand has an excellent range and supply of renewable energy resources.
Most of the time these resources will be developed on a large scale, but there is also a way of supplying local communities with smaller scale energy generation. This is called distributed generation.
Achieving productivity gains will come if we continue to improve the efficiency of our electricity supply system.
A well-functioning energy system will also consider demand-side responses to maximise efficiency.
@Abdelhalim, some of questions disappeared! What about my contribution about energy conversion techniques, on Your demand? Do You find it as a problem of ResearchGate functionality, memory available or something else?
Dear Ljubomir,
Yes, you are right. There are some missing contribution. It is the matter and responsibility of the Researchgate. We have to inform the researchgate administration.
No we are not. Can we work here to start reducing the use of energy
Say,
1- when you go to bed turn off all lights but one
2- share transport to work
3- put temperature at 27c at home, workplace and in the car.
Answer of above discussed issue is simply no!
There are many reasons vary from region to region. Reasons of inefficient utilization of resources in developed countries are some what different from that of developing countries.
including above one more reason is; developed world countries are competing and utilizing resources extensively. Although they are also improving resources efficiency, but rate of efficiency improvement is much slow compared to their rate of extensive utilization.
And one of the problems associated with developing world in this perspective is; they are running blindly after developed countries to be a part of technology race without noticing their resources, potential etc. like factors that determine what kind of resources are efficient to use in specific economic, environment conditions.
Other use inefficient of energy resources:
"The losses caused by the transport of resources far from their country of extraction" involve an inefficient use of energy resources.
I will you show some highlights:
-Losses for transport of row material.
-Pollution in the oceans and troposphere.
-Lower efficiency for losses in High Voltage grids.
-These inefficiencies could have solution, if the manufacturing was near the energy resources (fossil or renewable, pollutant or clean, exhaustible or inexhaustible). Only there is one exception: The nuclear energy must stay far of towns, because it has a high risk.
There are various approaches to answering this question, but the answer is that we waste a truly astonishing amount of the energy we produce, in the main because of the antiquated grid distribution systems developed by the primary industrializing countries in Europe and the US (Amory Lovins is worth reading on this); although it is true that since processes of de-industrialization in the Global North since (roughly) the 1960s has produced a substantial decline in the absolute amounts of energy used and a supposed increase in the efficiency of that use, almost all of the efficiency gains have been made by switching to more efficient fuels (coal to gas, say) rather than any technical efficiency gains.
At the moment in the UK, thanks to our monumentally wasteful grid system, according to Friends of the Earth (FOE, Up in smoke, 2012, http://www.foe.co.uk/news/up_in_smoke_graphic_36417) “Over half of the energy in gas and around two thirds of the energy in nuclear and coal used to produce electricity is lost as waste heat.” The situation in the US is similar, according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - there, of the 94.6 quads of energy used in 2009, 57.75% was rejected, or wasted. The US National Academies Press (2008, http://www.nap.edu/reports/energy/sources.html) provides a useful diagram to show how this loss occurs; of 100 units of energy delivered as coal to a power station to light a bulb, 62 units are lost in the power production process so that only 38 units actually enter the transmission lines, which lose another 2 units in transmission. Of the 36 units arriving at a house to turn on the light bulb, only 2 units are used in providing light whilst a further 34 units are wasted as heat emitted from the light-bulb.
There are all kinds of different methods of wasting energy that you can add to this; so-called vampire devices, where we don't turn off appliances in the house but leave them on stand-by, for instance. According to the Cornell Chronicle (17th Sept. 2002, http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2002/09/vampire-appliances-cost-consumers-3-billion-year), “we're using the equivalent of seven electrical generating plants just to supply the amount of electricity needed to support the standby power of our vampire appliances when they're off.“ How about the amount of energy wasted in producing food that we simply throw away? "“The amount of energy embedded in the food we throw away is more than all the energy we get from the corn ethanol we produce in a year.” (Micheal Webber, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Texas, Scientific American, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2012/05/16/americas-supersized-energy-waste/).
Think about the ICT revolution, which is ramping up electricity use in the wealthier countries particularly, at a time when overall energy use has been static or in slow decline in many of them. As Mark Miller points out in 'The Cloud Begins With Coal (2013): “The Information Economy is a blue-whale economy with its energy uses mostly out of sight. Based on a mid-range estimate, the world’s ICT ecosystem now uses about 1,500 TWh annually, equal to all the electric generation of Japan and Germany combined – as much electricity as was used for global illumination in 1985. The ICT ecosystem now approaches 10% of global electricity generation. Or, in other energy terms, the zettabyte era now uses about 50% more energy than global aviation.” Because of the increased demand for energy globally, particularly from countries in development, driven by the locking-in of growing middle-classes (China, India) to the mass consumer economy and the increasing dependence of that mass consumer economy on the ICT revolution, energy demand over the next 50 years is likely to increase by several orders of magnitude, at the same time that most of it is being wasted in ways (CO, CO2, SO2 emissions and heat loss) that will make anthropogenic climate change much worse.
It can sometimes seem that we spend so much time inventing new ways to waste energy that the entire idea of energy efficiency is just a joke. With particular reference to wasteful centralized grid systems, because they are so closely associated with modernity they are increasingly being deployed by the poorest countries of the Global South, many of which are already unable to provide energy access to the poorest. This is being done at a time of rising global fuel prices, when the urgency of low carbon transition because of anthropogenic climate change makes such inherently wasteful systems even less sensible. It is also being done in a way that will lock them into incredibly wasteful energy production systems which actively damage their economies in trying to provide fuel for them, all because those same systems are very profitable for the companies constructing and running them...
@ Ville Nikkanen,
You are 100% right, technology will not reduce the consumption. Human behavior has to change in order to curb our insatiable appetite for energy.
In past few years i have seen many new building designed as Zero Net Energy, well not a single one has achieved its goal. Many reasons have been cited and the major one is human behavior. One sided approach will not work and we need to approach this given problem from multiple angles
There's an Egyptian saying: "If you want to fill a keg with water you must first fix the holes!" - - - i honestly believe in intelligence and hope that Jevon's Paradoxon will not happen if at the same time our individual behaviour in using energy and the "energy-saving machinery" as well as better organised "smart" grids will strictly improve and the conversion and storage of energy gets more sophisticated. Obviously mankind needs a lot to learn - but let's give it a try.
Shoenen Dank Axel for your contribution.It is really very intelligent contribution. Here we try to invoke the people to do more for the matter of energy before die (Zeit ist vorbei). Guten Morgen.
The answer to your question is in general, no we do not use energy efficiently. As a designer of buildings (using ~40% of the U.S.'s energy), there is a lot of room for improvement. We typically save 20-40% beyond U.S. energy code, although the technology exists to save 100%.
There are two things that get my clients to make changes, 1) realizing how efficient they could be (see Prius Effect), and 2) realizing how much money they could save.
Global resource efficiency is too abstract a concept for the typical energy consumer so it must be simplified to: how do I compare with others (people love competition)?, and how much will it cost me (people love money even more)?
Therefore, to get people to use energy efficiently we need to educate the pubic about how efficient they could be, and make changing financially worthwhile.
Energy in the U.S. is very cheap compared to the rest of the world, which makes selling energy efficiency difficult. U.S. utility rates relative to European rates are 1/4 to 1/2 the cost per unit energy. Same goes for water, which is becoming more scarce in the southwestern portion of the U.S.
We know from the Prius Effect (as in the Toyota Prius), that drivers were given real time feedback on their fuel efficiency and consequently drove in a manner that was more fuel efficient to maximize performance. You can do the same with buildings and products.
Unfortunately implementing these simple principles is very challenging so it will take the entire energy efficiency movement to educate the public and set pricing policies that increase the unit cost of energy. It would be helpful to put smart meters on every home so the owner would be able to compare themselves to others, and to remove energy subsidies and possibly raise energy taxes to get the utility price to increase.
Thank you Fred for your informative contribution. It is really useful.
I can add to Fred that there is a large energy saving potential in erection of energy efficient building and also the technologies that are developed to conduct light and energy through windows and walls, and to store/release heat/cold will be very applicable in other engineering technologies. I find these technologies fascinating. I agree as well with Pirius Effect, It is a good direction, but its worth noting that what Fred called energy efficiency essentially decreases after first 3 years of driving and it terms of carbon footprint one have to consider higher energy expenses to produce special lightweight materials used in Prius and necessity to u produce and recycle electrolyte used in battery, necessity to have two engine (electrical and gasoline) etc. well its a long story
"On the other side, scientists and engineers could not until now produce efficient conversion methods for these resources"
However ...
We divide our energy use among four economic sectors: residential, commercial, transportation, and industrial. Heating and cooling our homes, lighting office buildings, driving cars and moving freight, and manufacturing the products we rely on in our daily lives are all functions that require energy. If projections are correct, we’re going to keep needing more. In the United States alone, energy consumption is expected to rise 13% over the next two decades. Global consumption is expected to increase by 44% over the same time period.
Energy has been very cheap for so long that most of mankind's use of it is quite wasteful. I have seen so many instances where businesses have been able to save upwards of 30% of their energy cost by basic energy-saving practices and devices. Power-factor correction of electric motors, shifting high-power loads to off-peak times, using waste heat to pre-heat process fluids, building thermal design, using heat-pumps for heating, turning off the lights at night... The list is endless, but the users must WANT to change and this requires either legislation or an awareness of the financial benefits of the change. The environmental concerns are not normally the drivers.
Thank you gerhard. Yes, the people must want to change either forced or from their selves.
In the U.S. over 60% of the primary energy that comes into the economy goes out as waste heat. See the attached Sankey diagram created by the Livermore National Lab for 2013. Have a look at the far right side for the amounts of energy that produce a useful service and amounts that are rejected.
This paper by Sovacool has an interesting assessment of socio-technical barriers to deploying renewable electricity in the US. I think that is not so much about the technological or biological challenges of these systems - we can figure those out. But the sociological barriers are more challenging and often create barriers that are hard to overcome.
Thank you Timothy for the very useful comments. I would like to sit you again: the sociological barriers are more challenging and often create barriers that are hard to overcome. Completely agree with you.
Thank you very much for your question. In fact, there are some countries where the use of energy efficient, such as Germany and Scandinavia. There are laws and rules that help to achieve this. On the other hand the cheap price of conventional fuel in the Gulf makes opportunities to rationalize energy consumption is limited. I believe the first thing that rationalization must make it work for energy security in the future. I suggest the following points sequentially to deal with energy:
1 use energy efficiently.
2 development process of energy storge.
3 use renewable energy sources.
As engineers and scientists we are used to incurring losses e.g. inefficiencies in thermal cycles, generation, transmission, conversion etc.
Key would be to minimize and eliminate as much of these as possible. Here are some of my thoughts:
1) Use a decentralized generation model - as close to the consumer as possible:
This reduces distribution losses and give the electric grid redundancy. It's also a lot less vulnerable to outside influence e.g. sabotage, natural disasters etc.
2) Find better ways of energy & electricity generation
When one considers what we get, for what we put in, we are still not doing great. Coal plants are still in the region of 30-40% while combined cycle gas fired plants approach 61%. Solar PV's efficiencies are atrocious, and should be improved a lot.
There has to be better ways of generation out there (either secret or undiscovered), which can make life better for all.
3) Find better ways of storing energy / electricity
Thermal energy is easy to store, however, not the same for electricity. Once generated, it has to be pretty much consumed. We do have pumped storage and other battery technologies to store some electricity, but the bulk is supplied in real time. The problem with solar PV and Wind is the intermittent nature of supply, so generally not good for base load. CSP with storage offers some advantage over that of PV, however it is still prohibitively expensive for base load, compared to coal and gas fired power stations. Surely there are better (secret or undiscovered) ways to address storage..
David your post is very interesting, we have our PowerCan 200 but we still like solar and especially Power Textiles [.com] we think their work cannot loose simply because Power Textiles used simply as shading devices is a record breaker for PV its does not even have to work. Because Power Textiles are new and modern architects will adopt them and this will be the biggest saving in industry and commerce
Meanwhile we think that wood chip is easier to store than electricity or hot water [or rocks] there are hundreds of sheds and barns in Europe which would make instant batteries no heavy or rare metal needed.
One further thing transport fuel can be easily produced with a range of catalysts it would stop the export of economy keeping wealth local. The draw back is of course that pure synthesis gas can be used for far higher chemicals.
Thanks Steve. I'd like to add that the highest added value (financial gain) for syngas is in fuel production, second to that is electricity generation and the lowest is for heating.
David its true but higher chemicals are more valuable in reality because we do not compete with retailers providing fuel at the pump.
Tight insulated modern properties have cooling issues not heating so electricity is second to chemicals and ahead of heating
The cost of wholesale transport fuel is very low, then there are lots of taxes added to the price and then these taxes are given back to the fuel industry as subsidies. In reality PowerCan Concorde FT is for large rural industry like factory farmers who operate fleets of vehicles themselves and need to make fuel as a contingency for being remote. Some regions might not have issues with make your own but as for entering the mainstream market?
The aircraft industry prop market is one possibility because small aircraft operators are pushed into green fuels and these fuels are not commercially created in every region.
Military uses are also a certainty for fuel especially small devices and we must not forget that the process itself lends itself to the safe sacrifice of Chemical Weapons and Munitions at 100th the cost of the what the US is currently wasting off the coast of Africa with Syrian Weapons
We cannot go mainstream with small scale FT except in SIN's even then supply contracts are so historically complicated it is not for small firms to take up.
Dear @Abdelhalim, when I have got this resource from Elsevier, I have remebered your fine thread. After two years, let us go further.
How can we make energy sustainable?
Three experts talk about the future of energy generation and use!
"We rely on energy for nearly all our needs, from electricity and heat to the food we eat. About half this energy is used for industrial processes, a quarter for transport and a quarter for domestic use. Yet, most of this energy is generated by sources that are not sustainable in the long-term.
Despite the push to develop renewable sources of energy, we’re still reliant on fossil fuels for the vast majority of our energy needs. The renewable share of generation was 22 percent in 2013 and is projected to reach 26 percent by 2020, according to a 2015 report by OECD’s International Energy Agency.
Scientists in a wide range of fields are working on how the world can develop a more sustainable and, some might say, equitable energy system. The trends are revealed in a recent report by Elsevier and SciDev.net –Sustainability Science in a Global Landscape – released in conjunction with a historic occasion at the United Nations: the adoption of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in September...
Science, technology and innovation have long been recognized as the basis for socioeconomic development; they are also core contributors to sustainable development and meeting the SDGs. The UN has called for a “seat for science” on the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development to ensure that “science is not just an observer but an advisor to policymakers.” This report is part of a broader ongoing effort to provide more evidence and analysis on the role of science, technology and innovation in the global agenda of sustainable development. To identify trends and opportunities in this emerging field, known as “sustainability science,” Elsevier drew on its analytical capabilities to present a report and organize an expert panel.
The overarching goal of the SDGs is "to stimulate action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet, such as the "elimination of poverty, hunger, disease and want." One of them – SDG 7 – aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”..."
https://www.elsevier.com/connect/videos-how-can-we-make-energy-sustainable
Thank you Ljubomir for your interesting contributions. and you still remember the issue raised here bout the utilization efficiency of the limited energy resources. In this occasion i would like our colleagues to contribute to this topic.
Yes but not to the optimum, like in my country now we have really explored it much so I think alot needs to done and plans in place for us to use it effectively
How can we make energy sustainable?
A very complicated question as energy itself is sustainable according to the universal law of conservation of energy, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed - however, it can change from one form to another.
Taken from the point of view of a closed system with reference to thermodynamics and quantum physics I would suggest to understand the "Universe" itself however expanding to somehow be such a closed system.
From this point on we have to understand the many forms of energy and their transformation potentials with a main focus on these 3 forms electric-magnetic-kinetic.
Under electric universe theory gravitational energy is simply another form of electric or electro-magnetic energy. Some research suggests that photons have mass and therefore add kinetic energy to the electrons within photovoltaics.
To sum it up - energy is available in vast forms and in virtualy infinite quantities - our task would be to develop the right technologies to allow for harvesting energy on marginal utilitiy level at any time and place - but not beyond. Clearly we have to improve our storage capacities and capabilities on all levels to be able to reduce losses in available energies which would otherwise not be harvested or simply be lost again.
A logical and right step in the photovoltaics market is to focus future development on the solar-plus-storage side to overcome impediments of current availability of converted useable energy.
Thank you colleagues. It seems that Ljubomir invoked the issue again with his new comment.
The energy sources can be classified into two types. The concentrated sources such as oil and gas and the distributed sources such as the solar and wind energy. The useful forms of the energy are the kinetic energy for transportation, electricity which is in its dynamic form is a kinetic energy and theraml energy in form of heat.
In transforming one form to the other one needs machines and or tools to affect and control the conversion process. It is so that the conversion processes run with conversion efficiency appreciably smaller than one in their present form. Also, the utilization efficiency of such machines is very low and even is smaller than their operational efficiency. While the operational efficiency of the machines are limited by physical laws and the affordable cost of the machine, the utilization efficiency depends largely on humans behavior and the conception of the machines with the utilization efficiency in mind.
Really, i see this misuse of our previous resources with pain. It is so that our machines seem primitive in spite of the large industrial advancement and our utilization behavior is very irresponsible
The distributed sources like the solar energy is promising and there is valuable achievements in the conversion of solar energy into electricity by means of photovoltaic. However still there is a great challenge with electricity storage for use in the night.
One notice further, are we ready to change the style of our life to concentrate our activities in the day and minimize it in the night such that our demand gets matched with the solar radiation? Ultimately we became like plants in this respect.
Just some thoughts while fasting in Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem
Peace up on you all and best wishes
The answer of course is no. The Carnot cycle gives a limit. But the efficiencies of thermodynamic machines are still far from the theroretical limit na they are continuously improved. As an instance, open-cycle gas turbines applied for natural gas transportation in pipelines have an efficiency (power/fuel heating value) over 40%, aout the same of much more complex steam plants. Cars of the 60's could run 10 km per liter of gasoline; today it is double.
All that requires a lot of studies and experiments, namely investments. I can foresee that in the next few decades efficiencies will reach 50%. But I believe that the best improvements can be realized through energy savings: building insulations, public transport instead of private, road network improvement to reduce travel times, electric vehicles. Thermodynamic efficiency of motors is only one side of the problem
The story from my country!
A ROADMAP FOR DEPLOYING RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN SERBIA AND THE REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE!
The energy policy aimed at securing a future for sustainable energy should be based on three key themes: improving fossil fuel technologies to have a lower environmental and social impact; applying renewable technologies on a wider scale; and introducing energy efficiency measures in the fields of energy conservation, distribution and consumption. Authors of this paper strive to point that renewable energy will continue to play important role in the transition towards a competitive, secure and sustainable energy systems in the future, especially having in mind that the global electricity demand is constantly increasing, as is its share in overall energy usage...
http://www.cirsd.org/en/publications/studies
To emphasize on Ljubomir's points - I would like to add the following topics as they probably are key factors to "harshly" increasing energy demand (worldwide):
- Advanced Energy Accessibility and Necessity
- Increased Affordability (even for low GDP countries)
- Improved Energy Efficiency and Demand Management (Better Balancing)
Maybe these points could widen the forum and the subject.
Definitely not. The cleanest and most sustainable energy is saved energy, it means not needed to be generated.
Also see higher losses in energy transmission and conversion. Just it so advanced country as the US it counts for about two thirds of generated energy.
There is more effort to be targeted.
Efficiency and Conservation
"Energy is more than numbers on a utility bill; it is the foundation of everything we do. All of us use energy every day—for transportation, cooking, heating and cooling rooms, manufacturing, lighting, and entertainment. We rely on energy to make our lives comfortable, productive, and enjoyable. To maintain our quality of life, we must use our energy resources wisely.
The choices we make about how we use energy—turning machines off when we’re not using them or choosing to buy energy efficient appliances—impact our environment and our lives. There are many things we can do to use less energy and use it more wisely. These things involve energy conservation and energy efficiency. Many people think these terms mean the same thing, but they are different. Energy conservation is any behavior that results in the use of less energy. Energy efficiency is the use of technology that requires less energy to perform the same function...
Energy Sustainability
Efficiency and conservation are key components of energy sustainability—the concept that every generation should meet its energy needs without compromising the energy needs of future generations. Energy sustainability focuses on long-term energy strategies and policies that ensure adequate energy to meet today’s needs, as well as tomorrow’s. Sustainability also includes investing in research and development of advanced technologies for producing conventional energy sources, promoting the use of alternative energy sources, and encouraging sound environmental policies."
http://www.need.org/files/curriculum/infobook/efficiencyi.pdf
Yes, well said and useful information given to me regarding energy losses and savages
Incidentally this may be worth checking out: Simple Mathematical Proof of Perpetual Motion (https://nathancoppedge.quora.com/Simple-Mathematical-Proof-of-Perpetual-Motion)
Use and Management of Energy Sources Efficiently !
https://www.scribd.com/document/265925851/Use-and-Management-of-Energy-Sources-Efficiently
Dear respected colleague Ljubomir, Dear all colleagues!
Thank you very much for your continuous effort and sustainable tracking of the topic of the efficient use of the energy resources. With your persistence to follow actively the subject, you brought many useful insights and information and collected many data such that this forum became a respected reference.
I would like to add my short plan for the transformation challenge from the conventional sources to renewable sources specially the photovoltaic generators.
Please follow the the link:Method From conventional to renewable energy transformation challenge
It is my pleasure to share my vision with my colleagues in this forum.
Best wishes
PROMISING PERPETUAL MOTION RESEARCH This may be the best thing to look at currently-----RECOMMENDED
Promising Perpetual Motion Research
https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-technological-innovation-being-researched-that-you-really-want-to-see-developed/answer/Nathan-Coppedge
There are few things that I consider more certain than the existence of God.
One of them is the impossibility of perpetual motion.
Tools and methods for integrated resource planning. Improving energy efficiency and protecting the environment
Swisher, J.N.; Martino Jannuzzi, G. de; Redlinger, R.Y. United Nations Environmental Programme, Roskilde (Denmark). Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment
This book resulted from our recognition of the need to have systematic teaching and training materials on energy efficiency, end-use analysis, demand-side management (DSM) and integrated resource planning (IRP). This book addresses energy efficiency programs and IRP, exploring their application in the electricity sector. We believe that these methods will provide powerful and practical tools for designing efficient and environmentally-sustainable energy supply and demand-side programs to minimize the economic, environmental and other social costs of electricity conversion and use. Moreover, the principles of IRP can be and already are being applied in other areas such as natural gas, water supply, and even transportation and health services. Public authorities can use IRP principles to design programs to encourage end-use efficiency and environmental protection through environmental charges and incentives, non-utility programs, and utility programs applied to the functions remaining in monopoly concessions such as the distribution wires. Competitive supply firms can use IRP principles to satisfy customer needs for efficiency and low prices, to comply with present and future environmental restrictions, and to optimize supply and demand-side investments and returns, particularly at the distribution level, where local-area IRP is now being actively practiced. Finally, in those countries where a strong planning function remains in place, IRP provides a way to integrate end-use efficiency and environmental protection into energy development...
https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:29031683
No, we are not using efficiently,we have to concentrate on solar energy which is unlimited
Dear Colleagues and Friends from RG, In my opinion, energy resource management systems should be improved. Too much energy is still wasted. Many public utilities still use, for example, ordinary filament bulbs instead of many times less energy-consuming LED bulbs. In addition, innovations in the field of renewable energy sources should be created and implemented as soon as possible. The energy sector should be changed as soon as possible and reformed in order to develop renewable energy sources. Classic energy sources based on the combustion of minerals should be replaced by energy technologies based on renewable energy sources, i.e. first of all solar, wind, water and possibly also nuclear energy should be developed. Therefore, in the context of increasingly faster climate change processes, accelerating the global warming process, increasing pollution of the natural environment, international financing systems for pro-ecological projects should be created. Within these systems, international institutions should be created to finance projects for implementing ecological reforms, creating and implementing eco-innovation, etc. Grants should be awarded for research projects in the field of renewable energy development. Such programs of national and international financing of pro-ecological projects are still underdeveloped. International financing systems for the creation and implementation of pro-ecological innovations and pro-ecological reforms in many branches of modern economies should be developed, primarily in the energy sector through the development of renewable energy sources. National and international systems for financing pro-ecological reforms in the green finance formula should be developed. The next several years is the last moment to carry out the necessary ecological reforms to avoid a chain reaction of increasing climatic disasters and reduce the scale of environmental pollution and protect most of the remaining biosphere, biodiversity from irreversible degradation. Therefore, humanity should reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, develop energy based on renewable energy sources, electromobility, organic farming, sorting garbage, recycling, etc. It is necessary to implement the principles of sustainable ecological development as soon as possible in accordance with the green economy philosophy and ecological financing reforms from green finance sources. Time is short. It is not certain that humanity will completely reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. It is also not certain that if humanity succeeds, the global warming process will cease to deepen. However, implementing the principles of sustainable pro-ecological development is a necessity and the biggest challenge in the 21st century.
Best wishes
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Mahavir Balmukund Varma Solar energy is not unlimited. Nothing is unlimited. Petroleum was once believed to be virtually unlimited. Lets try not repeat our mistakes
No. There are more wasted energies than used
Governed by market and economic feasibility
No... We are inefciently use non renewable energy and also avoiding renewable energy.
Unfortunately no! We need efficient planning on both the local and global levels. We also have to start utilizing other renewable sources of energy more effectively.
Unfortunately, we are not! We need efficient planning on both the local and global levels. We also have to start utilizing other renewable sources of energy more effectively.
Limitless solar energy
The sun provides more than enough energy to meet the whole world's energy needs, and unlike fossil fuels, it won't run out anytime soon. As a renewable energy source, the only limitation of solar power is our ability to turn it into electricity in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Thank for all,
Energy is well used in some countries, such as most EU countries. On the other hand, there are many developed countries and others where energy is used too much
In many cases, energy resources are not used properly that causing shortage of available energy.
Time has come for judivial use of every energy resource.
It depends on what your definition of "efficiently" is. Fossil fuels have been the dominant source of energy for a very long time. Starting with coal and transitioning to petroleum an natural gas. They increased the standard of living of the average person significantly.
There have always been tremendous differences between the wealthy and the poor and the developed vs underdeveloped nations. I would count that as a major "inefficiency". - assuming the goal is to help all and not just a few in a privileged class.
Then there is the actual thermodynamic efficiency. That has also historically been very poor because the cost of improved efficiency was hard to justify when the resource was so abundant. Environmental issues and a desire to be socially responsible may be slowly moving the fossil fuel industry to become more efficient but they are still pretty inefficient.
Dear Abdelhalim Zekry , you are very right: " The present civilization, which is based on machines driven by energy, may be in danger if we do not make up our minds for the issue of energy."
Here is the way how to achieve efficient energy use.
Homeowners want to maintain their home and make it as energy efficient as possible.
These goals don’t have to be difficult or expensive to achieve. Here are ways to take good care of your home without breaking the budget...
https://www.wate.com/news/local-news/simple-home-repairs-for-efficient-energy-use/
Energy sources are not used efficiently in most countries. The focus is on specific energy sources that are harmful to the environment.
It is well known that the source of non-renewable engy reaches a limiting value
and paralally developental works are proceeding very rapidly - Wind , Tidal , Solar
energy like renewable energy uses are spreading .
Respected members of group, I think that energy resources are limited for personal using, but global utilization of energy resources is wide. On first, when locals use a water they didn't know that other habitant even survive with a few litars. Crutial moment in observing a problem is how to inegrate a personal needs and expensive global technology.
It is yes and no. If some parts of the world, energy resources are till being wasted ignorantly while is some parts energy resources are highly conserved and sustained.
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