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Andasol 1 is Europe’s first parabolic trough solar thermal power station, which went online in Nov 2008. It is located on a high desert site in Granada, Spain, which enjoys a high level of direct insolation – an average of 2,136 kWh / m2 / year. The mirror field — turbine infrastructure can yield a [...]
Filed under: Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 115 Comments »
Heat engines require cooling, to turn heat energy into mechanical energy (and then, via a turbine-connected generator, to electrical energy). This is an unavoidable physical principle, and is typically exploited via the Carnot cycle. Usually, this cooling requirement uses water.
Why do I raise this point? Because it seems to be a source of much confusion (innocent and [...]
Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 47 Comments »
The first four posts of the TCASE series were logically sequential — each post built on the conclusions of the previous one. Overall, I hope the TCASE will retain a sense of coherency, but at the same time, I don’t want to get too constrained in following a rigid structure. To be frank, I can’t [...]
Filed under: Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 16 Comments »
In TCASE 3 – The energy demand equation to 2050, I concluded the following:
The world in 2050 will demand ~700 EJ of thermal energy, or roughly 300 EJ of electrical energy. This will require ~10,000 GWe (10 TWe) of generating capacity, which is a 5-fold increase in electricity generating capacity, or 680 MWe, every day, [...]
Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 144 Comments »
Updated 13/10/2009, based on post comments. Bottom line: 2050 power demand will be ~10 TWe of electrical generating power — a 5-fold increase on today’s levels, requiring the construction of ~680 MWe per day from 2010 to 2050.
Before we look in detail at the various low-carbon energy technologies that may provide the means to move [...]
Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 93 Comments »
Before getting entangled in the thorny bramble of sustainable energy options, I thought it helpful to arm you with a set of terminological secateurs. So TCASE #2 (recalling that TCASE = the Thinking Critically About Sustainable Energy series) is a brief primer and glossary on energy terms. This is not meant to be anything comprehensive, [...]
Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 43 Comments »
This is the first post in what is planned to be an extended series, ‘Thinking critically about sustainable energy‘ (henceforth TCASE #). As explained in my previous blog entry, A necessary interlude, this series will look in detail at the issues confronting renewable and nuclear energy, with an aim to break down the often complex [...]
Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Renewable planet, TCASE Series | 92 Comments »
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