Home » Posts tagged 'Euan Mearns' (Page 2)
Tag Archives: Euan Mearns
Energy Externalities Day 9: Solar Thermal or Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
Energy Externalities Day 9: Solar Thermal or Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) With solar thermal, I am beginning to wander further away from systems where I have a reasonable grasp of their operation. There are two main classes of concentrated solar power (CSP) namely parabolic mirrors that focus solar energy onto a pipe filled with water […]
Energy Externalities Day 8: Diesel
Energy Externalities Day 8: Diesel Diesel powered electricity generation is a niche common on isolated island grids like El Hierro and in certain countries, like the UK, recently adopted as peaking plants. They have the advantage that they can quickly and easily be switched on and off and the disadvantage that they are expensive to […]
Energy Externalities Day 7: Solar Photovoltaics
Energy Externalities Day 7: Solar Photovoltaics Solar PV is a multidimensional energy system difficult to evaluate on a global basis. Maximum concentration required from The Game players! First, there is solar thermal hot water, solar thermal power generation (also known as CSP) and solar PV. Today’s game is exclusively on the latter. And in solar […]
Energy Externalities Day 6: Hydroelectric Power
Energy Externalities Day 6: Hydroelectric Power Hydroelectric power produces no pollution once the dam is built and the valley flooded. It is dispatchable and widely regarded to be the “Rolls Royce” of renewable energy. Based on trapping rainfall produced by solar energy trapped in high valleys that were created by plate tectonics that is driven […]
Energy Externalities Day 4: Nuclear Power
Energy Externalities Day 4: Nuclear Power It’s now day 4 of the Energy Externality Game. Diesel generators were next on the list, but I decided to skip over that for the time being and to move on to the more exciting topic of nuclear power. Nuclear power has a long supply chain and needs to […]
Energy Externalities Day 3: Biomass-Fired-Electricity
Energy Externalities Day 3: Biomass-Fired-Electricity Its day 3 of the Energy Externality Game already and we move onto biomass-fired-electricity. Most biomass electricity currently resides in Europe, where much of the fuel is imported from North America. In evaluating biomass we need to consider the whole supply chain from timber operations in N America, transport to […]
Energy Externalities Day 2: Gas-fired-CCGT
Energy Externalities Day 2: Gas-fired-CCGT Day 2 of The Energy Externality Game and we are assessing gas fired power generation using a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT). In scoring gas we need to take into account the whole of the gas exploration and supply side of the business (which is complex, see below), transportation of gas […]
The Externalities of Energy Production Systems
The Externalities of Energy Production Systems The economics term externality is a cost or benefit accrued by a third party from the actions of others where the third party did not choose to acquire said costs or benefits. The term has been widely adopted by the environmental lobby to describe negative impacts of energy production systems. […]
The Week of The Beast Unplugged
The Week of The Beast Unplugged From 26th February to 5th March 2018, the UK and indeed most of Northern Europe was gripped by severe cold weather blowing in from Siberia. The event was Christened the Beast From the East by UK press. The conditions were harsh, not just sub-zero temperatures and snow but high […]
Global CO2 emissions forecast to 2100
Global CO2 emissions forecast to 2100 In his recent post Euan Mearns projected global energy requirements out to 2100. In this brief post I apply Euan’s methodology to carbon dioxide emissions, which are closely correlated with energy consumption. The projections show CO2 emissions peaking around 2075 under the UN low population growth scenario but continuing […]
Global Energy Forecast to 2100
Global Energy Forecast to 2100 A global energy demand forecast is presented to 2100 based on historic growth of per capita energy consumption, 1965-2015 and on UN low and medium population growth forecasts. The low forecast sees energy demand growing from 13.15 billion tonnes oil equivalent (toe) per annum in 2015 to 19.16 billion toe […]
Oil Price Scenario for 2018
Oil Price Scenario for 2018 It is that time of year again where we try to forecast what the oil price will do over the coming 12 months. Last year I forecast $60 / bbl for Brent year ending 2017 and with Brent trading on $66.50 as I write I can conclude that I got […]
The End of Economic Growth
The End of Economic Growth UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond (finance minister) delivered his budget on Wednesday last week. The tame budget was overshadowed by news that UK productivity and hence economic growth had stalled. In this post I search for the underlying causes of economic malaise and explore the structure of UK […]
Implementing the Helm Review on the Cost of UK Energy
Implementing the Helm Review on the Cost of UK Energy The UK Government has made a call for evidence on the Helm Review published on 25th October 2017. At the time the review was published I chose not to share my opinions on the consequences of implementing Helm’s proposals since I believe these may be […]
Oil Production Vital Statistics October 2017
Oil Production Vital Statistics October 2017 Last month I drew attention to the fact that the WTI-Brent spread had opened to $7 and that this could be a bullish signal for the oil price. A strong rally in Brent has since continued and the price now stands close to $64 / bbl while the spread […]
