Summary ECS final exam
Geo4-2514
Max Prevaes
2-11-2021
Lecture 1: intro to the world of energy pt. 1
Summary:
Introduction, no real information given.
Lecture 2: intro to the world of energy pt. 2
Targets (course guide):
Get an overview of the main trends in energy supply and energy use
Get to understand exploitation and utilization of energy sources
Summary:
The biggest rise in energy demand comes from cities in non-developed countries.
Transport is fastest growing form of energy use, especially because of increase in car sales,
size and weight of the cars and the distance travelled.
Primary energy sources: energy sources that need to be converted, you receive it as is
- Fossil: conventional (coal, NG, oil) vs unconventional (shale gas, tar sands, etc)
- Renewables: wind, solar, bio, hydro
- Nuclear
Coal
The most used/abundant source of energy, compressed plant-based material. The longer it’s
compressed, the harder and less moisture it contains, and the higher the energy density.
Peat -> lignite -> bituminous -> anthracite.
There are two types of coal mining:
- Sub surface: with shafts, for coal that lies deeper
- Strip mining: digging out large areas. Large landscape impact
Production has increased by 70% since 1970. 90% of coal is used for electricity, the rest for
chemicals, paper, cement, metals products, methanol etc. Especially Asia/pacific used a lot
Natural gas
Gas winning happens conventional (gas reservoirs) or unconventional (three types)
- Tight gas: occurs in light sandstone, low porosity, low permeability
- Shale gas: gas trapped between layers of shale, low porosity and ultra-low
permeability, gained through triggered fractions
- Coalbed methane: NG in coal, low permeability, gained through natural fractions
,Unconventional gas winning offers potential for domestic gas production for many countries,
which could help reduce dependence on coal (e.g., Poland and China)
Prospect of shale gas are uncertain. Only North-America is producing it now, and there are
concerns of groundwater pollution due to the hydraulic fracturing and its CO2 emissions
caused by production.
Oil
- Primary extraction happens with an oil well that is drilled through an impermeable
rock. There it pumps up oil that is in the pores of a rock.
- Secondary extraction uses seawater and gas to increase the oil pressure to get more
oil out
Heavy oil and oil/tar sands are thick and viscous energy sources, mainly produced in Canada,
Venezuela, and middle east. They need preparation before they can be used industrially
Nuclear
Uses Uranium as fuel, which can produce a lot of energy from a small amount of fuel. It
produces 11% of worldwide energy and it emits no CO2, but leaves nuclear waste, is
expensive, resources are scarce, and safety is an issue.
Hydrogen
Types of hydrogen
- Grey: produced with fossil fuels
- Blue: production with CCS
- Turquoise: produced from natural gas, together with solid carbon
- Green: produced through electrolysis from renewable sources
- Pink: produced from nuclear power
Power to fuel (or PtX) typically has lower efficiencies since every conversion step comes with
its own efficiency.
Lecture 3: Energy security and access
Targets (course guide):
Understand the links between energy supply, energy prices, energy
portfolios and energy security
Understand the challenges for energy reliability arising of portfolios with
large share of renewables
Be able to explain how issues around energy access are key to the
sustainability debate
Understand the challenges imposed by fulfilling energy access needs in
developing countries
,Summary:
Definition: uninterrupted physical availability on the market of energy products at a price
that is affordable for all consumers.
Three perspectives on energy security and safety emerged:
- Robustness: sufficient resources, reliable infrastructure, stable and affordable prices
- Sovereignty: protection from potential threats from external agents
- Resilience: the ability to withstand diverse disruptions
An important actor in the energy security is transport. Oil is the main fuel here and this is
hard to change. Most oil is imported, which increases dependence on other countries. The
sector grows annually with 8% and there are 4.9 billion people affected by the sector.
Europe’s dependency on fuel imports (mainly gas from Russia and oil from Middle East) will
remain high for the next 10-20 years. This can cause two problems:
- Over-dependence: creating potential for commercial/political blackmail
- Political instability/conflicts with these regions can lead to supply disruption
To ensure energy security, the EU proposes to promote energy-saving development,
diversify the supply sources (multiple countries, RES) and develop cooperation with
suppliers, such as Russia
TEN-E: trans-europe networks for energy, a plan to connect Europe on several different
themes, like electricity interconnections, gas lines and CO2 (for storage)
Power grid security
The task of the power sector is to maintain within certain limits of frequency and voltage,
while aiming for profitability. Efficiency, low emissions, reliability, flexibility, and low
maintenance are important factors here.
Several types of electricity load:
- Base load: minimum level of demand over larger period
- Intermediate load: demand that is higher than base, but lower than peak
- Peak load: highest demand for short period
Type of plant Physical characteristics Economic Role within system
characteristics
Nuclear Inflexible, steady load High Cap, low Op Steady base, 75%
cap factor
Gas CCGT Semi-flexible, poor load Low Cap, low Op Steady base, 80%
following response cap factor
Coal Flexible, good load Med Cap, med-high Demand following,
following response running 20-80 cap factor
Pumped hydro Extremely flexible High cap, high Rapid response,
marginal ‘peak shaving’
Hydro + reservoir Flexible High cap, low Base load, demand
running following
, Open GT Flexible Low cap, high ‘peak shaving’, <<5%
running cap factor
Increased reliability on RES means more intermittent energy sources, challenging energy
security.
Energy access
Energy access can be defined in three levels:
1. Electricity for human demands: lighting, health, education, heating cooking
2. Productive use: to improve productivity of agriculture, commercial, transport
3. Modern energy services: private transportation, space cooling and warming
In India and Indonesia, the share of people without access to electricity declined a lot. Sub-
Saharan Afrika still has a large share of people without access
Power connection is not equal to reliable power usage
Access to clean cooking energy: half the world in 2000, not much improvement in 2017
In most developing countries, conventional biomass (e.g. wood) is used for cooking. In most
of these countries, women (and children) are responsible for the cooking, and spend more
than an hour daily to find their cooking fuel. This contributes to the gender inequality.
Also, the biomass causes household air pollution, causing a high level of premature deaths in
developing countries.
Energy poverty: a household is fuel poor if they spend more than 10% of their income on
maintaining a satisfactory heating regime (18-21 C)
Energy access myths
- The poor don’t consider energy a priority: they spend time and effort obtaining
energy, daily
- Access to electricity will solve the poor’s energy needs: heating, cooking etc as well
- The poor cannot pay for energy: they pay more per unit due to inefficiency
- Only rural areas have no access: peri-urban also suffer a lot
- Energy required to satisfy needs of the poor is substantial: only 1% of global demand
Lecture 4: Externalities of energy production, use and
transport
Targets (course guide):
Understand the concept of externalities
Be able to identify key externalities (emissions to water, soil and air) of
different types
of energy production and use and their impacts
Understand the links between energy, health and water uses
Geo4-2514
Max Prevaes
2-11-2021
Lecture 1: intro to the world of energy pt. 1
Summary:
Introduction, no real information given.
Lecture 2: intro to the world of energy pt. 2
Targets (course guide):
Get an overview of the main trends in energy supply and energy use
Get to understand exploitation and utilization of energy sources
Summary:
The biggest rise in energy demand comes from cities in non-developed countries.
Transport is fastest growing form of energy use, especially because of increase in car sales,
size and weight of the cars and the distance travelled.
Primary energy sources: energy sources that need to be converted, you receive it as is
- Fossil: conventional (coal, NG, oil) vs unconventional (shale gas, tar sands, etc)
- Renewables: wind, solar, bio, hydro
- Nuclear
Coal
The most used/abundant source of energy, compressed plant-based material. The longer it’s
compressed, the harder and less moisture it contains, and the higher the energy density.
Peat -> lignite -> bituminous -> anthracite.
There are two types of coal mining:
- Sub surface: with shafts, for coal that lies deeper
- Strip mining: digging out large areas. Large landscape impact
Production has increased by 70% since 1970. 90% of coal is used for electricity, the rest for
chemicals, paper, cement, metals products, methanol etc. Especially Asia/pacific used a lot
Natural gas
Gas winning happens conventional (gas reservoirs) or unconventional (three types)
- Tight gas: occurs in light sandstone, low porosity, low permeability
- Shale gas: gas trapped between layers of shale, low porosity and ultra-low
permeability, gained through triggered fractions
- Coalbed methane: NG in coal, low permeability, gained through natural fractions
,Unconventional gas winning offers potential for domestic gas production for many countries,
which could help reduce dependence on coal (e.g., Poland and China)
Prospect of shale gas are uncertain. Only North-America is producing it now, and there are
concerns of groundwater pollution due to the hydraulic fracturing and its CO2 emissions
caused by production.
Oil
- Primary extraction happens with an oil well that is drilled through an impermeable
rock. There it pumps up oil that is in the pores of a rock.
- Secondary extraction uses seawater and gas to increase the oil pressure to get more
oil out
Heavy oil and oil/tar sands are thick and viscous energy sources, mainly produced in Canada,
Venezuela, and middle east. They need preparation before they can be used industrially
Nuclear
Uses Uranium as fuel, which can produce a lot of energy from a small amount of fuel. It
produces 11% of worldwide energy and it emits no CO2, but leaves nuclear waste, is
expensive, resources are scarce, and safety is an issue.
Hydrogen
Types of hydrogen
- Grey: produced with fossil fuels
- Blue: production with CCS
- Turquoise: produced from natural gas, together with solid carbon
- Green: produced through electrolysis from renewable sources
- Pink: produced from nuclear power
Power to fuel (or PtX) typically has lower efficiencies since every conversion step comes with
its own efficiency.
Lecture 3: Energy security and access
Targets (course guide):
Understand the links between energy supply, energy prices, energy
portfolios and energy security
Understand the challenges for energy reliability arising of portfolios with
large share of renewables
Be able to explain how issues around energy access are key to the
sustainability debate
Understand the challenges imposed by fulfilling energy access needs in
developing countries
,Summary:
Definition: uninterrupted physical availability on the market of energy products at a price
that is affordable for all consumers.
Three perspectives on energy security and safety emerged:
- Robustness: sufficient resources, reliable infrastructure, stable and affordable prices
- Sovereignty: protection from potential threats from external agents
- Resilience: the ability to withstand diverse disruptions
An important actor in the energy security is transport. Oil is the main fuel here and this is
hard to change. Most oil is imported, which increases dependence on other countries. The
sector grows annually with 8% and there are 4.9 billion people affected by the sector.
Europe’s dependency on fuel imports (mainly gas from Russia and oil from Middle East) will
remain high for the next 10-20 years. This can cause two problems:
- Over-dependence: creating potential for commercial/political blackmail
- Political instability/conflicts with these regions can lead to supply disruption
To ensure energy security, the EU proposes to promote energy-saving development,
diversify the supply sources (multiple countries, RES) and develop cooperation with
suppliers, such as Russia
TEN-E: trans-europe networks for energy, a plan to connect Europe on several different
themes, like electricity interconnections, gas lines and CO2 (for storage)
Power grid security
The task of the power sector is to maintain within certain limits of frequency and voltage,
while aiming for profitability. Efficiency, low emissions, reliability, flexibility, and low
maintenance are important factors here.
Several types of electricity load:
- Base load: minimum level of demand over larger period
- Intermediate load: demand that is higher than base, but lower than peak
- Peak load: highest demand for short period
Type of plant Physical characteristics Economic Role within system
characteristics
Nuclear Inflexible, steady load High Cap, low Op Steady base, 75%
cap factor
Gas CCGT Semi-flexible, poor load Low Cap, low Op Steady base, 80%
following response cap factor
Coal Flexible, good load Med Cap, med-high Demand following,
following response running 20-80 cap factor
Pumped hydro Extremely flexible High cap, high Rapid response,
marginal ‘peak shaving’
Hydro + reservoir Flexible High cap, low Base load, demand
running following
, Open GT Flexible Low cap, high ‘peak shaving’, <<5%
running cap factor
Increased reliability on RES means more intermittent energy sources, challenging energy
security.
Energy access
Energy access can be defined in three levels:
1. Electricity for human demands: lighting, health, education, heating cooking
2. Productive use: to improve productivity of agriculture, commercial, transport
3. Modern energy services: private transportation, space cooling and warming
In India and Indonesia, the share of people without access to electricity declined a lot. Sub-
Saharan Afrika still has a large share of people without access
Power connection is not equal to reliable power usage
Access to clean cooking energy: half the world in 2000, not much improvement in 2017
In most developing countries, conventional biomass (e.g. wood) is used for cooking. In most
of these countries, women (and children) are responsible for the cooking, and spend more
than an hour daily to find their cooking fuel. This contributes to the gender inequality.
Also, the biomass causes household air pollution, causing a high level of premature deaths in
developing countries.
Energy poverty: a household is fuel poor if they spend more than 10% of their income on
maintaining a satisfactory heating regime (18-21 C)
Energy access myths
- The poor don’t consider energy a priority: they spend time and effort obtaining
energy, daily
- Access to electricity will solve the poor’s energy needs: heating, cooking etc as well
- The poor cannot pay for energy: they pay more per unit due to inefficiency
- Only rural areas have no access: peri-urban also suffer a lot
- Energy required to satisfy needs of the poor is substantial: only 1% of global demand
Lecture 4: Externalities of energy production, use and
transport
Targets (course guide):
Understand the concept of externalities
Be able to identify key externalities (emissions to water, soil and air) of
different types
of energy production and use and their impacts
Understand the links between energy, health and water uses
