National Geographic Channel Efficient House

If you live in Portugal and if you are interested in knowing a little more about reducing your Ecological Footprint in your everyday life, you should go to Pavilhão do Conhecimento, Parque das Nações.
National Geographic Channel and EDP have installed there an efficient house. It is a 100 square meter T2 house with two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom and a small garden. It advises people on good practices and it has also some technical stuff about materials used in construction and solutions for water heating.
The house can be visited until the 5th July. Entrance is free.

Passivhaus

Passivhaus refers to energy efficient residential buildings.
This term was created by Professors Bo Adamson, a sweden enginneer, and Wolfgang Feist, a german engineer, and the first passivhaus was built in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1990. Dr Feist founded the Passivhaus Institute a few years later, in 1996.
What makes a passivhaus so different than an ordinary house?
The thermal comfort of the passivhaus is guaranteed solely by re-heating (or re-cooling) the fresh air that is required for satisfactory air quality. This means that there is no heating system, except for heat recovery through the ventilation unit.
Houses are built accordingly to five key principles:
1. Wall insulation - thick layers of insulation (around 40 centimeters expanded plastic) to prevent heat losses.
2. Windows - small percentage of the surface area occupied by glass windows. Large windows should be to the south to maximise incoming light and heat from the sun in Winter. 40 per cent of the total winter heating should come from the sun.
3. Bridges that conduct cold into the houses are avoided by using special prefabricated materials.
4. Airtightness - refers to the loss of air through cracks, airbricks, poor door seals, windows. Passivhaus must loose less than 60 % of the volume of air in the house per hour. This can be achieved in pre-fabricated houses with factory made components that fit together very tightly.
5. Ventilation system - mandatory for air renovation. In the winter, cold air that enters passes over ducts containing warm and humid air leaving the building.

Passivhaus diagram

Energy requirements comparison

The diagram was downloaded from 100k House

Electricity consumption in Portugal

Today I received a message from EDP, the only portuguese electricity company.
It's about electricity labeling, that is, knowing where the electricity offered by EDP comes from.
In 2008, electricity that was generated in Portugal came from conventional thermoelectric stations fed by coal, natural gass, fuel-oil and biomass, and hydroelectric plants and wind. The rest of it was imported from Spain.
The following figure (in portuguese) shows the electricity offered by EDP per technology.


Nuclear power is responsible for 5.3%, all of it imported from Spain. There are no nuclear power plants in Portugal and yet we consume electricity from that source.

Fossil fuel still represents the higher share in electricity production with 61.1%. Renewables represent 33.7%.

Monthly share of electricity consumption per technology (2008 data)

The figure shows the irregularity of hydroelectricity production. Fuel-oil reaches almost 10 % in December, but has lower shares throughout the year.

Air emissions in 2008

Air emissions are a consequence of that electricity mix.

Ten technologies to save the planet: carbon sequestration

Chris Goodall also talks about carbon sequestration.
Greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, can be trapped instead of released to the atmosphere in the conventional electricity generation processes.
There are several way to capture it, but most of them need extra energy.
What I found particularly interesting was the possibility of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air. Global Research Technologies formulated a plastic that attracts and holds carbon dioxide molecules. When the strips of the plastic are fully loaded, they are placed in a humid atmosphere. The plastic also attracts water molecules, which push the carbon dioxide directly away from the strips so that it can be captured.
GRT states that its air-capture system is about one thousand times more efficient than a tree of equal size. The extra energy needed is due to the recovery of the sorbent that has higher economic value.
Here is a picture of the air-capture system on a massive use scale.

There is a very interesting article in The Economist about this subject. It explains in a more detailed way how is carbon dioxide captured from the air and it also mentions the possibility of producing synthetic hydrocarbons from the captured CO2 and hydrogen. Of course this would not solve Mankind's dependency on fossil fuels, but it can be an alternative before turning into renewable energy production.

Ten technologies to save the planet: renewable energy

In the renewable energy dedicated chapters, the author writes about the unpredictability of renewable energy in the short-term, particularly wind electricity generation.
He refers to the disconnection of turbines in Spain in March and April 2008, because they were generating up to 40 per cent of the countries electricity requirement and small percentage changes in wind output could overwhelm the ability to import instantaneously electricity from France or switch on backup power stations.
The solution to this problem lies in three different approaches:
1. Importing Remote power - good electricity connections to their neighbours (currently Spain can only import a maximum of 5 % of demand). Major investments in power distribution networks are required, i. e., increasing the number and size of electricity transmission links between different countries and between regions inside countries.

2. Storing electricity to meet short-term needs - through pumped storage (movement of large quantities of water uphill into a storage reservoir), batteries and hydrogen production, which is a vector of electricity. It can be interesting coupling wind electricity generation and mini-dams.

3. Managing demand to meet supply - load shredding, which consists of disconnecting industries for a short period of time from the electricity grid. The industries that agree to this have lower electricity bills.

Book review: Ten technologies to save the planet

I've been reading the book Ten technologies to save the planet by Chris Goodall

(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technologies-Save-Planet-Chris-Goodall/dp/184668868X)

It is a very interesting book. The only negative aspects I found were that the author does not present referrences and that he has a almost exclusively climate change oriented vision.

The book is roughly about renewable electricity production (wind, solar and wave and tidal energy), energy efficiency (industrial and in houses), alternatives to fossil fuels in transportation (electricity and biofuels), carbon capture (industrially and through soil and forests). The last chapter puts it all together.

Electric Cars

I found an interesting article on the BBC news about the UK plan to boost electric cars.
This article identifies some negative aspects of the electric and hybrid vehicles. They include the autonomy of the battery, the charging battery time and the size of the car (two seats).
The figure shows a comparison of autonomies and battery charge time.


The article also points out that investment in public transportation and places to recharge the vehicles is also needed, as well as guaranteeing that electricity is produced with the least environmental impacts possible (high share of renewable energy).

The article is available here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8001254.stm

US-IEA Energy Outlook 2009

Today was released the US-IEA Energy Outlook 2009.

"World marketed energy consumption is projected to grow by 44 percent between 2006 and 2030, driven by strong long-term economic growth in the developing nations of the world."

Economic recovery that is expected to begin within the next 12/24 months is the main responsible for this trend.

US-IEA also predicts higher world oil prices that will continue to raise in the short term until at least 2030. The good news about increasing oil prices is that other alternatives which can be environmentally friendly become more attractive together with research and development of alternatives to oil.

So, it is not a surprise when the report states that

"unconventional alternatives (including biofuels, oil sands, extra-heavy oil, coal-to-liquids, and gas-to-liquids) are expected to become increasingly competitive in the reference case [increasing oil prices]."

Renewable energy is also expected to grow until 2030 by an average of 2.9% per year, with electricity production representing 21% in 2030 (it represented 19% in 2006). Wind and hydropower will be major players in this increase.

This figure shows world electricity generation by fuel:


This figure shows the share of renewables in electricity generation:


An increase in energy consumption in a world where fossil fuels still have the higher share will have several environmental impacts. One that is of most concern in the times we live in is climate change. The following figure shows greenhouse gas emissions projections.


The increase is mainly due to non-OECD countries that have been increasing while economic growing.

For more information, please go to:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/05/ieo2009-20090527.html#more
The US-IEA Energy Outlook report 2009 is available here:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/pdf/0484(2009).pdf

Efficiency of conventional energy generation in EU

According to EEA (European Environment Agency) the efficiency of conventional energy generation (electricity and heat) has been increasing since 1990.

Source: EEA, EN19 Efficiency of conventional thermal electricity production, 2005
The above figure shows efficiency from 1990 to 2004 for electricity production and combined heat and electricity production. Projections for 2010 to 2030 are also present. You can see that efficiency has been improving but are still below 50%, which is mainly due to efficiency in combined electricity and heat production.
The improvement in energy efficiency can be explained by a variety of factors. First it can be attributed to the closure of old plants, with old and inefficient technology. Then the implementation of more efficient technologies, such as the combined cycle gas-turbines, which refers to the usage of waste heat to make steam and generate additional electricity. Also an important improvement is switching from coal to natural gas, which is due to environmental regulation and also to the lower cost of electricity production. The last can change in the future due to the relative price of gas compared to coal.
Projections from 2010 to 2030 point to increasing efficiencies. This will be explored later.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

Combined heat and power is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat from a single fuel source.
Electricity produced in a conventional way (fossil fuel burning) has an efficiency of about 40%. This is due to the second law of thermodynamics, which states that, in the Lord Kelvin formulation,

"It is impossible to convert heat completely into work in a cyclic process."

This means that there are no processes with an efficiency of 100% because losses in the form of heat are always occurring and heat cannot be completely converted into work.
So, to try to use the energy we produce in a more efficient way, why not use the heat instead of letting it slip to the atmosphere?
In order to do so, there are some changes required in the production process, for example, installing a heat recovery unit or using a steam turbine. Steam turbines normally generate electricity as a byproduct of heat (steam) generation.
Currently, CHP processes are used for example in district energy systems (district heating).
Advantages and disadvantages will be discussed later.

Energy intensity

It is the energy per GDP.
It is a measure of the economy of a country's efficiency.
A high value indicates a high price of converting energy into GDP. The country is highly materialised and economic growth is dependent of energy consumption.
The goal of economies today is to have a low energy intensity, which indicates a dematerialization of the economy and that you can produce the same with less.
The following figure shows energy intensity per year and per country. 1995 is considered the baseline to which years are compared to (1995=100).

We can conclude that Portugal is not decoupling energy consumption from economic growth. Compared with EU-25 it has the opposite tendency.

This figure shows how Portugal contributes to energy intensity in EU-25.

This figure displays the trendline of the energy intensity per year. It nothing is done, in 2009 energy intensity could be 10% above the 1995 baseline.
Source: EEA, CSI 028 March 2007

2005 and 2006 data contradict the trendline, but this may have occurred due to a decrease in GDP and not exactly in energy consumption. Consulting IEA data, there was a slightly decrease in energy consumption
(go to: http://www.iea.org/textbase/stats/pdf_graphs/PTTFC.pdf).

World electricity generation

Source: IEA, 2008 (data from 2006)
Coal and gas represent the highest share in electricity production. Renewable energy represents about 18%, with hydro electricity having the highest share.
In spite the renewable energy effort of developed countries, particularly EU, the share of renewables is expected to decrease a little more mainly due to paradigm changing in developing countries (biomass is being replaced by coal).

Share of total primary energy supply (IEA, 2006)

Fossil fuels account for more than 80% of total primary energy supply.
Hydro is separated from other renewable energy because it is considered a conventional energy producer.

By sector:

Other sectors include residential, commercial, agriculture and fishing.

Hydro electricity

Major producers of hydro electricity are China, Canada and Brasil.

Percentage of hydro in total domestic electricity generation:

Source: IEA, Key energy statistics 2008

World share: 16.4%

Nuclear production

Major producer: EUA, followed by France and Japan.

Percentage of nuclear in total domestic electricity generation:

Source: IEA, Key World Energy Statistics 2008

Total share in the world: 14.8%

European countries are major players in nuclear production, but they were practically unmentioned in fossil fuel Q&A.

Q&A

Crude oil

Question: What is the major crude oil producer?
Answer: Russia. It represents about 12.4% of the total. The second is Saudi Arabia with a share of 12.3%. United States, Iran, China, Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates follow.

Question: What is the total production of crude oil?
Answer: 3937 Mt.

Question: What is the major crude oil exporter?
Answer: It is Saudi Arabia followed by Russia.

Question: What is the major crude oil importer?
Answer: United States (produces but apparently not enough), followed by Japan and China.

Natural Gas

Question: What is the major natural gas producer?
Answer: Russia (with 21.5%) followed by the United States (18%).

Question: What is the major natural gas exporter?
Answer: Russia, followed by Canada and Norway.

Question: What is the major natural gas importer?
Answer: United States, followed by Japan and Germany.

Coal:

Question: What is the major coal producer?
Answer: It's China, followed by the United States and India.

Question: What is the major coal exporter?
Answer: Australia, followed by Indonesia and Russia.

Question: What is the major coal importer?
Answer: Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei.

Source: IEA, 2008 (Key World Energy Statistics)

Conclusions:
1. Japan is one of the major importers of fossil fuels.
2. The United States is one of the major crude oil producers and also importer.
3. Russia is a major crude oil and natural gas producer and also exporter.
4. China is present mainly in fossil fuel production and importation.

Motivation to write this book

I have two different motivations to write this book about energy efficiency and related energy issues:
1. If energy efficiency is so advantageous as I think, because you will be producing the same with less, why is it a recent concept? Or is it that recent?

2. Learn about these issues so I can apply to jobs related to that. Writing a book as a project can be a great way to research the state of the art and to learn by myself.

Concepts to have in mind - toe

toe - tonne of oil equivalent

The toe is the energy released in the combustion of one tonne of crude oil.
It is approximately 11 630 kWh.

Electricity production in Portugal

This figure shows the percentage that renewable energy represents in total electricity production. Hydro is separated because it is considered a conventional electricity source.
The share of wind power is about 5% of the total.

Source: IEA, 2006

Figures and concepts to have in mind

Which sector has the highest electricity consumption?

Answer: Households.

How much energy does an average household need per year?

Answer: If you are living in Europe, approximately 5000 kWh per year.
In the US it is twice as much.

What is the distribution of the production of electricity in Portugal?
Answer:
Source: IEA, 2006

Energy

Energy is defined as work that can be performed by a force.
It can have many forms, like, kinetic, potential, thermal or electromagnetic.
Leibniz defined it as the product of mass by velocity squared.
Any form of energy can be transformed into another form, but the total remains the same.

Primary energy is the energy storage in raw fuels that has not been transformed yet.

Electricity is considered a secondary energy form simply because it is generated by conversion of primary energy.

Index (temporary)

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Energy and electricity
Chapter 3. Energy and environmental impacts
Chapter 4. Energy efficiency
Chapter 5. Energy efficiency: economics, politics and innovation
Chapter 6. Energy in Buildings
Chapter 7. Energy certification
Chapter 8. Discussion
Chapter 9. Conclusions
References

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Energy Efficiency, a history!
This blog is the beginning of a personal project: to write a book about energy efficiency.
I have studied Environmental Engineering for five years and attended a master in Bioenergy (one year classes and the other year writing a final report).
My final projects were on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle of beef and determining the closest facility to treat a given solid waste based on GIS.
I have been interested in energy issues for a long time, particularly renewable energies and energy efficiency. I have also become interested in energy certification.
All of these issues are going to be discussed in this blog followed by interesting links and ideas for my book.
Comments are of course very welcome.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it :)