Energy: Electricity Production

Fun facts from the world of energy production: What percent of raw resource energy is lost in electricity production and distribution (on average in the United States)?

• 67% of raw energy is lost in conversion to electricity
• 5% of raw energy is lost in plant usage
• 9% of raw energy is lost in transmission and distribution

(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2744/is_10_2007/ai_n21130463)

For now, lets assume that we can't do anything about the plant usage, transmission and distribution losses. But what about this 67%? SIXTY SEVEN PERCENT LOSS - thats awesome.

Now, any of us who have taken a Thermodynamics course understand that, mostly, this loss is inherent to any steam engine (yes, conventional and nuclear power plants are steam engines). That is, this energy is lost (to the nether land of entropy) in the conversion from thermal energy to mechanical energy. To a lesser extent there is a loss from mechanical to electrical energy as well.

This begs the question: Is a steam engine (and all its loss) a requirement of electricity production?

Obviously the answer is a flat "no." Hydro-electricity is produced without steam. The production of hydro-electricity is , arguably, detrimental to biodiversity. Its not feasible in much of the world, etc, etc, etc. So what other options are there? Are any of these elusive options more efficient than 33% at converting raw energy to electrical energy? That, my friends, is the question.

And wasn't there supposed to be Science discussed in this post? Its coming - we're all trying to be thorough.

Energy: the problem

Energy consumption in the developed world is out of control. Current estimates suggest that the human population is consuming energy at levels that would only be sustainable if we had more than one earth to live on. I don't think I need to tell you that we don't have extra planets just waiting in the wings (well not close by). The esteemed Dr. James Lovelock recently outlined an interesting (and frightening) forecast for the future of our home and species ("The Profit"; RollingStone, October 2007). A lot of people don't like to hear what he has to say. It is the worst case scenario, but sometimes thats just what we need to hear.

Here is the skinny. We consume more energy than what the sun imparts to the earth, and we're pretty inefficient with it. The only reason that this has worked out so far is that there is a lot of energy locked up from the time before we started behaving this way. This is the energy in fossil fuels. Those fossil fuels are starting to run out - or at least get a lot more expensive to extract. They also pollute a lot, but I think we all know that.

The more immediate concerns for ourselves, and our children/grandchildren are the political struggles and pollution surrounding the fossil fuel source of energy. Will the earth get too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet? Will we fight endless wars over energy resources? What if we can work on the efficiency of consumption rather than the amount of consumption?

So what can we do? what options do we have? In the next postings, we'll be looking at some recent publications on research into solutions (see, I told you there was hope).

So stay tuned, and come check back. Leave your thoughts. Leave your comments. Bring your friends.

Energy: topic number one

We're going to do the first few blog postings on the problems and proposed solutions to the world's energy crisis. Yes, this is a depressing subject. What we'd like to show is that there is, actually, a lot to be optimistic about out there. Many of the top researchers in the world are working on clever solutions to our energy "crisis". Maybe because there is a lot of money in it, maybe because they want their grandchildren to live as well as they have - the motives don't really matter. What matters is that there are some good ideas that need to be discussed and maybe even implemented. Thats what we do. So thats what you'll get. Enjoy!

What we do

Here at Simplex Sigillum the goal is to facilitate, intrigue and stimulate your natural curiosity. There is a flood of scientific work flowing from the major labs and universities of the world every day. This body of knowledge has the potential to reform the way we live on this planet; how we relate to each other, and the world itself. The problem is that its written, and presented in a way that is entirely unapproachable.

This is meant to be a place of translation and inspiration for all of us - not only members of the scientific community, but members of our global community. We hope that you like what you read here. We hope that you are inspired and can in turn inspire others!

Thank you