Gone Fission

The science behind nuclear power was first developed in the late 1800s. During WWII the focus of scientists in the field was to create and develop the atomic bomb. However, since that time, focus has been on the development of nuclear power as a source of electricity generation (World Nuclear Association 2013). Due to climate change, nuclear energy has been the subject of much debate over the last decade or so. The period has even been described as the ‘Nuclear Renaissance’ (Marshall 2005).

Figure 1 - Map of UK Nuclear Sites

Nuclear power has been subject to much criticism throughout its history, in no small part due to disasters such as Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. Disasters such as these have led to widespread scepticism and have hindered the development of nuclear power in many countries, including our own. The UK has fallen behind other countries such as France in terms of nuclear power production. The two countries have very similar populations but in 2012, France produced 405 billion kilowatt hours of nuclear energy compared to the UK’s 64 (NEI 2013). Figure 1 (UK Government 2013) is a map showing the UK’s nuclear sites. The new build site at Hinkley Point C has been criticised in the news recently as some believe the power generated will be too expensive (BBC 2013).

Aside from the fact that nuclear power stations have been the (very) occasional cause of meltdown disasters, nuclear power is relatively environmentally friendly compared to coal, oil and gas powered stations. Figure 2 (UK Government 2006) shows the CO₂ emissions per kilowatt hours for several energy sources. Notice that the carbon footprint of nuclear is negligible when compared with those of coal and gas and is as small as hydro power and wind power. Due to the nature of nuclear fuels such as uranium, disposal of waste fuel can be a tricky business. I won’t get into this in huge detail here but I have included a link at the bottom of the page in case anyone is interested on how this is done.

Figure 2 - Bar chart showing relative carbon footprints of several fuel sources

I believe that nuclear power will need to play a substantial role in the future production of the UK’s energy. I could well see nuclear energy acting as a like for like replacement for coal, oil and gas fuelled plants as it boasts a constant supply of energy. I feel that potential hazards such as waste disposal can be avoided by appropriate management. The threat of a nuclear disaster will however, remain lodged in many people’s minds. Nuclear energy is an asset that we need to take advantage of but do so with extreme caution. The development of new fuels (see Thorium post) and techniques such as fusion may well hold the key to unlocking the full potential of nuclear power.

The link to waste disposal info is here,

Thanks for reading. 

Hey guys,

I found this article on the BBC about a potential new energy source involving hydrogen. The process of extraction mimics one that happens in nature and requires doesn't require as high temperatures as current methods of hydrogen extraction. Another major benefit over current methods is that this new process doesn't require the use of any fossil fuel. Could this be the shot in the arm that hydrogen power needs?

The link to the article is here

Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone, 

Just in case you weren't feeling in the Christmas spirit, here's a cartoon to get you in the festive mood.

Happy Holidays.

Shedding Light on Solar Power

Solar energy has been in the news recently as last week our government announced plans to cut funding for onshore wind energy and solar power. (Landale 2013). Figure 1 (DECC) shows us that solar energy has been on the rise in recent years.

Figure 1- Graph showing the growth in renewable electricity generation since 1990

However, compared to wind energy, the growth of solar power has been relatively small. In 2012, solar energy contributed 11% of renewables production capabilities. Onshore and offshore on the other hand, boasted 57% between them (DECC). Why is this?

Figures 2 (Solar Gis 2013) and 3 (Solar Gis 2013) show the amount of annual irradiation in the UK and Spain respectively.^th windiest region in Europe by a Met Office Wind Review. 

Figure 2 - Map of irradiance in the UK

Figure 3 - Map of irradiance in Spain

As you can see from the maps, the amount of irradiation is much lower in the UK than it is in countries of lower latitudes such as Spain. This results in a lower potential for solar power production. On the other hand, the UK has been ranked as the 4th windiest region in Europe by a Met Office Wind Review. Figures 4 (Met Office 2013) and 5 (Met Office 2013) display the monthly average wind speed for a site in England and a site in Spain respectively. The wind speed in the UK site ranges between 6 to 8 m/s as where the Spanish site stays around 5 m/s (Met Office 2013). It is clear that our country’s climate dictates which renewable source we invest in. It would therefore seem that the UK’s heavy investment in wind energy is grounded in logic and we should continue as such.

Figure 4 - Monthly average wind speed in a UK site

Figure 5 - Monthly average wind speed in a Spain site

What is the Future of British Solar Power?

I believe the future of British solar power will be the use of personal solar power devices. The government offers a ‘feed-in tariff’ in order to promote this. This allows people that have renewable systems installed to power their home will receive money from the government for every kilowatt hour of energy they produce. Producers are also able to sell any excess energy that they produce back to the power grid (UKGovernment 2013).  Due to the fact that our country receives a saddening amount of sun, I believe that on a large scale, we should continue to develop wind power more than solar power. However, I do still feel that solar energy has a role to play in the energy mix.

I’ve included a link to the government’s solar energy cashback calculator here in the event that anyone wants to know how much they could make. Thanks for reading and comments are welcome.

Hi everyone,

Seeing as it's Friday i'll keep this post short. The BBC have produced an article discussing the issues surrounding different energy supplies. The article includes an 8 minute video that takes a look at contrasting views towards different modes of power generation. The article gives a nice summary of how people view different energy supplies and raises a valid point that no matter which energy sources we choose, someone will be offended. I believe that in order to power our country, we will have to make sacrifices such as constructing wind farms on previously undeveloped countryside. Whilst the use of different energy sources may anger certain people, I see this as justified by the need to quench our thirst for energy. 

The link to the article is here

Bioenergy

Bioenergy refers to the energy stored in biological sources (biofuels). Bioenergy is released from biofuels by a number of different methods. Figure 1 (UK Government 2012)

Figure 1 - Biomass conversion routes

 outlines the large number of sources of bioenergy and the vast array of techniques used to harness energy from them. Bioenergy can be used on different scales; from being used to heat a home to being used to produce large quantities of electricity.  The coalition government views bioenergy as a major player in the future of the UK’s energy industry. A 2012 government report states that excluding bioenergy from the energy mix would increase the cost of decarbonizing our energy system by £44 billion. Figure 2 was taken from the study and shows the government’s projections for bioenergy production over the next few decades. The graph shows that the government expect more energy production from biofuels in the future, why do they think this to be the case?

Figure 2 - Future reliance on bioenergy

There are several advantages of bioenergy. In my view, one of the biggest advantages of bioenergy over other renewable energy types is the ability to produce a constant supply of energy, making it a potential substitute for fossil fuels (Slade et al. 2010). This would complement other renewable energy forms such as wind power, which only produce energy intermittently (see wind power post). Other benefits of bioenergy include disposal of waste biological material (Cantrell et al. 2008) and the fact that biofuels are a virtually inexhaustible fuel source, which leads bioenergy to be extremely sustainable.

So far, it would seem that bioenergy is a near perfect method of producing power. There is however one pitfall, that skeptics may well be quick to bring up: the production of greenhouse gases. Whilst the burning of biofuels does cause the emission of greenhouse gases, it must be noted that in comparison to those produced by the burning of fossil fuels, the amount is very small. A 2009 study by Rowe et al. shows us that bioenergy could provide large carbon savings over fossil fuels. However, the question remains, should these emissions be overlooked? Or should we stick to renewable energy sources that cause no emissions?

Conclusions

Whilst I do not feel we will ever be close to relying on bioenergy to provide us with the majority of our energy, I do feel it should be continued to be developed and used as part of the ‘energy mix’ in order to power the UK in the future. In my opinion, we can overlook the emissions as biofuels present a ubiquitous source of energy. The government’s projections seem fairly reasonable to myself, although I do think the lower proportional estimates shown in the range of figure 2 are more realistic. Your comments on the matter are welcome as usual, do you feel the emissions should be overlooked? Thanks for reading.

Does Wind Power Blow?

Did you know? Wind power effectively comes from the sun as differential heating of the earth causes differences in air pressure, which causes wind.

As I’m sure you could discern from the title, this post will be centered on wind power and the issues surrounding it. An article produced by the UK government states that wind power generation was 26% higher in 2012 than in 2011. Meanwhile, according to an article on BP’s website, the UK leads offshore wind power production with 3 GW being our total for 2012. It would seem that our country is very much pro wind energy, but why is this?

Like all modes of power generation, wind power has its limitations. Noise from wind farms can be a problem for local inhabitants (Kelley 1987), along with the fact that some people think they are unsightly. Wind farms can also pose a threat to aviary animals such as birds (Osborn et al. 2000, Barrios & Rodriguez 2004). Other sceptics may argue that wind farms should not be heavily invested in, as they do not provide a constant source of energy. I believe this point can be disregarded if our nation is to move forward with the mixed energy approach that I mentioned in a previous post.

Along with these cons, wind power has many pros such as low operational costs (EWEA) as well as great domestic potential. However, wind energy has an advantage that I feel can be used as a trump card. This is that it is clean energy and will not run out until the sun does (and at that point we’ll have bigger problems). I believe that with the challenges we face presently, such as meeting EU emissions policies, this is an advantage that cannot be overlooked.

In my opinion, we should continue to invest heavily in wind energy as I predict that despite its unpredictable power generation, it will become a major player in our future production of energy. I’d love to hear your views on the matter so comments are welcome as usual. Do you feel investments are well placed in wind energy or should they be placed in other modes of energy production? I’ve provided a picture below to summarise my feelings on the topic, thanks for reading.

The Thorium Dream

Something that has been in the news over the past few weeks is an alternative fuel called Thorium, so I thought I would discuss it.

For a long time now, nuclear power has been used to provide us with power, albeit to a much smaller extent than oil and gas. Whilst nuclear power brings many advantages with it, it also brings many disadvantages. However, it would appear that a simple change in fuel from uranium to thorium could be the solution to many of these disadvantages. Here is a list of ways that thorium may be a more better fuel source than uranium:

•  Nomenclature- it is named after the Norse god Thor
•  Abundancy- thorium is three times more abundant than uranium and all of it is able to be used as fuel, compared to the 0.7% of uranium that is able to be used (only isotopes uranium-235 and uranium-285 are used today).
•  No long-term waste- according to Prof Carlo Rubbia from Cern, thorium waste will dissipate within 400-500years.  I agree this does seem long term, but compared with uranium wastes’ 50,000 years it’s pretty good.
• Efficiency- a ball of thorium the size of a grape could provide enough energy for someone’s lifetime.
•  No meltdowns- meltdowns such as Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 were catastrophic for their surrounding environments, making them uninhabitable (by humans at least) for many years to come. Thorium reactors work in such a way that if a meltdown occurred, the only thing that would need to be shutdown is a small uranium feeder plant. This would allow the thorium reactor to halt itself.
• No bombs- the bi-products of thorium are much less easily made into bombs than those of traditional uranium. What better way to save the environment than by not turning it into a desolate wasteland.

It would therefore seem that thorium could solve many of the major problems that come with nuclear energy. Below is a link to a video from Vice’s Motherboard youtube channel I found interesting. It has more in depth information about the issue and I’d recommend watching it if you are interested. Thanks for reading and as usual, comments are welcome.

Bridging the Gap

In this post, I thought I would take a quick look at one of the driving forces behind the changing face of Britain’s power; the energy gap.

What is the Energy Gap?

It has been realized for several years now that the country is about to face a ‘gap’ in our energy supply. The gap would mean an insufficient supply of energy with Ofgem (an industry regulator) suggesting more blackouts by 2015.

What is Causing it?

This gap will be (and has been) created by the closure of old power stations. It is expected that 6 coal power stations, 3 oil power stations and 4 nuclear power stations will be closed by 2016. Power station closures are caused by stations coming to the end of their lifespans or failure to meet recently implemented clean air regulations such as the Large Combustion Plant Directive.

The energy gap is also being widened by the dwindling oil and gas reserves in the North sea. Figure 1 below was taken from a DECC report and outlines the decline in gas production from 2000 to 2012, along with the increased level of gas imports.

Figure 1 - Chart showing UK gas production and imports/exports from 2000-2012

Total indigenous gas production was down 14% from 2011 to 2012 alone with oil production falling by 14% from 2012 to 2013. This is important, as natural gas and oil are responsible for a huge proportion of our energy consumption (around 75%) as is shown in figure 2. Therefore, if these heavily relied on fuel types continue to decline, we will face a large shortage in energy production.

Figure 2 - Graph showing the energy consumption percentage by fuel from 1970 - 2012

How do we plug it?

That is up to us. Many bodies involved in the problem, such as EDF, suggest a mixed approach. This would involve the use of a combination of energy types to power our country. EDF have a nice summary of this approach on their website.

For me, the mixed approach seems like a good idea as I feel we don’t want to lay all our eggs in one basket so to speak. The decline in our current ways of producing energy will need to be buffered by many different methods, not just one. Apologies if this has been a heavy, stats driven post, I’ll leave you with a cartoon about Obama’s approach to the situation which I feel illustrates the issue nicely. Thanks for reading and as usual any comments are welcome.