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Oil Production Vital Statistics April 2018
Oil Production Vital Statistics April 2018 On the World stage, momentous events are unfolding. The USA, UK and France have bombed Syria risking confrontation with Russia. The Israelis are more than a little concerned about Iranian involvement in Syria. And on the Korean peninsula, peace between N and S is on the cards spreading prosperity […]
The causes of the differences between European and US residential electricity rates
The causes of the differences between European and US residential electricity rates The price of residential electricity has risen in lockstep with growth in renewable capacity in Europe but not in the US, and because of this European residential electricity rates are now roughly twice US rates. The reasons for the difference are a) that […]
A brief review of the New England electricity sector
A brief review of the New England electricity sector New England’s transition to renewable electricity is complicated by differences between the generation mixes in and the renewables targets set by its six component states. New England’s approach to fostering renewables by replacing dispatchable fossil fuel generation with wind and solar also does not help. New […]
The seawater pumped hydro potential of the world
The seawater pumped hydro potential of the world As discussed in numerous previous posts the world will need immense amounts of energy storage to transition to 100% renewables, or anywhere close to it, and the only technology that offers any chance of obtaining it is sea water pumped hydro (SWPH) storage. Here I consider the […]
Energy Externalities Day 13: Tidal Stream Power
Energy Externalities Day 13: Tidal Stream Power An introduction to tidal stream power was given on Monday in this post: “The MeyGen Tidal Stream Power Station: Pentland Firth, Scotland”. The simplest way to imagine tidal stream power of the MeyGen variety is an underwater wind turbine deployed in an area of high tidal flow. Two ebb […]
Energy Externalities Day 10: Tidal Lagoon Power + a roundup of results
Energy Externalities Day 10: Tidal Lagoon Power + a roundup of results It’s day 10 of 13 on the Energy Externalities game and its become clear that player fatigue is setting in (or maybe its Easter Holidays). “I don’t want to play any more, scoring technology already proven to not work”. To all players, please […]
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 5: Wind Power
Energy Externalities Day 5: Wind Power It’s now day 5 of the Energy Externality Game and time to move onto the first of the new renewables, namely wind power. Loved by Green groups who see only reduced CO2 emissions, wind farms are hated by many others who see a blot on the landscape. Here at […]
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. […]
