scholarly journals Could energy-intensive industries be powered by carbon-free electricity?

2013 ◽  
Vol 371 (1986) ◽  
pp. 20110560 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. C. MacKay
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Material Efficiency ◽  
Industrial Energy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Energy Intensive Industries

While the main thrust of the Discussion Meeting Issue on ‘Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production’ was to explore ways in which society's net demand for materials could be reduced, this review examines the possibility of converting industrial energy demand to electricity, and switching to clean electricity sources. This review quantifies the scale of infrastructure required in the UK, focusing on wind and nuclear power as the clean electricity sources, and sets these requirements in the context of the decarbonization of the whole energy system using wind, biomass, solar power in deserts and nuclear options. The transition of industry to a clean low-carbon electricity supply, although technically possible with several different technologies, would have very significant infrastructure requirements.

UK low-carbon policy to favour nuclear over renewables

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Carbon Policy ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
The Government ◽  
Local Opposition ◽  
The Uk

Significance The announcement during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent UK visit that China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will invest in the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant confirmed the UK government's commitment to nuclear. It looks likely to secure the technology's UK future. However, with nuclear accounting for less than 20% of UK electricity supply and under 10% of total energy demand, questions remain about meeting the rest of the country's energy needs, including through renewables. Impacts UK energy demand has stagnated recently, seeming to 'decouple' from economic trends: any energy-use rise looks set to lag overall growth. Despite a less supportive policy environment, renewables' share in the energy mix could keep rising if the cost-decline trend continues. However, the government could follow other countries in imposing further charges on existing renewables suppliers to contain growth. Local opposition to shale projects could become politically awkward for the government in some areas.

Primary Energy System Chain Security Under the Energy Transition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamah Alsayegh
Keyword(s):  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
System Security ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

Abstract This paper examines the energy transition consequences on the oil and gas energy system chain as it propagates from net importing through the transit to the net exporting countries (or regions). The fundamental energy system security concerns of importing, transit, and exporting regions are analyzed under the low carbon energy transition dynamics. The analysis is evidence-based on diversification of energy sources, energy supply and demand evolution, and energy demand management development. The analysis results imply that the energy system is going through technological and logistical reallocation of primary energy. The manifestation of such reallocation includes an increase in electrification, the rise of energy carrier options, and clean technologies. Under healthy and normal global economic growth, the reallocation mentioned above would have a mild effect on curbing the oil and gas primary energy demands growth. A case study concerning electric vehicles, which is part of the energy transition aspect, is presented to assess its impact on the energy system, precisely on the fossil fuel demand. Results show that electric vehicles are indirectly fueled, mainly from fossil-fired power stations through electric grids. Moreover, oil byproducts use in the electric vehicle industry confirms the reallocation of the energy system components' roles. The paper's contribution to the literature is the portrayal of the energy system security state under the low carbon energy transition. The significance of this representation is to shed light on the concerns of the net exporting, transit, and net importing regions under such evolution. Subsequently, it facilitates the development of measures toward mitigating world tensions and conflicts, enhancing the global socio-economic wellbeing, and preventing corruption.

How might controlled fusion fit into the emerging low-carbon energy system of the mid-twenty-first century?

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200009
Author(s):  
G. R. Tynan ◽  
A. Abdulla
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
First Century ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Controlled Fusion ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

We examine the characteristics that fusion-based generation technologies will need to have if they are to compete in the emerging low-carbon energy system of the mid-twenty-first century. It is likely that the majority of future electric energy demand will be provided by the lowest marginal cost energy technology—which in many regions will be stochastically varying renewable solar and wind electric generation coupled to systems that provide up to a few days of energy storage. Firm low-carbon or zero-carbon resources based on gas-fired turbines with carbon capture, advanced fission reactors, hydroelectric and perhaps engineered geothermal systems will then be used to provide the balance of load in a highly dynamic system operating in competitive markets governed by merit-order pricing mechanisms that select the lowest-cost supplies to meet demand. These firm sources will have overnight capital costs in the range of a few $/Watt, be capable of cycling down to a fraction of their maximum power output, operate profitably at low utilization fraction, and have a suitable unit size of order 100 MW e . If controlled fusion using either magnetic confinement or inertial confinement approaches is to have any chance of providing a material contribution to future electrical energy needs, it must demonstrate these key qualities and at the same time prove robust safety characteristics that avoid the perceived dread risk that plagues nuclear fission power, avoid the generation of long-lived radioactive waste and demonstrate highly reliable operations. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

UK support for Hinkley Point is likely to continue

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power Station ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Power Station ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

Subject The project to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. Significance Reports that construction of the planned nuclear power station at Hinkley Point may be postponed will raise further concerns about the project's prospects as well as the long-term direction of the UK electricity sector. The reports follow weeks of debate in the United Kingdom and France over whether construction should go ahead and over further delays in the final investment decision on the project (now scheduled for May). Impacts Depending on how the French government decides to support EDF, approval by the European Commission may be needed. The Austrian government has legally challenged the Commission's approval of UK plans to support the project. The UK government's existing plans for maintaining electricity supply -- the so-called 'capacity auctions' -- may need to be revisited.

scholarly journals Modelling Socio-Environmental Sensitivities: How Public Responses to Low Carbon Energy Technologies Could Shape the UK Energy System

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brighid Moran Jay ◽  
David Howard ◽  
Nick Hughes ◽  
Jeanette Whitaker ◽  
Gabrial Anandarajah
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

Low carbon energy technologies are not deployed in a social vacuum; there are a variety of complex ways in which people understand and engage with these technologies and the changing energy system overall. However, the role of the public’s socio-environmental sensitivities to low carbon energy technologies and their responses to energy deployments does not receive much serious attention in planning decarbonisation pathways to 2050. Resistance to certain resources and technologies based on particular socio-environmental sensitivities would alter the portfolio of options available which could shape how the energy system achieves decarbonisation (the decarbonisation pathway) as well as affecting the cost and achievability of decarbonisation. Thus, this paper presents a series of three modelled scenarios which illustrate the way that a variety of socio-environmental sensitivities could impact the development of the energy system and the decarbonisation pathway. The scenarios represent risk aversion (DREAD) which avoids deployment of potentially unsafe large-scale technology, local protectionism (NIMBY) that constrains systems to their existing spatial footprint, and environmental awareness (ECO) where protection of natural resources is paramount. Very different solutions for all three sets of constraints are identified; some seem slightly implausible (DREAD) and all show increased cost (especially in ECO).

Analysis of Nuclear Power Industry’s Sustainable Development in China from the Perspective of Innovation Ecosystem

2014 ◽  
Vol 1070-1072 ◽  
pp. 367-370
Author(s):  
Xie Lin Liu ◽  
Xue Mei Ma ◽  
Shu Min Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Power Industry ◽  
Nuclear Power Industry ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Design Production

Power demand of China grows strongly in few decades. Developing nuclear power industry is not only a strategic measure to meet electrical energy demand, but also an inevitable choice to achieve energy conservation and promote green low-carbon development. Innovation Ecosystem theory provides new perspectives and ideas for studying on the sustainable development of nuclear power industry. In this paper, we consider the sustainable development of nuclear power industry would achieve in the Innovation Ecosystem. The characteristic of the nuclear power industry determines that construction and development of nuclear power industry will involve lots of vendors and enterprises, and require all vendors and enterprises that involved make collaborative effort, around the end-user (nuclear power plant) for the design, production and manufacturing, realize win-win finally. Common development and co-evolution of all participants in the nuclear ecosystem is the premise and guarantee of nuclear power industry’s sustainable development.

scholarly journals Coloured BIPV Technologies: Methodological and Experimental Assessment for Architecturally Sensitive Areas

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Pelle ◽  
Elena Lucchi ◽  
Laura Maturi ◽  
Alexander Astigarraga ◽  
Francesco Causone
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Weather Condition ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Building Integrated Photovoltaics ◽  
Technical Performance ◽  
Sensitive Areas ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Experimental Characterisation

Energy flexibility in buildings is gaining momentum with the introduction of new European directives that enable buildings to manage their own energy demand and production, by storing, consuming or selling electricity according to their need. The transition towards a low-carbon energy system, through the promotion of on-site energy production and enhancement of self-consumption, can be supported by building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) technologies. This paper investigates the aesthetic and technological integration of hidden coloured PV modules in architecturally sensitive areas that seem to be the best possibility to favour a balance between conservation and energy issues. First, a multidisciplinary methodology for evaluating the aesthetic and technical integration of PV systems in architecturally sensitive area is proposed, referring to the technologies available on the market. Second, the experimental characterisation of the technical performance specific BIPV modules and their comparison with standard modules under standard weather condition are analysed, with the aim of acquiring useful data for comparing the modules’ integration properties and performance. For this purpose, new testbeds have been set up to investigate the aesthetic integration and the energy performances of innovative BIPV products. The paper describes the analyses carried out to define the final configuration of these experimental testbeds. Finally, the experimental characterisation at standard test conditions of two coloured BIPV modules is presented and the experimental design for the outdoor testing is outlined.

scholarly journals Exploring Energy Pathways for the Low-Carbon Transformation in India—A Model-Based Analysis

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linus Lawrenz ◽  
Bobby Xiong ◽  
Luise Lorenz ◽  
Alexandra Krumm ◽  
Hans Hosenfeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
International Energy Agency ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Energy System Model ◽  
Technical Parameters ◽  
Energy Pathways

With an increasing expected energy demand and current dominance of coal electrification, India plays a major role in global carbon policies and the future low-carbon transformation. This paper explores three energy pathways for India until 2050 by applying the linear, cost-minimizing, global energy system model (GENeSYS-MOD). The benchmark scenario “limited emissions only” (LEO) is based on ambitious targets set out by the Paris Agreement. A more conservative “business as usual” (BAU) scenario is sketched out along the lines of the New Policies scenario from the International Energy Agency (IEA). On the more ambitious side, we explore the potential implications of supplying the Indian economy entirely with renewable energies with the “100% renewable energy sources” (100% RES) scenario. Overall, our results suggest that a transformation process towards a low-carbon energy system in the power, heat, and transportation sectors until 2050 is technically feasible. Solar power is likely to establish itself as the key energy source by 2050 in all scenarios, given the model’s underlying emission limits and technical parameters. The paper concludes with an analysis of potential social, economic and political barriers to be overcome for the needed Indian low-carbon transformation.

Two centuries of innovation, transformation and transition in the UK gas industry: Where next?

2017 ◽  
Vol 231 (6) ◽  
pp. 478-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter JG Pearson ◽  
Stathis Arapostathis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gas System ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Past Experiences

Britain’s gas system developed in the early 1800s. Over the past two centuries the system and its local, national and international networks have experienced much socio-technical innovation, governance changes and six key transitions. Since the Climate Change Act of 2008, it faces a seventh challenging transition as the UK moves uncertainly towards a low-carbon energy system, including decarbonising electricity, heat and transport. The paper explores: the origins of the system by Murdoch, Boulton and Watt; the early 19th century development of local gas networks; innovative responses to, inter alia, the challenge of incandescent electric light from the 1880s, including the expansion of the customer base and the development and active promotion of cooking and heat services – the growth, fragmentation and incoherence of the industry between the two World Wars; the post-war period that saw the industry nationalised in 1948, as the multi-fuel economy developed; the institutional, technical and social challenges associated with the conversion to North Sea natural gas in the 1960s; and innovation and change in response to the challenges that flowed from the privatisation of British Gas in 1987. The paper shows how examining past processes of innovation, transition and transformation through the lens of institutional ‘governance logics’ helps appreciate the challenges faced by system actors, technologies, institutions and regulators in the past and offers insights into the issues posed by the low-carbon transition. The paper begins by outlining some analytical concepts used in the analysis. We then examine the regime’s six past transitions. The paper concludes by considering what insights these past experiences suggest for a seventh transition towards a low-carbon economy, for the future governance of the UK gas system and its networks and particularly for natural gas.

scholarly journals The Role of Nuclear Power in Meeting Current and Future Industrial Process Heat Demands

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiden Peakman ◽  
Bruno Merk
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Industrial Process ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Fast Reactors ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Heat Demand

There is growing interest in the use of advanced reactor systems for powering industrial processes which could significantly help to reduce CO 2 emissions in the global energy system. However, there has been limited consideration into the role nuclear power would play in meeting current and future industry heat demand, especially with respect to the advantages and disadvantages nuclear power offers relative to other competing low-carbon technologies, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). In this study, the current market needs for high temperature heat are considered based on UK industry requirements and work carried out in other studies regarding how industrial demand could change in the future. How these heat demands could be met via different nuclear reactor systems is also presented. Using this information, it was found that the industrial heat demands for temperature in the range of 500 ∘ C to 1000 ∘ C are relatively low. Whilst High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs), Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs), Gas-cooled Fast Reactors (GFRs) and Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) have an advantage in terms of capability to achieve higher temperatures (>500 ∘ C), their relative benefit over Liquid Metal-cooled Fast Reactors (LMFRs) and Light Water Reactors (LWRs) is actually smaller than previous studies indicate. This is because, as is shown here, major parts of the heat demand could be served by almost all reactor types. Alternative (non-nuclear) means to meet industrial heat demands and the indirect application of nuclear power, in particular via producing hydrogen, are also considered. As hydrogen is a relatively poor energy carrier, current trends indicate that the use of low-carbon derived hydrogen is likely to be limited to certain applications and there is a focus in this study on the emerging demands for hydrogen.

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