Energy Sector

4612067136_553x133Photo rights –  www.beesenergy.co.uk
  • Utility Grid: connected system vs. Stand-alone system
    • Utility-Connected: Controller, storage batteries, a power-conditioning unit (inverter), wiring.
    • Stand-alone: Batteries for power excess storage, charge controller.
  • Typical home uses approximately 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year
    • About (830 kWh per month)
  • Michigan Residents: $.11/kWh

 

 

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Current Energy Production

energy_2012_united-states_mi

Consumption By Source

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Energy Consumption by End-Use

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coal:

  • 49% of MI electricity generation in 2012 (EIA 2013)

$ Leaving MI.pngCoal Prices

  • Price
  • Picture Sources
  • Emits around 1.7 times as much carbon per unit of energy when burned as does natural gas and 1.25 times as much as oil.

 

 

 

 

Petroleum:

  • Pipelines
    Line5

    Line Beneath the Straits of Mackinac – Photo courtesy NWF

    • Kalamazoo Oil Spill ~ 2010
      • ~~$897,743,461 in damages
      • Enbridge
      • See Pie Chart Breakdown below – 1a
  • Motor Gasoline
    • Electric Vehicles

 

Natural Gas:

  • Pipelines
  • Most storage in country
  • Nearly 4/5 of homes use to heat

 

 

 

 

Renewable Energy Sources:

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Wind: Wind is created by the unequal heating of the Earth’s surface by the sun. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical power that runs a generator to produce clean electricity. 

Small electric systems- 1 acre required, $4,000 – $8,000 per kilowatt of generating capacity

Wind farm map of Michigan – here

  • States capacity among fastest growing in US
  • 20 utility-scale wind farms
    • 1,500 megawatts total

 

  • Contracts approved by the MPSC to develop new wind projects in 2013 and 2014 will provide electricity at a cost of approximately $52 per MWh, 35 percent lower than wind projects developed between 2008 and 2012 (at $80.32 per MWh) and nearly 20 percent lower than Michigan’s estimated average cost of electricity generation overall (at $64 per MWh) (Quackenbush, White, and Talberg 2014).
  • Utilities have recently signed 20-year contracts for wind power at prices that average below five cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)—more than 20 percent lower than the current average overall cost of providing Michigan’s electricity (Doty 2013; Vela 2013)

 

pexels-photo

Self-supporting tower

  • Two types of towers:
    • Self-supporting (free standing)
    • Guyed (Tilt-Down/Up Tow
wind-turbine

A “Skystream” residential wind turbine, elevated on a 70-foot guyed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential Wind Turbines – Ambient noise level – 52 to 55 decibels (Average refrigerator)

 

80 ft tower (typical size), batteries, inverter – $15,000 to $70,000 for 3 to 10 kW wind turbine.

  • 100 ft tower potential
    • Produce more than 500,000 GWh of electricity annually, more than three times that at 80 meters and nearly five times Michigan’s 2012 electricity demand (WPA 2010).

 

Bottom of rotor blades at least 30 feet (9 meters) above any obstacle that is within 300 feet (90 meters) of the tower.

 

  • Small turbines – 20 watts to 100 kilowatts (kW)
    • 1-10 kW (Pump water, grind gain)
  • “Large loads”
    • 400 watts (units of power) to 100 kW (units of energy)

 

Watt vs kW vs Mw

  • Watt is the unit of power whereas kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the unit of energy.
  • Watt indicates the rate of using energy in J/s. You can compare this to how fast water is flowing out of a water pipe. If you have a Light bulb that has a rating of 100 watt, it means that the light bulb consumes 100 J per second.
  • kWh is the unit of energy. You can compare this to the volume of water that comes out of the pipe. A 100 watt light bulb when used for an hour will consume 100 Watt-hour of energy which is 0.1 kWh of energy.
  • If you multiply the total energy usage kWh with charge per kWh (This should be on your electricity bill), you get your total Electricity cost.

1 Megawatt hour = 1000 Kilowatt hours

  • Megawatt hours (MwH) is one million watts amount of power delivered in one hour.
    • 42 MwH ~~ 4 million homes

source- Admin –link here

 

Energy generation

Food Supply Chain

Source: FoodWaterShortage.com

A C02 emissions for a family of four is estimate at 8 tons per year

  • Hidden Energy Inputs – External Costs
    • Food Consumption
      • Footpath
        • Fertilizer
        • Herbicides
        • Insecticides
        • Tractor/machinery fuel
        • Transportation
        • Processing
        • Packaging
        • Refrigeration
      • 10-15 kcals of energy -> 1 Kcal of food
        • (Pimental and Giampletio, 1994)

U.S turbine manufacturers measure rating based on power mesasured between 24 mph (10.5 m/s) – 36 mph (16 m/s)

  • Need 7 mph to spin , 10 mph to collect energy

Energy Generation

 

  • Power (kilowatts [kW]) is the rate at which electricity is consumed.
  • Energy (kilowatt-hours [kWh]) is the quantity consumed.
  • kWh/year is best determinant of turbine and tower for your specific needs

Preliminary estimate of the performance
Prelim Performance Estimate

 

Payback – 10-20 years w/ good incentives, Class 2 wind resource.

10 years – blades may need to be replacedScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.16.22 PM

Lifespan – 20 years or longer

 

 

 

 

 

Solar:

Michigan has the potential to satisfy approximately 71 percent of its annual demand—more than 74,000 GWh—using only rooftop PV systems and ground-mounted utility-scale PV systems in urban areas (Lopez et al. 2012). When Michigan’s rural areas are included, solar PV potential increases more than 70-fold— to an estimated 5.2 million GWh annually (Lopez et al. 2012)

One residential block equivalent of solar energy: offsets 16 tons of carbon dioxide, 33,000 miles driven, 5 tons of landfill waste, 12 acres of trees.

Photovoltaics explained : Link

  • Types:
    • Photovoltaics (PV)Screen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.39.52 PM.png
    • Solar Hot Water / Domestic Hot WaterScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.43.39 PM
    • Solar Hot AirScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.50.13 PM

 

Other Options

Off-grid systems: Charge Controller, Inverter, Battery Bank, Optional Generator

Innovative designs: Carports, Racking, Ground mount, Roof mount, Roof Ballast Mount

  • Solar Water pumpsScreen Shot 2016-03-17 at 12.46.21 AM

Photo rights/India Solar Resource: here

 

Projects

 

 

Geothermal:


47% of the sun’s energy that reaches Earth is absorbed in the ground.

 

  • 1 Million Michigan wells = 1 million free clean renewable energy sources
    • 1 system = 750 trees
    • One estimate found that geothermal systems in Michigan could generate more than 450,000 GWh of electricity annually (Lopez et al. 2012).

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  • Types:
    • Geoexchange
    • Geothermal direct-use
      • Geothermal electricity production
        • Further evaluation – here
  • Heat pump designs
    • Vertical loop
      • Space limited
        • 200 feet of bore/per 10,000 BTU/HR
    • Horizontal loop
      • Adequate land available
        • 250 ft of trench/per 10,000 BTU/HR
        • 7ft depth
    • Pond loop
      • 8 feet deep at least
      • ~300 ft of pipe/10,000 BTU/HR
    • Open loop
      • Two wells required – 100 ft spacing
        • Supply and return
      • Ground water temp – min 6 degrees Celsius

 

closed-loop-geothermal-heat-pumpPhoto rights – heat-pump reviews

 

Biomass:

Michigan’s bioenergy resource has an estimated potential to generate 11 percent of Michigan’s 2012 electricity demand (Lopez et al. 2012)

  • Serve as a coal blend
    • 10-15%

 

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