Energy Water Nexus

These are notes from Energy Water Nexus.

• Water: a new vulnerability in the energy system
• Through looking at the world from space we think we have an abundance of water
• less than 3% of water is fresh
• 2.5% of fresh water frozen in glaciers
• only .5% easily accessible in aquifers, lakes, rivers, or wetland
• Freshwater is unevenly allocated
• 60% of Earth's water controlled by
• Brazil, Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, USA, India, Columbia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Australia faces water scarcity
• Developing nations also pose an issue
• Potential inability to match water demands
• Water is consumed in industry for high income countries
• One billion lack access to fresh drinking water
• Linkage between water and energy
• energy is used to pump, move and treat water
• water is often used for energy, from water mills to hydro dams
• global population and economic growth continues, despite water shortage
• A more water-constrained future
• huge urbanization rates of Asia, Latin America, and Africa
• energy and water security national level problems
• Climate change due to global warming adds to water stress
• approach to preserve present level of comfort while improving energy efficiency in developed nations
• Water requirements in the energy sector
• freshwater required for many steps of energy generation
• extraction, production, refining, processing, transportation, storage and generation
• North america consumes 1/4 of world's energy
• Fuel Production
• water consumption varies with energy utilization
• developing nations often use biomass and solar in ways difficult to measure
• Crude Oil
• highest energy production rate
• 1.058 m³ water needed per Gigajoule of energy from oil
• oil accounts for 34% of current energy production
• hope to decrease to 22% by 2050
• Asia accounts for more than 40% of worlds water consumption due to oil 
• Natural Gas
• gas production due to double over the next 40 years
• Water consumption due to gas is low
• 0.109 m³ of water needed per GigaJoule
• Horizontal drilling and other extraction techniques making gas more viable
• water used is recoverable but contains contaminants
• Coal
• Energy from coal below oil but likely to rise
• 0.164 m³ of water needed per GigaJoule
• Uranium
• Energy accounts for only 6% of energy production in world
• 0.086 m³ of water needed per GigaJoule
• Biomass
• considered "fuel for the poor"
• inefficient and highly polluting
• wood, agro, municipal by products
• Electricity Production
• Thermoelectric Plants
• all fuel types need cooling and process water
• differentiated between once-through and recirculating systems
• wet recirculating systems about 40% more expensive than once through
• dry cooling is 3-4 times more expensive than wet
• once-through loses 1%
• recirculation, less than 1% drawn from source, lose 70-90% lost through evaporation
• recirculating system consumes 10 times the amount of water
• Subcritical and Supercritical types of Pulverized Coal plants
• supercritical more efficient
• subcritical older and more commonly used
• Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
• turns coal into synthetic gas then uses that gas to heat water
• Combined Cycle Gas Turbine
• gas turbine generates electricity, waste heat used to make steam to generate more electricity
• Natural Gas Combine cycle
• majority of water used for cooling, lowest in comparison with other fossil fuel techniques
• Nuclear Plants
• have higher cooling tower, water consumption high
• Carbon Capture and Storage
• development of carbon capture and storage technologies used to meet climate change standards
• reduces emissions by 80-85%
• requires more water
• Hydroelectric Power Plants
• largest generator of renewable energy
• water not really lost but reservoir creation can cause additional evaporation
• significant for smaller power plants
• Electricity from wind and solar
• minor amounts for both PV and Wind power mainly for cleaning and maintenance
• Water consumption to generate electricity may double in the next 40 years as we move to cleaner technologies

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EPA Coal Plant Regulations

These are notes from EPA Emission Regulations.

• Proposed emission rules for EPA spell gradual demise of coal power generation
• set a standard within capabilities of gas fired plants but impossible for coal w/o carbon capture and storage technology
• transitional exemption to make change gradual
• makes coal more expensive
• Natural Gas has recently had a boom
• EPA wants to entrench current advantage of gas
• Limiting coal is part of a larger scheme to remake energy industry
• EPA picks fights with coal-state democrats
• aggressive pushes to control emissions
• multiplying congressional enemies
• Most promising technology integrated gasification with integrated carbon capture and storage
• nowhere near commercial use
• Dangerous powers for an organization to have
• through the use of regulations, EPA has controls on which industries can succeed or fail in the energy industry
• EPA has the ability to bypass Congress
• however the powers currently being used are done with forewarning

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Shale Gas Analysis

These are notes from Shale Gas EIA Study

• Review of Shale Gas and Shale Oil
• Background
• hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have greatly expanded the profitability of natural gas
• started to grow in 1950s
• mid 1970s partnership of DOE (Department of Energy) and GRI (Gas Research Institute)
• grew technologies
• large scale production in shale occurred with Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation
• EIA and NEMS(National Energy Modeling System) presented Shale in mid 1990s, only a game changer for the past 5 years
• Scope and Results
• shale resources 

• total 750 trillion cubic feet technically recoverable
• 86 percent located in northeast and southwest and gulf coast
• 23.9 billion barrels onshore in lower 48 states
• Major areas onshore current development
• Monterey, Santa Maria, San Joaquin Basin, Bakken and Eagle Ford
• Methodology
• INTEK shale report made from public company data and commercial databases
• Issues and Concerns
• gas and oil wells for shale are new and untested for long term production
• production located to sweet spots of highest production
• shale plays are very large only portions have been tested
• Can have more production with technical advances and untested methods
• Resource estimation still evolving

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The Process of Hydraulic Fracturing

Notes from Hydraulic Fracturing Process

• Hydraulic Fracturing
• produces fractures in rock formations to stimulate flow of natural gas or oil
• increases volumes that can be recovered
• Process
• pump large quantities of fluids at high pressure down a wellbore into target rock formation
• commonly consists of
• water
• proppant (sand, ceramic pellets)
• chemical additives 
• Use
• internal pressure of rock formation causes fluid to return to surface through wellbore called flowback
• contains injected chemicals and other natural minerals, stored on site
• many times injected underground for disposal
• Used many times for "Unconventional" gas production
• relatively new technology
• Shale Gas extraction
• Shale rock formations important source
• present in many locations in the united states
• Tight Sands
• gas bearing fine grained sandstones or carbonates
• hydraulic fracturing is a required process here

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Natural Gas Notes

Notes from Natural Gas Report

• Natural Gas Implementation
• truck stops require restyled fuel pumps
• ports will send new tankers
• Oil and Natural gas on the rise reported by US EIA energy information administration
• potential boom, growth outstrips demand
• Texas to Pennsylvania
• Natural gas for fuel rise 12 percent per year through 2040
• LNG(Liquified Natural Gas)
• 40 percent below price of diesel for next 3 decades
• EIA projects predict rise from less than 1 percent of energy used in transport to 4% by 2040
• not for average drivers only truckers
• infrastructure is limiting factor as well as amount to put in vehicle
• Industrial Renewal
• manufacturing output increases 2 percent per year over 3 decades
• Petrochemical companies such as Dow, Formosa Plastics, Shell, Chevron
• plans to build, reopen or expand NA production
• EIA's outlook is fairly positive until 2025 where other nations development produces more efficient facilities
• Export Battle
• rapid US move into natural gas
• 1.6 trillion cubic feet by 2027
• exporting by ship requires
• super chill of gas at liquefacation plants, shrink to 1/600th size
• insulate tankers
• costs billions of dollars
• proposed 9 LNG export projects
• potential to export in solid form instead of liquid
• No revolution
• not projected to unseat oil, or displace coal for electricity
• expected to share 30% natural gas by 2040
• reduction in carbon emissions
• EIA projection not in line with pure sustainability, little uptick in electric vehicles, and clean renewables

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Shale Oil Notes

Notes from Shale Oil Report

• Shale Gas
• increase the supply of fossil fuels
• cut demand from China's economic growth
• Extraction
• horizontal drilling
• hydraulic fracturing
• Half a million barrels of il a day flowing from bakken field
• Belfer Center Report Oil the Next Revolution
• shale oil could provide 6 million barrels a day by 2020
• US imports 11 million barrels a day in 2011
• can be near energy independence
• Economically puts pressure on global oil prices
• United States have only experienced first stage of low natural gas prices
• major stimulus if oil prices reduce
• greater range of options in dealing with foreign states
• European advantages as well
• Political drawbacks
• If US no longer has dependence to oil in Gulf, Europe has reduced security
• developing natural gas transportation for their own security
• China
• potentially 36 trillion cubic meters of recoverable shale resources
• Russia and Saudi Arabia reduction in power and economy destabilize markets in these countries

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Intro to Smart Grid Table of Contents

These are notes taken for a class on an intro to the smart grid.

1. Week One
1. Shale Oil
2. Natural Gas Nation
3. Hydraulic Fracturing
4. Shale Gas and Oil Analysis
5. EPA Coal Plant Regulation
6. Energy Water Nexus
2. Week Two
1. Solar Energy Technologies
2. Wind Energy Technologies

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