An examination of the economics and practicality of grid scale solar power Download this article as a PDF By Barrie Lawson, UK Forward by Tom Tamarkin Key Concepts By 2060 88% of current on-line utility scale generation capacity will be retired due to plant age and life cycle considerations Solar Photovoltaics require 3 to 4 years of their energy output ... Read More »
Science Daily May 8, 2009 Summary: Estimates of how much crude oil we have extracted from the planet vary wildly. Now, researchers have published a new estimate in the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology that suggests we may have used more than we think. New calculations suggest that experts have grossly underestimated how much oil the world ... Read More »
By Andy May “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” (old Danish proverb, sometimes attributed to Niels Bohr) In November, 2016 the USGS (United States Geological Survey) reported their assessment of the recent discovery of 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent (technically recoverable) in the Midland Basin of West Texas. About the same time IHS researcher Peter Blomquist published ... Read More »
By Tom Murphy, Ph.D. USCD Department of Physics, Oct. 18, 2011 Many Do the Math posts have touched on the inevitable cessation of growth and on the challenge we will face in developing a replacement energy infrastructure once our fossil fuel inheritance is spent. The focus has been on long-term physical constraints, and not on the messy details of our ... Read More »
wikipedia Fast fission is fission that occurs when a heavy atom absorbs a high-energy neutron, called a fast neutron, and splits. Most fissionable materials need thermal neutrons, which move slower. Fast reactors vs. thermal reactors Fast neutron reactors use fast fission to produce energy, unlike most nuclear reactors. In a conventional reactor, a moderator is needed to slow down the ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK Nuclear Energy – The Practice Nuclear energy is the usable energy extracted from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions and nuclear power plants have been used for commercial electricity generation for over half a century. In 2005, 16% of the world’s electricity was generated by nuclear power (Source – Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)) and as of ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK Nuclear Reactions In the chemical reactions associated with combustion, the atoms in the molecules of the active materials rearrange themselves into new, more stable, molecules in which they are more tightly bound and in the process, releasing surplus energy in the form of heat. In nuclear reactions it is the sub-atomic particles in the atomic nucleus, ... Read More »
Adapted from Electropaedia by Otto Robert Frisch (1904-1979) Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy – Cambridge University (In Commemoration of the 70th birthday of Niels Bohr, October 7th 1955) The following article is reprinted from the Yearbook of the Royal Institute for the Utilisation of Energy Resources for the Year MMMMCMLV, p1001 In view of the acute crisis caused by the ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK Primary Electrical Energy Sources Energy is available from many sources however most of the energy used to satisfy the world’s ever increasing demand for electricity is still derived from fossil fuels. The dependency on fossil fuels brings with it two problems. Finite supplies of fossil fuels will eventually run out. Burning fossil fuels gives rise to ... Read More »
By: Tom Tamarkin Founder Fusion4Freedom & President USCL Corp Where does energy on our planet come from? There are three primary sources of material amounts of energy on Earth. The word material means an amount of energy greater than 2 % of total worldwide energy demand combining all sectors of transportation, industrial, commercial residential, agricultural, potable water production and its ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK The earth receives more energy from the Sun in just one hour than the world’s population uses in a whole year. The total solar energy flux intercepted by the earth on any particular day is 4.2 X 1018 Watt-hours or 1.5 X 1022 Joules (or 6.26 X 1020 Joules per hour). This is equivalent to burning ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK The electricity grid was built in days when electricity could not be economically stored in large quantities and it had to be produced the instant it was needed and consumed just as quickly as it was produced. Energy Storage Versatility Energy storage is a vital tool for accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of matching the grid ... Read More »
By Barrie Lawson, UK Adapted with the permission of the author from Electropaedia.com The wind is a source of free energy which has been used since ancient times in windmills for pumping water or grinding flour. The technology of high power, geared transmissions was developed centuries ago by windmill designers and the fantail wheel for keeping the main sales pointing ... Read More »
Tad W. Patzek Department Chair & Professor Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering #11, The Lois K. and Richard D. Folger Leadership Chair in Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Email: patzek@mail.utexas.edu Phone: (512) 232-8368 This Web Version is being periodically updated New: Appendix D on fuel cells, consistent use of fuel HHVs, corrected theoretical yield of ethanol from starch, equivalent CO2 emissions ... Read More »
[php function=7]April 9, 2010 Summary The purpose of this study is to provide a first-pass approximation of world energy needs in 2050, and the ability of alternative energy to meet those needs. We make this approximation according to a specified methodology: We calculate the primary energy consumption per capita of the United States for 2008, and then use that per-capita ... Read More »
Reprinted by permission from “The High Cost of Free Power,” Laurence Hecht, et al. Every time someone mentions wind or solar power as the answer to our energy needs (for baseline or power grid generation,) the image that should form in your mind is that of 1 billion or more dying and starving children. If you do not yet understand ... Read More »
Bradley E. Layton, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Energy Technology Program Director, Drexel University Abstract Typically, the energy densities of solids or liquids such as coal and oil are measured in dimensions of energy per unit volume or energy per unit mass, whereas solar, wind, and hydroelectric sources are rated in dimensions of power per unit area. This article provides a unifying ... Read More »
David J. Pristash January 2012 Revised February 2013 Republished with permission ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to place into useful perspective the development of sustainable energy at the global scale. Global scale energy requires the ability to generate power of 3,500 Quads or 3.7 X 1021 Joules, economically; as this is the amount of energy the world will ... Read More »
Download the full free E-book here. A ten-page synopsis We have an addiction to fossil fuels, and it’s not sustainable. The developed world gets 80% of its energy from fossil fuels; Britain, 90%. And this is unsustainable for three reasons. First, easily-accessible fossil fuels will at some point run out, so we’ll eventually have to get our energy from someplace ... Read More »