Renewable Energy
xnic...@hotmail.com
the next 50 years, then the prospects for Socialism are bleak.
Proponents of the "Olduvai Gorge" theory (1) of industrial
civilisation give us another 5-10 years before we "fall over the
cliff" and the oil runs out. They're exaggerating. Not because
"conventional" oil supplies won't eventually run out (later than they
suggest though), but because they think a viable alternative isn't
possible and industrial civilisation is essentially, doomed!
Marxists say that socialism will be based on advanced industrial
technology and will require production of energy on a huge scale.
It may be desirable for world population levels to stabilise or reduce
in the future through a conscious decision to limit our encroachments
on nature. Population control in itself though, will do nothing to
reduce the inequalities within and between nations. The 1.4 billion
people in the world without electricity won't get it if they become 1
billion, or 0.4 billion.
In order to counter the arguments of the "radical" ecologists and
"Khmer Rouge Socialists", who fatalistically propose a retreat to
pre-industrial conditions, it's necessary to look at the alternatives
to oil.
Nuclear power doesn't represent a long-term solution. This is truly a
Sorcerer's Apprentice technology. Its development was intimately
linked to the nuclear weapons programme and it will bequeath future
generations with environmental problems for millennia to come. We
should oppose the development of any new nuclear power plants and
argue for the phased de-commissioning of existing ones.
Renewable sources of energy offer the best long-term answer to the
world's energy needs. Potential sources of renewable energy are more
than enough to meet the world's energy needs. Utilising renewable
energy isn't primarily a technical problem, but a political one.
Renewable Energy sources (2)
(Figures in Terawatts; 1TW = 1*10^12 watts)
Resource base TW Recoverable resource TW
Solar radiation 90,000 1,000
Wind 300-1200 10
Wave 1-10 0.5-1
Hydro 10-30 1.5-2
Tidal 3 0.1
Biomass 30 10
Geothermal 30 ?
(Current World energy demand is around 12 Terawatts per annum).
There was an initial flurry of activity in the renewables sector after
the first OPEC boycott in the early 70's, especially in countries
without significant oil reserves.
One notable example being the Brazilian "Proaclool" Programme, which
contributes to 60% of the country's automotive fuel requirements using
ethanol fermented from biomass. It's estimated that Brazil saved
almost US$ 9 billion in avoided petrol costs from this programme
between 1976 and 1985.
With the advent of a liberalised energy market in the 1980's, many
renewables programmes in Western Europe and North America lost
impetus, or fell foul of the neo-liberal economic environment. Luz
International, which pioneered a parabolic trough solar generation
system in the Mojave Desert, initially received US State and federal
tax credits to build 9 commercial power plants.
A combination of a fall in oil prices, sudden reductions in tax
credits and lack of confidence by investors, caused Luz to file for
bankruptcy in 1992. The nine plants they built generate over 350 MW of
electrical power for commercial use, but further development of this
technology is on hold.
European governments, lacking large reserves of oil have invested more
in renewables than the US, and were in favour of tougher targets on
greenhouse gases at Kyoto in 1997. The EU negotiating position called
for the industrialised nations to adopt a target of a 15% reduction
over 1990 levels by the year 2010. About half the necessary emission
reductions were to have been delivered by renewables, with the rest
coming from energy efficiencies.
The US government, representing the interests of its oil corporations,
opposed even this mild proposal. The opening up of the Caspian oil
fields means a plentiful supply of cheap oil for the time being. With
the military muscle to guarantee exploitation occurs on the USA's
terms, the Bush government isn't going to embark on anything as
trivial as solving the world's energy problems. This may have been
deferred, but it won't go away for two reasons: -
1) Production of US & North Sea oil has peaked. Increasing dependence
on Middle Eastern supplies, particularly those from Saudi Arabia, the
Gulf states and Iraq is entangling the Western powers in an unholy
mess of political contradictions, of which the war on Iraq is but one
example. Even presuming that the region can be subdued indefinitely,
these supplies will begin to dry up within 25 years. (3)
2) Profligate short-term exploitation of the world's "banked" reserves
of fossilised carbon, combined with the degradation of the world's
forests is creating a dangerous imbalance in the atmospheric carbon
cycle. Although the details can be debated, the overwhelming
consensus of scientific opinion is that global warming is a reality.
Man-made CO2 is the most significant cause of this.
The exploitation of alternative sources of fossil fuels is of course a
possible alternative to current sources. After all, the liberalised
fuel economy was used to destroy the British coal industry, which has
proven reserves for another 400 years of production. There is also a
school of thought, which says that oil is widespread around the world
and new fields could be opened up by deep drilling. (4)
While it may become economic for capitalism to exploit these sources
of fossil fuels in the future, this wouldn't solve the question of
global warming. Coal, natural gas and oil shales and orimulsion can't
be used to meet a shortage of cheap oil, without having further
negative environmental consequences.
Sooner or later, the world will need to move to a situation in which
the majority of its energy comes from renewable sources.
The problem is, that private investors and capitalist governments are
only engaging in token attempts to develop an alternative.
This doesn't imply that oil, natural gas and coal production should be
eliminated. It isn't an "ecological" argument for throwing coal
miners out of work, or closing car factories.
It's an argument for the planned substitution of fossil fuels by
renewable energy sources, while providing alternative employment to
the labour force. In the case of military production, unions have
long promoted a policy of "substitution". The argument is not
dissimilar for energy production. (5)
There also needs to be simultaneous developments in vehicle
technology, aimed at replacing the gasoline-burning internal
combustion engine. The most promising alternative being fuel cells,
using hydrogen or methanol generated from renewable sources. (Without
tackling the question of primary energy production, all initiatives to
use electrical power for transportation are tinkering with the
problem)
Along with investment in public transport and an overall reduction in
personal car use, fuel cells could significantly reduce the effects of
traffic pollution.
All the major car manufacturers have fuel cell prototypes, but there
is no economic incentive for them to put them into mass production and
no fuel supply infrastructure. (6)
Fossil fuel based technologies will not disappear overnight. There
will need to be a move towards more diversified sources of energy.
Rather than having to face a sudden crisis in fuel supplies and severe
industrial dislocation, the lifetime of the fossil-fuel industries
will actually be extended. Oil and coal production are essential to
chemicals, pharmaceuticals and agriculture, but their overall use in
transport and electricity production should progressively diminish.
This kind of transition requires the opposite of a liberalised energy
market, a planned energy policy. It also require economic
co-operation between a number of technologically advanced economies,
not the cut throat competition and lurches into all-out war
characteristic of capitalism.
In contrast, right-wing opponents of planning argue that:
" ...eco-energy planning is predicated on the idea that energy markets
are so riddled with imperfections (largely because the environmental
costs of consumption are not entirely accounted for in the pricing
system) that major interventions are necessary to efficiently manage
society's energy choices.
Market-based energy environmentalism rejects the idea that the energy
economy is rife with "market failures" and questions the idea that
government regulators--no matter how intelligent or well
intentioned--can improve upon the private choices of millions of
economic agents in the free market. Market-based energy
environmentalists maintain that the best way to ensure the efficient
use of both economic and environmental resources is to rely on
undistorted price data and governmental protection of private property
rights. " (7)
In other words: the oil industry's hidden subsidies, tax breaks and
support from government are the result of the "natural workings "of
the market, whereas state intervention to encourage renewable
development interferes with private property rights.
Even if the technology to realise the potential of renewables is yet
to be fully developed, nothing in principle prevents this. Once the
necessary investment in power plant and transmission methods has been
made, the long-term energy-needs of the world's population can be
secured into the foreseeable future.
Natural climatic changes, which have occurred for millennia can't be
stopped, but an economy based on renewable energy can counteract
man-made climate change and secure improved living standards for all.
This will only happen within the framework of a developed socialist
economy.
(1) Richard C. Duncan, Ph.D. Pardee Keynote Symposia Geological
Society of America Summit 2000 Reno, Nevada
http://www.hubbertpeak.com/duncan/olduvai2000.htm
The term "Olduvai Gorge" refers to a valley in Tanzania where
600,000-year-old relics revealed signs of very primitive humans.
Duncan's "Olduvai Theory" suggests that after about year 2030 when
fossil fuels like oil and gas are exhausted by our industrial
civilization, humans may be forced to return to living as primitively
as those early humans did.
(2) ROYAL COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
STUDY ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT "Renewable Energy Sources"
March 1998 by Dr Tim Jackson* and Dr Ragnar Löfstedt
Centre for Environmental Strategy
University of Surrey
(3) "The two most recent sets of estimates of proven reserves are
those presented in World Oil in August 1996 and Oil and Gas Journal in
December 1996. These sources both claim to show proven reserves (based
on unspecified national and independent data). The figures of these
two industry journals are updated annually and are widely accepted
within the industry as reasonable indicators of the reserves situation
as it evolves from year to year. As seen in Table 1 there is a
relatively small difference (of 9.8%) between the two sources for the
global total of reserves with both sets showing proven reserves in
excess of 1000 billion barrels "
" A guide to Oil reserves and resources"]
http://archive.greenpeace.org/~climate/arctic99/reports/oilreserve.html
(4) "the then Senior Petroleum Geologist for the Ministry of Geology
of the USSR, Academician Professor V Porfiryev, viz. "the overwhelming
preponderance of geological evidence compels the conclusion that crude
oil and natural gas have no intrinsic connection with biological
matter originating near the surface of the earth. They are primordial
material which has been erupted from great depth." Under this
alternative theory of the occurrence of hydrocarbons (which remains
largely unaccepted in the 'west'), the supposed limits both of
quantity and of habitat of oil and gas disappear. The world's oil
resources would, in essence, be unlimited in relation to any
conceivable evolution of demand. "
Greenpeace ibid
(5) An excellent example was the plan for alternative production,
developed by the Combine Committee at Lucas Aerospace, under the
leadership of Mike Cooley between 1974-6. This included proposals for
alternative energy sources such as heat pumps, wind generators, solar
and fuel cells. Needless to say, it was rejected by management and
Cooley was eventually victimised. At issue was the question of "who
manages Lucas" and the power of management.
(6) Comparative emission levels of Fuel Cell and Internal combustion
engines
HYDROGEN FUEL CELL
- water (H2O), .25lb of vapor/ mile
- carbon dioxide (CO2), .00lb/ mile
- nitrogen oxides (NOx), .0g/ mile
- no unburned hydrocarbons
GAS POWERED INTERNAL COMBUSTION
-water (H2O), .39lb vapor/ mile
- carbon dioxide (CO2), .85lb/ mile
- nitrogen oxides (NOx), .3-.5g/ mile
- presence of unburned hydrocarbons
http://www.ems.psu.edu/info/explore/FuelCell.html
(7) "Renewable Energy: Not Cheap, Not "Green"
By Robert L. Bradley JR, president of the Institute for Energy
Research in Houston, Texas, and an adjunct scholar of the Cato
Institute.)
xnic...@hotmail.com
Wind power is the the world's fastest growing energy source. It is
renewable and creates very little pollution. By the end of 1998,
more than 10,000 MW of electricity-generating wind turbines were
operating in almost fifty countries around the world. Over the past
six years the average annual growth in sales of wind turbines has been
40%.
" Wind energy is a clean, renewable and sustainable means of
electricity generation. It is one of the most cost-effective energy
options for reducing global warming. Wind energy already avoids over
6,300,000 tons of CO2, 21,000 tons of SO2 and 17,500 tons of NOx
emissions per year in the EU alone. It will avoid over 28,000,000 tons
of CO2, 94,000 tons of SO2 and 78,000 tons of NOx emissions per year
outside the EU by 2005. Wind energy could reduce EU power sector CO2
emissions by over 11% by 2040. Furthermore, wind energy does not
create any dangerous waste products."
The most successful markets for wind energy in recent years have been
in Europe, particularly Denmark, Germany and Spain. There has also
been an upsurge in the use of the technology in the United States, as
well as in many developing countries, including India, China, and
South America.
Wind power is also among the cheapest of the renewable energy sources.
At good wind sites it is already fully competitive with new
traditional fossil fuel and nuclear generation. Its cost continues to
fall as the technology improves.
See: -
http://www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk/reports/wf10exec.html
" The total available wind resource in the world today that is
technically recoverable is 53,000 Terawatt hours per year - about four
times bigger than the world's entire electricity consumption in 1998."
http://www.ewea.org/src/summary.htm
Offshore Wind
Offshore wind power is very attractive in Denmark and the Netherlands
where pressure on land is acute and where offshore winds may be 0.5 to
1 m/s higher than onshore. Denmark will produce nearly 30% of its
electricity from Wind power in the next few years.
The most ambitious Danish development, now nearing completion, is the
"Horns Rev " offshore wind farm, 17 km off the coast of Jutland. It
will have 80 turbines, generating some 160 MW & 600 GW/hrs of
electricity every year. This is by far the largest wind power
development in the world. It will cost 268 million Euros. By
comparison, Britain's pioneering offshore wind plant, Blyth Offshore,
has a capacity of a mere 4 MW.
See: - http://www.hornsrev.dk/ (mostly in Danish)
The Danish electricity companies have announced major plans for
installation of up to 4000 megawatts of wind energy offshore after the
year 2000. This is expected to produce some 13.5 TWh of electricity
per year, equivalent to 40 per cent of Danish electricity consumption.
"The cost of generating electricity from Wind has fallen to levels
where it competes favourably with coal for electricity generation.
The estimated total investment required to install 1 MW of wind power
offshore in Denmark is around 12 million DKK today, (equivalent to
$1.7 million). This includes grid connection etc. Since there is
substantially more wind at sea than on land, however, we arrive at an
average cost of electricity of some 5 cents /kWh over a 20 year
project lifetime and 1 cent /kWh in operation and maintenance costs."
"The Danish power companies are now optimising projects with a view to
a project lifetime of 50 years. This can be seen from the fact that
they plan to require 50 year design lifetime for both foundations,
towers, nacelle shells, and main shafts in the turbines. If we
assume that the turbines have a lifetime of 50 years, and add an
overhaul (refurbishment) after 25 years, costing some 25 per cent of
the initial investment (this figure is purely a numerical example), we
get a cost of electricity of 0.283 DKK/kWh, which is similar to
average onshore locations in Denmark."
"20,000 Danes were employed in the Danish wind industry in 2001,
14,500 of these worked for Danish component suppliers. This is
significantly more than total employment in the Danish electricity
sector including distribution, transmission, and production. Average
direct employment in the Danish wind turbine factories was 5,500 in
2001. The direct employment figure grew by approx. 1,200 people in
2001 - equal to a 30% increase."
See: - Danish Wind Industry Association:
http://www.windpower.org/core.htm
Britain would be a particularly suitable country in which to develop
offshore wind power. It has an enormous contiguous coastline, a
large number of under-populated islands, particularly in North West
Scotland, and large areas of shallow coastal waters. In such areas
offshore wind farms would be unobtrusive, harmless to wildlife and
cost effective. 18 offshore sites have already been identified and
gained the necessary consents for capital grants. £20 million has
been given to National Windpower to develop North Hoyle, a 90 MW wind
farm off the North Wales coast. Meanwhile Powergen are developing an
80 MW wind farm off the coast of Norfolk. These two developments
alone will produce enough electricity for 100,000 homes.
See: -
http://www.offshorewindfarms.co.uk/reports/overview.html
This technology is not futuristic or unproven, it is already widely
used and becoming economically competitive.
" Cost trends show the latest megawatt machines as competitive. It is
now pressing to assess the limits of up-scaling and the need for new
concepts for large offshore units. Major offshore developments are
certain in the early part of the next century. This will be the next
major step for the technology and will result in a dramatic increase
in potential, particularly in the northern European waters."
European Wind Energy Association
http://www.ewea.org/src/summary.htm
Wind Power will provide 25% of Germany's energy by 2010. It could
create more than 250,000 jobs across Europe by 2020. Britain, Holland
and Norway the big three European producers of offshore oil and gas
all have extensive experience and facilities in manufacturing offshore
rigs for the oil industry. It would make a great deal of sense to
convert these for offshore wind power in the next 15 years.
It's estimated that potential sites exist in 6% of the USA's
contiguous land area, enough for 4.4 billion MW hrs or 130% of the
USA's energy needs. Meanwhile, the US congress is stalling the passage
of an Energy Bill to extend credits for wind power development to
2006.
See:- Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.nirs.org/nuclearrelapse/ThePotentialforRenewableEnergy.htm
Solar Energy
The USA and Australia have vast deserts where parabolic solar trough
generators could be developed. This technology is already in existence
and producing electricity on a megawatt scale. (See previous article)
It's estimated that 100 square miles in Nevada could produce enough
electricity for the whole USA.
A 5MW solar thermal power plant at Stanwell Power Station in
Queensland Australia will use a compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
(CLFR) technology, which has been recently developed at the University
of Sydney in association with Solsearch Pty Ltd. This new type of
solar array can be used to produce steam for generators which use
conventional steam turbines.
"Stanwell's technology has the potential to provide electric power for
numerous townships and communities in Western Queensland which
currently rely on diesel power generation. In these remote areas,
solar thermal power generation would displace fossil fuels with
renewable solar energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute
to the two percent renewable energy target set by the Federal
Government. For towns connected to Queensland's power grid, solar
power generation could ensure stability of supply during peak demand
periods on hot sunny days, when large amounts of power are used for
refrigeration and air conditioning.
To date, Stanwell researchers have achieved efficiencies of about 30
percent in converting solar heat into high-pressure steam. Current
efforts aim to improve the efficiency through modifications to the
collector design and by reducing heat losses at night. Another
critical factor determining the viability of future projects is the
construction cost for multiple solar collector units. "
See: -
http://www.env.qld.gov.au/sustainable_energy/qseif/qseif_fact_Stanwel....
While large scale solar power generation is an expensive option
compared to fossil fuel plants, there are many countries in which
whole communities are not connected to the national electrical grid.
The use of photo-voltaic cells can provide a solution for lighting,
radio and TV.
"As part of its national health care program, Cuba provides a medical
clinic with live-in doctor and nurse for every remote Cuban village.
Together they play an important role in education and preventative
medicine in the community and have helped give Cuba some of the best
health statistics in the Caribbean and Latin America - including a
doctor-to-patient ratio twice that of the U.S. and an infant mortality
rate far lower than many U.S. cities.
Of these clinics, 700 are in off-grid communities throughout Cuba,
including 300 clinics with no electricity at all. Top priority is
being given to providing such clinics with electricity. Over fifty had
been electrified with photovoltaics by mid-1996, and the Cubans
planned to double that number over the next year.
The basic clinic system uses four 40-watt PV panels and a 250 amp-hour
battery to provide power for medical equipment, fourteen 20-watt
fluorescent lights, a radio, and a television. The Cubans are now
installing some systems with double the capacity in order to replace
the kerosene-powered vaccine refrigerator with a 12-volt D.C.
refrigerator.
With help from the Indian government, Cuba has completely powered the
small town of La Magdalena (population 574) with photovoltaic modules.
Each house has its own 70-watt PV system, powering compact fluorescent
D.C. lights, a radio, and a television. PV-powered street lights,
with two compact 11-watt fluorescent bulbs in each, line the main
street of the village. A 3-kW PV-powered water pumping system provides
30,000 gallons of well water per day for the entire community. The
community center has an inverter to run A.C. appliances, and the
doctor's office has a larger eight-panel system with a PV-powered
vaccine refrigerator."
See: - "RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN CUBA:
SUSTAINABILITY RESPONDS TO ECONOMIC CRISIS" April, 1997
http://tlent.home.igc.org/renewable%20energy%20in%20cuba.html
BioMass
In cool Northern temperate climates, such as Britain's, the production
of ethanol from sugar beet, or bio-diesel from oil seed rape is not
regarded as economically viable. However there is some interest in
the use of lignocellulose crops for energy production. Coppicing of
woodland, is a very old practice in the UK and involves cutting down
the stumps of suitable trees, allowing them to regenerate within a few
seasons. Fast-growing Willow coppice has been suggested as one source
of biomass for energy production.
Energy crop production, either for ethanol fuel or to use in
electricity production is particularly suitable for tropical countries
which lack large reserves of fossil fuels, for example Brazil (See
post 1 on Proalcool programme for ethanol production from sugar cane
production) This technology is of particular interest in Cuba, which
has large quantities of left-over biomass from the production of its
sugar crop. The argument that bio-mass production reduces
biodiversity is mitigated by the fact that sugar production is occurs
under mono-culture conditions in many of these countries.
"...sugar mills are a key part of the Cuban plan to compensate for the
oil shortage and become energy self-sufficient. For decades, Cuba's
156 sugar mills have burned the waste cane stalks, known as bagasse,
to fuel boilers and, through cogeneration, provide electricity for the
mill operations. But the cogeneration systems and the sugar cane
processing equipment were designed to be inefficient energy suppliers
and users in order to avoid a surplus of bagasse that would have to be
discarded.
Today the sugar mills generate an average of 20 kWh of electricity per
ton of sugar cane in their older, less efficient steam turbines that
operate at a pressure of 18 atmospheres. The conversion rate in the
newer mills, built in the 1980s, is about 40 KWH per ton of cane,
enough to make them net contributors to the national grid. The
typical conversion rate in industrialized countries is 60 to 80 kWh.
In Hawaii, with the use of more efficient electricity cogeneration
technology that is manufactured in many countries today, net exports
of electricity to the grid already reach 100 kWh/ton, while advanced
biomass-fueled cogeneration systems undergoing commercial trials
worldwide might produce as much as 500 or 600 kWh per ton of cane. By
storing bagasse for year-round processing and utilizing existing
commercial technology to reach Hawaii's current level of mill
electricity exports, Cuba could cost-effectively supply most of its
electricity from sugar mill cogeneration.
The sugar ministry would like to move Cuba toward self-sufficiency by
installing another 100 MW of cogeneration equipment in sugar mills by
the year 2000. A total of 400 MW of cogeneration potentially could be
added to the grid over the next 15 years, if investments of up to $1
billion can be secured. The increased output would be achieved
primarily by improving the efficiency of the sugar industry so more
electricity can be sent to the grid, improving the efficiency of
cogeneration, and installing more capacity where the bagasse supply is
not fully utilized. The result would be a 10% addition to Cuba's
installed electrical generation capacity, of which over 98% is from
thermal plants."
ibid.
In August 2002 it was announced that "Cuba's Sugar Ministry has held
negotiations with companies from a number of countries, including
Spain and Brazil, about possible ventures in power generation and the
manufacture of other sugar industry by-products.
Two Spanish companies, sugar company Azucarera Ebro Agricolas and
energy firm Union Fenosa, announced last year they would join forces
to undertake power projects in Cuba"
See: http://www.sustdev.org/industry.news/112000/08.02.shtml
Tidal Power
The La Rance project is Northern France is a well known tidal power
project which has operated since the late 60's. Britain's large tidal
river estuaries also have an enormous potential for renewable power
generation.
The river Severn, which flows out into the Bristol channel between
South Wales and Somerset, has one of the highest tidal ranges of any
river in the world. At the mouth of the estuary the difference
between low and high tides is some 4 metres. As the water is funnelled
up the estuary, the tidal range increases to over 11 metres in the
vicinity of the Severn Bridge. Tapping the power of this tidal range
has always been an attractive proposition for engineers. There have
been proposals to build a barrage across the Severn since the 1840's.
These have involved detailed blueprints and parliamentary commissions.
In 1978 the Severn Barrage Committee was set up to advise the
Government on "whether to proceed with a scheme for harnessing the
tidal energy of the Severn Estuary". The Committee spent two and a
half years examining the potential for a barrage, concluding that it
would be technically feasible. The barrage would consist of large
prefabricated concrete units (caissons) to house the turbines and
sluices, together with embankments and ship locks.
Following the initial study, an enormous amount of work was undertaken
by the Central Electicity Generating Board and private contractors.
It was published in the 'Severn Barrage Project Report'.
The commercial viability of the project was the subject of intense
debate and depends on the comparative costs of nuclear power, gas,
coal, oil. The cost of building a barrage would be very high but
once built, it would be cheaper to run than other types of power
station because the "fuel", is free.
Because a barrage can only generate electricity twice a day (during
the ebb tides), this may not coincide with peaks in demand. Therefore
the barrage would have to operate in conjunction with other types of
power generation. (see section on Pumped Storage resevoirs)
The environmental impact of the scheme was also given detailed
consideration. The range of the tides inside the barrage would be
reduced. This would affect the mud flats and the silt in the river,
which would cause changes in the wildlife currently living in and
around the estuary and the patterns of migrating birds. This may also
change the quality of the water retained by the barrage. The height of
the famous Severn Bore would be reduced.
With 200 large turbines, a Severn Barrage could produce over 8,000 MW
of power (more than 12 nuclear power stations). Other benefits would
include protecting large stretches of coastline against damage from
high storm tides It's estimated that 7% of Britain's electricity
needs could be met from a Severn Barrage. Similarly projects have also
been proposed for the Mersey, Dee and Solway Firth.
See: - "The Big Dam - A New Perspective on the Severn Barrage" -
Michael Stern and Dr. Janet Rowe.
Thus far, no British government has been prepared to put in the
investment needed to begin the scheme. Private industry doesn't see
it as profitable without getting large government hand-outs.
Yet, since the 1970's, two massive suspension bridges have been built
across the Severn to cater for the traffic between England and South
Wales. A Severn Barrage could have included a road and rail link,
running across it.
Furthermore, there is little reticence on the part of government when
it comes to financing the expansion of airports in the South East of
England, despite the objections of those living in the vicinity of the
proposed projects.
In the mouth of the Severn Estuary on the Somerset coast, the ageing
Nucler power plant at Hinckley Point has been the subject of repeated
safety scares and is now to be de-commissioned.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is viable in only certain countries and regions, for
example Iceland, New Zealand & Hawaii, where volcanism can produce a
plentiful supply of boiling water near the surface.
It's not always dependable, is technically difficult to implement and
may not be entirely renewable .
For example, the "Geysers Power Plant ", built in the 1950s on a steam
field in Northern California, was established on the apparent
assumption that geothermal resources were unlimited at that location.
"However, by the late 1980s, steam decline became noticeable and
sustained. Depletion occurred because steam was being extracted faster
than it could be naturally replaced. According to a report by Pacific
Gas and Electric, "because of declining geothermal steam supplies, the
Company's geothermal units at The Geysers Power Plant are forecast to
operate at reduced capacities."
In response, "plant operators and steam suppliers continually seek new
operating strategies to maximize future power generation—coupled with
daily injection of millions of gallons of reclaimed municipal
wastewater." Even though improvements in efficiency and conservation
are being implemented and in 1996 The Geysers was still producing
enough electricity to supply the power demand of a city like San
Francisco, it is projected that the steam field will be defunct in 50
years or so To prevent this sort of thing from happening elsewhere,
geothermal facilities can use a closed-loop system at all times, or
the re-injection of water back into the system for constant steam
generation, as PG&E is now implementing at The Geysers. "
http://www.altenergy.org/2/renewables/geothermal/geothermal.html
However in some areas, Geothermal power has become a practical means
of energy production:
Iceland's population is tiny, but its land area is bigger than
Ireland's. The country has plans to become a net exporter of energy
from geothermal power stations and wind farms. Because it's so far
from the European mainland, it makes sense to use the electricity
produced from geothermal energy to generate hydrogen, liquefy it and
then ship it to mainland Europe to feed an evolving hydrogen grid.
Bragi Arnason, a chemistry professor at the University of Iceland has
had plans to utilise hydrogen energy for 30 years. "When he first
proposed this hydrogen economy decades ago, many thought he was crazy.
But today, ``Professor Hydrogen,'' as he has been nicknamed, is
something of a national hero. "
``I think we could be a pilot country, giving a vision of the world to
come,''
"Iceland sees the future — in hydrogen " December 26, 2000 By Seth
Dunn
http://www.enn.com
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
In March 2001, 'Icelandic New Energy' presented a six-phase plan for
the introduction of a hydrogen economy in Iceland. Exactly how and
when each phase will take place is now under discussion. The phases
include: -
1. A demonstration and evaluation project of operating hydrogen
infrastructure and fuel cell buses in Reykjavik. The key elements of
the project are to integrate an on-site infrastructure in the city of
Reykjavík (2001), to operate three hydrogen fuel-cell buses in
Reykjavík (2002-2004) and to carry out socio-economic studies parallel
with the project (2001-2005).
2. Gradual replacement of the Reykjavik city bus fleet, and possibly
other bus fleets, with buses powered by fuel cells.
3. Introduction of "hydrogen based" fuel-cell private cars.
4. Fuel-cell vessel demonstration and evaluation project
5. Gradual replacement of fossil fuels in the fishing fleet by
fuel-cell powered vessels.
6. Export of hydrogen from Iceland to Europe.
Icelandic New Energy is preparing for Phase 4, powering vessels with
hydrogen, and investigating the possibility of exporting hydrogen to
the European mainland.
See: -
http://www.newenergy.is/subjects/46/original/video_cover/subj46-0002.pdf
The Peak Power problem
It's often suggested that renewable energy sources can never replace
oil, gas or coal for generating grid electricity because they can't
deal with sudden surges in the demand for power.
In fact oil, coal and nuclear power stations respond to power surges
particularly inefficiently.
Fossil fuel power stations take half an hour to reach full power.
Nuclear power stations take much longer.
But methods exist to supply peak demand which could be entirely
powered from renewable energy sources: Pumped storage reservoirs
store gravitational potential energy, so that it can be released very
quickly when the demand for electrical power suddenly rises. They are
able to respond to power surges in a matter of seconds.
Dinorwig in North Wales, built between 1976 and 1982 has the fastest
response time of any pumped power resevoir in the world. It can can
generate 1320 MW in 12 seconds. Water is pumped up to the top
reservoir at night, when demand for electricity is low. When there's
a sudden demand from the national grid, huge taps are opened and the
water falls 2000 feet down steel-lined tunnels. The highly
pressurised water drives reversible pump-turbines, which generate
electricity. This water collects in the bottom reservoir, ready to be
pumped back up later that night. Collecting naturally occuring
rainwater in the upper resevoir (plentiful in Wales!) reduces the need
to pump against gravity. Dinorwig has a very low profile in the
landscape, as the upper reservoir is recessed in the mountain-top.
The pumped storage systems at Dinorwig and Ffestiniog in Wales, along
with Cruachan and Foyers in Scotland can add an extra 4% to the UK's
electrical supply during peak periods.
Hydroelectric power and pumped storage systems are particularly
important to China's energy program.
China plans to increase its electric power capacity by between 8% and
9% per year to meet growing demand from both industry and private
consumers. More than 17% of China's total electricity production is
supplied by hydropower, but only about 15% of the country's
technically feasible hydropower potential has been developed to date.
Twenty-four hydropower-generating units with a combined capacity of
5,300MW went on-stream in China in 1999. This has increased the
installed hydropower capacity by 8.3% to almost 70,000MW at the start
of 2000.
At present, China has some 2,400MW of pumped-storage hydro plants in
operation. Another 3,000 MW is under construction, at Tianhuangping
(1,800 MW) and Guangzhou II (1,200MW), and about 10,000MW more is
planned. Tianhuangping is the largest pumped storage scheme in Asia,
and the third largest in the world.
" Hydro is the only renewable technology that can be used to store
large quantities of energy in a clean environmentally friendly way.
This is done by reservoir storage and pumped storage schemes.
Only hydro can produce over 200 times more energy from an installation
than the energy needed to build and run the installation. This is ten
times more than oil fired power stations - and with minimal
atmospheric pollution.
Hydro installations can have a useful life of over 100 years - many
such plants are in existence worldwide."
http://www.british-hydro.org/basics.html
Electrical Blackouts
In 2001, Electricity Blackouts hit the state of California. This had
nothing to do with a world shortage of oil, or with the use of
renewable energy, but everything to do with de-regulation and the
liberalisation of the energy markets.
This was recognised by the California Public Utilities Commissioner,
Carl Wood in June 2001.
Speaking at a press conference hosted by the European Federation of
Public Service Trade Unions (EPSU), he stated that; "With the energy
crisis in California, we are currently witnessing the fallout from a
headlong rush to deregulation. The lesson for Europe is - proceed with
caution".
The Deputy General Secretary of the EPSU, Jan Willem Goudriaan added:
-
" the drive for low prices undermines security and public safety by
slashing investment in skilled workers, maintenance, and capacity. The
Commission should learn from the lessons of California but also Sweden
and South Australia and Victoria and not rush ahead with
liberalisation...."
Economic competion post de-regulation has resulted in "a tight market,
with negligible excess capacity. This has lead to price gouging, which
has left the utilities almost bankrupt, curtailed business activity,
caused job losses and left domestic consumers with severely increased
payments. "
Recovery from the energy crisis will take California at least two
years. Some estimates state that recuperation of the costs of
deregulation could take 20 years.
(The European Federation of Public Service Unions is the largest
Federation of the ETUC and represents 10 million workers providing
services to the public in health and social care, local, regional and
central government, and utilities in energy, water and waste)
http://www.epsu.org
The Bush Administration's Energy Policy
" Drilling and Nukes get big boost from Congress
(Washington, DC) – The Sustainable Energy Coalition (SEC) today
expressed its tremendous disappointment with the energy bill passed by
the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill sets back national energy
policy by giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to oil,
natural gas, mining and nuclear power industries despite concerns from
business and environmental leaders and technical experts that such
actions are substandard public policy.
The following are a few examples of why the bill is a dirty energy
plan:
Three-fourths of the $33.5 billion energy tax credits
approved by the House go to the fossil and nuclear industries. The
Wall Street Journal reported July 30th that the big oil companies are
struggling to spend their cash as they reap their largest profits
ever. Royal Dutch/Shell Group, for example, is earning $1.5 million in
profit an hour and has $11 billion in the bank
The House defeated an amendment that would have required
significant increases in fuel economy standards for cars and light
trucks. Instead, the bill includes a token 1-mile per gallon increase
in standards for SUVs only.
The bill would open up the pristine Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to drill for what will yield only a six-month supply of oil
over several decades.
"It is astonishing that in the 21st century we are still relying in
many ways on century-old technologies to serve our energy needs," said
Susanna Drayne, National Coordinator of the Sustainable Energy
Coalition. "The bill's emphasis on fossil fuels is shortsighted,
detrimental to public health and the environment, and is corporate
welfare of the worst order. Why spend billions of dollars on the
highly profitable dirtiest polluters with the most mature markets? The
backers of this plan clearly define nuclear power as an innovative
technology rather than the health and safety threat it is." In short,
the bill fails to develop a national energy policy that addresses
climate change, environmental protection, national security, or
economic development.
The plan passed by the House calls for insufficient investment in
renewable energy technologies such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower,
solar, and wind, and inadequate commitment to energy efficiency
technologies. This is not a balanced energy policy – it tips a highly
unbalanced playing field even further.
The Bush Administration's focus on building new power plants and
drilling for more oil will not solve the nation's energy problems
alone. "Both building and drilling take years until they yield an
energy supply, and even then, much of the work is purely speculative."
Drayne noted. "Both also contribute significantly to the degradation
of the environment. Given the nation's current immediate energy needs
and worsening global warming, now is not the time to de-emphasize
energy efficiency and renewable energy programs." While the rest of
the world has agreed that global warming emissions must be reduced,
the House bill would result in increased emissions. "
Sustainable Energy Coalition Press release
August 2, 2001
http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/996774110_982708676.html
tgde...@earthlink.net
xnic...@hotmail.com wrote:
> If the world's oil runs out and can't be replaced by an alternative in
> the next 50 years, then the prospects for Socialism are bleak.
>
> Proponents of the "Olduvai Gorge" theory (1) of industrial
> civilisation give us another 5-10 years before we "fall over the
> cliff" and the oil runs out. They're exaggerating. Not because
> "conventional" oil supplies won't eventually run out (later than they
> suggest though), but because they think a viable alternative isn't
> possible and industrial civilisation is essentially, doomed!
>
> Marxists say that socialism will be based on advanced industrial
> technology and will require production of energy on a huge scale.
>
> It may be desirable for world population levels to stabilise or reduce
> in the future through a conscious decision to limit our encroachments
> on nature. Population control in itself though, will do nothing to
> reduce the inequalities within and between nations. The 1.4 billion
> people in the world without electricity won't get it if they become 1
> billion, or 0.4 billion.
>
Completely wrong. Have you actually thought about this or are you just
repeating right-wing orthodoxy?
The US has a population of about 300 million. Let's think about that
first and then scale it up to include all "first-world" people. If a
plague came and wiped out 19 out of every 20 people, the world
population would be 300 million. Assume that you need at least that
many people to maintain a modern technological lifestyle. Wouldn't the
US be happy to have all the people now without electricity emigrate
here? After all, we apparently need "guest workers" to prevent our
economy from collapsing at that number.
As soon as you change the direction of the population curve, people's
lives will improve greatly. Your reduction from 1.4 to .4 works out to
1.7 billion worldwide, which is close to the number living first/upper
second world lifestyles.
There's a flap at the top of your box; lift it and look outside.
-tg