1. Energy & Electricity

2. History of Electricity/Grid Electricity “system” created in US 1881  Purpose was electricity for lights  1881 cost: $0.24/kWh! (now ~$0.10)  Early 1900’s: inter-city transmission lines 1930s-1950s: rural electrification, federally-run electric generating plants (hydro) 1950s- now: nuclear power, environ. controls, fuel costs, Three Mile Island

3. “Making” electricity For wind & hydro, skip step 1 For PV solar skip 1 and 2 coal, natural gas, nuclear fission, wood, solar energy steam, water, air Boiler (1) (2) Turbine Generator (3)

4. Electricity delivery

5. Making electricity not efficient http://www.energy.qld.gov.au/electricity/ infosite/elec&env7/roleofenergy7_3/effi ciencyinpowerstat/energylosses/energylo sses.htm Doesn’t include losses along transmission lines, another 5-10%

6. Coal-fired electricity Pros  Cheap  Abundant  New technologies to help with emissions Cons  Resource finite  Emissions Carbon SO x NO x Particulate Matter Mercury  Mining Health & environment  Transportation

10. Natural gas Pros  Cleaner than coal  Dispatchable  “Combined cycle” makes plants more efficient Cons  Costs variability & uncertainty  Emissions  Supply questionable

15. Nuclear power Pros  No CO 2 emissions  Cheap?  Abundant fuel 3% of all topsoil is U235 Cons  Cheap?  High impact/low occurrence risk  No closure to life cycle Waste, Yucca mountain  Security

18. Hydroelectric power Pros  Emissions very low  Opportunity for storage  Cheap  Flood control  Water supply Cons  Devastating to wildlife and surrounding area Owner has control of the river downstream  Dependent on weather

20. “Renewables” Solar, Wind, Thermal, Tidal Pros  Low emissions  Resource requirements low  Energy independence Cons  Costs  Intermittency  Location  Not necessarily renewable

27. What’s your consumption mix? Consumption mix: the fraction of each type of generation a specific region, state, business, or individual consumes Can then figure out what the environmental impact of that entity’s consumption is Split up into 4 groups

28. What information do I need? Type of nearby generators Power plants, dams, windmills, solar arrays Proportion – amount of total generation made up by each type 40% type A, 30% type B, 30% type C

29. Regions: NW, NE, SE, SW Generation Types: Coal Natural Gas Petroleum Nuclear Hydroelectric Solar Wind Geothermal Biomass Other

30. Guesses for your region?

31. Solar Intensity

32. Wind Intensity

33. Natural Gas Pipelines

34. Precipitation

35. Coal Deposits

36. Northeast US

37. Southeast US

38. Southwest US

39. Northwest US

40. US Generation Mix

41. Guesses for Pennsylvania?

42. Pennsylvania

43. California

44. Is that the whole story? What if power plants near me don’t generate enough electricity to meet my needs? Pennsylvania does, but what about California and New York? Include interstate trading  These numbers have a significant impact, so new generation mixes, which include trading, are created for each state

45. CA: Where Does the Electricity Come From? -69.1 -11.9 -3.3 -3.1 1.1 4.8 10.2 11.8 12.3 20.1 29.1 2000 Net Imports (TWh)

46. California imports from other states 4.8 10.2 9.2 20.1 24.8 2.1

47. The California Consumption Mix

48. Electricity wrap-up Most power generated by burning fossil fuels  The problem is not that we will run out!  Burning these things likely produces unwelcome effects on a planet-wide level % of electrification good proxy of level of development and quality of life  25% of the world is not electrified (~1.6 billion people)

49. Other social costs? Air  Standard pollutants  Hg, Se, Cd Water  Acid mine drainage  Water system disruption  Fishing Waste  Spent batteries and cells  Spent nuclear fuel Safety issues  Rail  Pipelines  Turbines Aesthetics  Wind turbines  Steam  Transmission lines  Smog Externality: “Costs that society must pay which are not borne by the producers”

50. In green design, we try to find ways to generate the positives associated with electricity without the negatives  Advanced nuclear  Carbon sequestration  Combined heat & power  Large scale renewables  Distributed generation 3 things you can do to help: 1. Conservation every unit of output you save means 3 units of input saved 2. Conservation pay attention to things around you which consume power 3. Conservation make power consumption a factor in deciding which things you purchase