Indicators to compare risk expressions, grouping, and relative ranking of risk for energy systems: Application with some accidental events from fossil fuels

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 591-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Colli ◽  
D. Serbanescu ◽  
B.J.M. Ale
Author(s):  
Hamad Alwashmi ◽  
Jay F. Kunze

In many parts of the world, drinking water is not available except through desalination. Most of these areas have an abundance of solar energy, with few cloudy periods. Energy is required for desalination and for producing electricity. Traditionally this energy has been supplied by fossil fuels. However, even in those parts of the world that have abundant fossil fuels, using them for these purposes is being discouraged for two reasons: 1) the emission of greenhouse gases from combustion of fossil fuels, and 2) the higher value of fossil fuels when used for transportation. Nuclear power and solar power are both proposed as replacements for fossil fuels in these locations. Both of these energy systems have high capital costs, and negligible fuel costs (zero for solar) Instead of these two primary forms of energy competing, this paper shows how they can compliment each other, especially where a significant part of the electricity demand is used for desalination.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Yamamoto ◽  
Kenji Yamaji

The uses of fossil fuels cause not only the resources exhaustion but also the environmental problems such as global warming. The purposes of this study are to evaluate paths to ward sustainable energy systems and roles of each renewable. In order to realize the purposes, the authors developed the global land use and energy model that figured the global energy supply systems in the future considering the cost minimization. Using the model the authors conducted a simulation in C30R scenario, which is a kind of strict CO2 emission limit scenarios and reduced CO2 emissions by 30% compared with Kyoto protocol forever scenario, and obtained the following results. In C30R scenario bio energy will supply 33% of all the primary energy consumption. How ever, wind and photo voltaic will supply 1.8% and 1.4% of all the primary energy consumption, respectively, because of the limits of power grid stability. The results imply that the strict limits of CO2 emissions are not sufficient to achieve the complete renewable energy systems. In order to use wind and photo voltaic as major energy resources we need not only to reduce the plant costs but also to develop unconventional renewable technologies. .


World reserves of fossil fuels are sufficient for many decades of increasing usage. During the next few decades at least, fossil fuels will be much the most important energy source. These fuels should be exploited in a complementary manner. Coal represents much the largest potential reserve, followed probably by hydrocarbons less easily utilized than those commonly being exploited now. Techniques exist for the conversion of coal into coke and carbons, electricity, gas and substitute oil-feed stock. Improvements in these processes are possible but their large-scale introduction depends on economics. Where coal burning can meet a requirement (local heat or steam, or electricity generation) fluidized combustion can be the most efficient process; better integration with mining techniques are possible and environmental considerations are favourable. Fluidized combustion would be a high priority unit in a ‘ Coalplex ’ which could have electricity, gas and oil as possible products. The best mix could depend on the value ascribed to the products and this in turn invokes consideration of the overall economics of energy storage, transport and demand flexibility. Looking farther ahead, coal will certainly remain a vital chemical component for various proposed energy systems and will also probably be able to compete as the energy input into conversion schemes. The technology of coal utilization may also have applications for other fossil fuels.


Author(s):  
Igor Tyukhov ◽  
Hegazy Rezk ◽  
Pandian Vasant

This chapter is devoted to main tendencies of optimization in photovoltaic (PV) engineering showing the main trends in modern energy transition - the changes in the composition (structure) of primary energy supply, the gradual shift from a traditional (mainly based on fossil fuels) energy to a new stage based on renewable energy systems from history to current stage and to future. The concrete examples (case studies) of optimization PV systems in different concepts of using from power electronics (particularly maximum power point tracking optimization) to implementing geographic information system (GIS) are considered. The chapter shows the gradual shifting optimization from specific quite narrow areas to the new stages of optimization of the very complex energy systems (actually smart grids) based on photovoltaics and also other renewable energy sources and GIS.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Milousi ◽  
Manolis Souliotis ◽  
George Arampatzis ◽  
Spiros Papaefthimiou

The paper presents a holistic evaluation of the energy and environmental profile of two renewable energy technologies: Photovoltaics (thin-film and crystalline) and solar thermal collectors (flat plate and vacuum tube). The selected renewable systems exhibit size scalability (i.e., photovoltaics can vary from small to large scale applications) and can easily fit to residential applications (i.e., solar thermal systems). Various technical variations were considered for each of the studied technologies. The environmental implications were assessed through detailed life cycle assessment (LCA), implemented from raw material extraction through manufacture, use, and end of life of the selected energy systems. The methodological order followed comprises two steps: i. LCA and uncertainty analysis (conducted via SimaPro), and ii. techno-economic assessment (conducted via RETScreen). All studied technologies exhibit environmental impacts during their production phase and through their operation they manage to mitigate significant amounts of emitted greenhouse gases due to the avoided use of fossil fuels. The life cycle carbon footprint was calculated for the studied solar systems and was compared to other energy production technologies (either renewables or fossil-fuel based) and the results fall within the range defined by the global literature. The study showed that the implementation of photovoltaics and solar thermal projects in areas with high average insolation (i.e., Crete, Southern Greece) can be financially viable even in the case of low feed-in-tariffs. The results of the combined evaluation provide insight on choosing the most appropriate technologies from multiple perspectives, including financial and environmental.


2019 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuliana de Jesus Acosta-Silva ◽  
Irineo Torres-Pacheco ◽  
Yasuhiro Matsumoto ◽  
Manuel Toledano-Ayala ◽  
Genaro Martín Soto-Zarazúa ◽  
...  

The growing demand for food and the unstable price of fossil fuels has led to the search for environmentally friendly sources of energy. Energy is one of the largest overhead costs in the production of greenhouse crops for favorable climate control. The use of wind–solar renewable energy system for the control of greenhouse environments reduces fuel consumption and so enhances the sustainability of greenhouse production. This review describes the impact of solar–wind renewable energy systems in agricultural greenhouses.


2014 ◽  
Vol 899 ◽  
pp. 199-204
Author(s):  
Lukáš Skalík ◽  
Otília Lulkovičová

The energy demand of buildings represents in the balance of heat use and heat consumption of energy complex in the Slovak national economy second largest savings potential. Their complex energy demands is the sum of total investment input to ensure thermal protection and annual operational demands of particular energy systems during their lifetime in building. The application of energy systems based on thermal solar systems reduces energy consumption and operating costs of building for support heating and domestic hot water as well as savings of non-renewable fossil fuels. Correctly designed solar energy system depends on many characteristics, i. e. appropriate solar collector area and tank volume, collector tilt and orientation as well as quality of used components. The evaluation of thermal solar system components by calculation software shows how can be the original thermal solar system improved by means of performance. The system performance can be improved of more than 31 % than in given system by changing four thermal solar system parameters such as heat loss coefficient and aperture area of used solar collector, storage tank volume and its height and diameter ratio.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Dinica

Ever since the oil crises of the 1970s, governments around the world have grappled with the challenge of increasing the security of energy systems. On the demand side, policy interventions have focused on the energy efficiency of technologies, products and buildings, and on energy conservation through behavioural changes. On the supply side, the deployment of domestic renewable energy sources emerged as a logical option; this was especially encouraged in the contexts where political leaders also agreed to address the environmental impacts of energy production based on fossil fuels (air, water and soil pollution, next to biodiversity and human health impacts). The 1980s and 1990s brought about wider global concerns regarding the sustainability of development, reflected in the adoption by most governments of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Environment and Development and numerous other international agreements. Key among such concerns have been the depletability of natural resources, especially fossil fuels (United Nations, 1987), and the impacts of greenhouse gases on climate change. 


Author(s):  
Ramzi Alahmadi ◽  
◽  
Kamel Almutairi ◽  

With the increasing global concerns about greenhouse gas emissions caused by the extensive use of fossil fuels, many countries are investing in the deployment of clean energy sources. The utilization of abundant solar energy is one of the fastest growing deployed renewable sources due its technological maturity and economic competitivity. In addition to report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), many studies have suggested that the maturity of solar energy systems will continue to develop, which will increase their economic viability. The focus of analysis in this paper is countries with hot desert climates since they are the best candidates for solar energy systems. The capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is used as the case study due to the country’s ambitious goals in this field. The main purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyze the stochastic behavior and probabilistic distribution of solar irradiance in order to accurately estimate the expected power output of solar systems. A solar Photovoltaic (PV) module is used for the analysis due to its practicality and widespread use in utility-scale projects. In addition to the use of a break-even analysis to estimate the economic viability of solar PV systems in hot desert climates, this paper estimates the indifference point at which the economic feasibility of solar PV systems is justified, compared with the fossil-based systems. The numerical results show that the break-even point of installing one KW generation capacity of a solar PV system is estimated to pay off after producing 16,827 KWh, compared to 15,422 KWh for the case of fossil-based systems. However, the increased cost of initial investment in solar PV systems deployment starts to be economically justified after producing 41,437 KWh.


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