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Based on Kennedy Space Center siting and logistics requirements and the nonfossil energy resources at the Center, a number of applicable technologies and system candidates for hydrogen production were identified and characterized. A two stage screening of these technologies in the light of specific criteria identified two leading candidates as nonfossil system approaches. Conceptual design and costing of two solar-operated, stand alone systems, one photovoltaic based on and the other involving the power tower approach reveals their technical feasibility as sited as KSC, and the potential for product cost competitiveness with conventional supply approaches in the 1990 to 1210 time period. Conventional water hydrolysis and hydrogen liquefaction subsystems are integrated with the solar subsystems.
The basic theory of the effect of pollution on cloud microphysics and its global implications is applied to compare the relative effect of a small increase in the consumption rate of oil, coal, or biomass burning on cooling and heating of the atmosphere. The characteristics of and evidence for the SO2 induced cooling effect are reviewed. This perturbation analysis approach permits linearization, therefore simplifying the analysis and reducing the number of uncertain parameters. For biomass burning the analysis is restricted to burning associated with deforestation. Predictions of the effect of an increase in oil or coal burning show that within the present conditions the cooling effect from oil and coal burning may range from 0.4 to 8 times the heating effect.
The indirect effect of anthropogenic aerosols, wherein aerosol particles are thought to increase cloud droplet concentrations and cloud lifetime, is the most uncertain component of climate forcing over the past 100 years. Here, for the first time, we use a mechanistic treatment of droplet nucleation and a prognostic treatment of the number of cloud droplets to study the indirect aerosol effect from changes in carbonaceous and sulfate aerosols. Cloud droplet nucleation is parameterized as a function of total aerosol number concentration, updraft velocity and a shape parameter, which takes into account the mechanism, of sulfate aerosol formation, while cloud droplet number depends on the nucleation as well as on droplet sinks. Whereas previous treatments have predicted annual average indirect effects between -1 and -2 W/sq m, we obtain an indirect aerosol effect between -0.14 W/sq m and -0.42 W/sq m in the global mean.
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Presented by NETL at 2019 EPRI Heat Rate Improvement Conference 02/19
Hydrogen is an effective energy carrier for power production. We are working to produce more hydrogen cheaper and faster alongside the development of high-performance fuel cells to convert hydrogen to power.
This work presents NETL’s efforts to update the Baseline LCAs that utilize cross competency data from the 2022 Cost and Performance Baseline Updates. This presentation represents the updates to NGCC, SC PC, and Sub PC baseline models and the results from the LCA analysis of these updated systems.
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“Sector coupling” is a concept that addresses potential designs for the future power industry. Traditionally, the energy sectors, i.e., electricity supply, transport, and industry, have functioned largely independently from one another. Thus, the concept of sector coupling means that the electricity sector would become the central pillar of the energy system, supplying the other sectors – transportation and industry – with energy in various ways, a scheme described by the term “Power-to-X”. This report delves into the ambitious goal set by the United States to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, with a pivotal milestone of making half of all passenger vehicles sold in America zero-emission by 2030. Central to achieving this objective is the electrification of the transportation sector, resulting in complex interactions between this sector and the electric industry. As electric vehicles become more prevalent, a shift in the dependency on electricity for vehicle charging emerges, alongside a reduction in the electricity demand associated with maintaining the fossil fuel supply chain. Both the electricity and fossil fuel have been identified as critical infrastructure sectors, the transportation sector's historical reliance on fossil fuels, and the mature supply chain supporting them are explored. This study emphasizes the existing sectoral coupling between the electric energy and transportation sectors, extending beyond vehicle charging to essential operations at refineries, pipeline facilities, storage, and fuel extraction. Recognizing the critical dependency of fossil fuel supply chain operations on the electric sector, this research underscores the need for a comprehensive view of the evolving dynamics between the transportation and electric sectors. This study has been split into two segments, Part-I provides an overview of the existing fossil fuel supply chain architecture and the electrical sector. We provide an in-depth analysis of the grid-transportation sectoral coupling, its interactions, the vulnerabilities and essential take-aways that would help us to address them and apply towards an electrified transportation sector in the future. We engaged with stakeholders to understand their expectations in enabling an electrified transportation. We accumulate the understandings from the current fossil fuel-based system in developing a risk matrix, by identifying all the threats and vulnerabilities and how would they apply to both the current and future transportation systems in Part-II of this report.
The growth of renewable energy sources presents a pressing challenge to the operation and maintenance of existing fossil fuel power plants, given that fossil fuel remains the predominant fuel source, responsible for over 60% of electricity generation in the United States. One of the main concerns within these fossil fuel power plants is the unpredictable failure of boiler tubes, resulting in emergency maintenance with significant economic and societal consequences. A reliable high-temperature sensor is necessary for in situ monitoring of boiler tubes and the safety of fossil fuel power plants. In this study, a comprehensive four-stage multi-physics computational framework is developed to assist the design, optimization installation, and operation of the high-temperature stainless-steel and quartz coaxial cable sensor (SSQ-CCS) for coal-fired boiler applications. With the consideration of various operation conditions, we predict the distributions of flue gas temperatures within coal-fired boilers, the temperature correlation between the boiler tube and SSQ-CCS, and the safety of SSQ-CCS. With the simulation-guided sensor installation plan, the newly designed SSQ-CCSs have been employed for field testing for more than 430 days. The computational framework developed in this work can guide the future operation of coal-fired plants and other power plants for the safety prediction of boiler operations.
Biofuels are an appealing alternative to augment conventional fossil fuels, given that traditional fossil fuels are finite in nature despite being the highest-consumed energy source. Furans have been studied as potential biofuels due to their renewability, high energy density, and ability to both blend with existing fossil fuels and serve as a stand-alone fuel. Although promising, more research efforts on the combustion of furan-based biofuels are needed. Here, in this study, the oxidation of 2,3-dimethylfuran (2,3-DMF) initiated by O( 3 P) was investigated using vacuum-ultraviolet synchrotron radiation from the Advanced Light Source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The reaction was studied at 550 K and 7 Torr. Major reaction products include 3-methyl-3-buten-2-one, 4,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone, and 3-methyl-4-oxo-2(Z)-pentenal, with 3-methyl-3-buten-2-one being the most abundant.
This study quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) production using a life cycle approach. The PTC production chain comprises of two phases: agricultural activities (Phase I) and industrial activities (Phase II). Data related to agricultural and industrial activities of PTC production chain were collected through questionnaire survey from tobacco growers and records from PTC manufacturing units. The results showed that total GHG emissions from PTC production chain were 44,965, 42,875, and 43,839 tCO{sub 2}e respectively in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Among the agricultural activities, firewood burning for tobacco curing accounted for about 3117, 3565, and 3264 tCO{sub 2}e, fertilizer application accounted for 754, 3251, and 4761 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Among the industrial activities, fossil fuels consumption in stationary sources accounted for 15,582, 12,733, and 13,203 tCO{sub 2}e, fossil fuels used in mobile sources contributed to 2693, 3038, and 3260 tCO{sub 2}e, and purchased electricity consumed resulted in 15,177, 13,556, and 11,380 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. The GHG emissions related to the transportation of raw materials and processed tobacco amounted to 6800, 6301, and 7317 respectively in 2009, 2010, and 2011. GHG emissions from energy use in the industrial activities constituted the largest emissions (i.e., over 80%) of GHG emissions as PTC relies on fossil fuels and fossil fuel based electrical power in industrial processes. The total emissions of carbon footprint (CFP) from PTC production were 0.647 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes produced in 2009, 0.675 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes in 2010 and 0.59 tCO{sub 2}e per million cigarettes in 2011. Potential strategies for GHG emissions reductions for PTC production chain include energy efficiency, reducing reliance on fossil fuels in non-mobile sources, adoption of renewable fuels including solar energy, energy from crop residues, and promotion of organic fertilizers. - Highlights: • We quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC). • PTC production chain comprises of two phases: agricultural and industrial activities. • GHG emissions accounts to 44,965, 42,875 and 43,839 tCO{sub 2}e in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. • GHG emissions from energy use in the industrial activities constituted the largest emissions i.e. 80%. • Implications for GHG emissions mitigation strategies for PTC are also discussed in detail.
This initiative funding helped put Montana State University (MSU) in a position to help lead in the development of biodiesel production strategies. Recent shortages in electrical power and rising gasoline prices have focused much attention on the development of alternative energy sources that will end our dependence on fossil fuels. In addition, as the concern for environmental impact of utilizing fossil fuels increases, effective strategies must be implemented to reduce emissions or the increased regulations imposed on fossil fuel production will cause economic barriers for their use to continue to increase. Biodiesel has been repeatedly promoted as a more environmentally sound and renewable source of fuel and may prove to be a highly viable solution to provide, at the least, a proportion of our energy needs. Currently there are both practical and economic barriers to the implementation of alternative energy however the advent of these technologies is inevitable. Since many of the same strategies for the storage, transport, and utilization of biodiesel are common with that of fossil fuels, the practical barriers for biodiesel are comparatively minimal. Strategies were developed to harness the CO 2 as feedstock to support the growth of biodiesel producing algae. The initiative funding led to the successful funding of highly rated projects in competitive national grant programs in the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. This funding put MSU in a key position to develop technologies to utilize the CO 2 rich emissions produced in fossil fuel utilization and assembled world experts concerning the growth characteristics of photosynthetic microorganisms capable of producing biodiesel.
According to the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S fossil fuel share of energy consumption in 2015 was 67%. Furthermore, the Ecotricity UK report based on the CIA World Factbook states that with the current rate of consumption of fossil fuels, petroleum would run out by 2052, natural gas by 2060, and coal by 2088. No fossil fuel will remain by the next century. Besides the limited reserves of fossil fuel, massive consumption of fossil fuel also raises concerns about global warming and pollution. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in reducing fossil fuel consumption in the energy structure and in increasing the proportion of clean energy. Renewable energy (e.g. wind, solar) has the potential for distributed generation. However, the availability for renewable energy fluctuates and is uncontrollable. Therefore, additional energy sources need to be coupled with renewable energy to produce a stable electricity generation profile. Nuclear energy can serve this purpose as it is a clean energy source, has low greenhouse gas emission and possesses high power density and baseload power supply with low fuel cost. It is desirable to develop a hybrid energy system that combines both renewable energy and nuclear energy to meet low carbon emission goals and to utilize renewable energy. Such a nuclear hybrid energy system, consisting of different energy subsystems such as nuclear, solar, and wind, involves frequent switching between different energy subsystems. Since the primary loop in a nuclear power plant generates constant heat, the turbine bypass line in the secondary loop is required to switch frequently to meet the gap in the energy demand and that generated by the renewables. The increased usage of the turbine bypass system is considered to be the major difference between a nuclear hybrid energy system and a traditional nuclear power plant. Reliability analysis for designing such a complex system involves both high level fault propagation analysis at the conceptual design stage and low level failure prediction for specific components. The main focus of this summary to derive a degradation model of hardware components which can later help in the high level fault propagation analysis. The degradation model is a low level failure mode model that combines the effects of natural aging and frequent switching. The model can be used for predicting components' failure due to specific failure modes. The results can serve as indicators for conducting repair actions and maintenance to minimize Operation and Maintenance (O and M) costs. (authors)
Carbon emissions in the power sector remains an important goal for both US and Chinese decision makers and industrial leaders. To deeply reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, many utilities are considering carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). CCUS can enable the current fossil fuel infrastructure to be utilized while non-fossil fuel based energy supplies evolve to replace fossil fuels.
Abstract. Severe haze events in Southeast Asia caused by particulate pollution have become more intense and frequent in recent years. Widespread biomass burning occurrences and particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning play important roles in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. In this study, numerical simulations have been conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem) to quantitatively examine the contributions of aerosols emitted from fire (i.e., biomass burning) versus non-fire (including fossil fuel combustion, and road dust, etc.) sources to the degradation of air quality and visibility over Southeast Asia. These simulations cover a time period from 2002 to 2008 and are driven by emissions from (a) fossil fuel burning only, (b) biomass burning only, and (c) both fossil fuel and biomass burning. The model results reveal that 39 % of observed low-visibility days (LVDs) can be explained by either fossil fuel burning or biomass burning emissions alone, a further 20 % by fossil fuel burning alone, a further 8 % by biomass burning alone, and a further 5 % by a combination of fossil fuel burning and biomass burning. Analysis of an 24 h PM 2.5 air quality index (AQI) indicates that the case with coexisting fire and non-fire PM 2.5 can substantially increase the chance of AQI being in the moderate or unhealthy pollution level from 23 to 34 %. The premature mortality in major Southeast Asian cities due to degradation of air quality by particulate pollutants is estimated to increase from ∼ 4110 per year in 2002 to ∼ 6540 per year in 2008. In addition, we demonstrate the importance of certain missing non-fire anthropogenic aerosol sources including anthropogenic fugitive and industrial dusts in causing urban air quality degradation. An experiment of using machine learning algorithms to forecast the occurrence of haze events in Singapore is also explored in this study. All of these results suggest that besides minimizing biomass burning activities, an effective air pollution mitigation policy for Southeast Asia needs to consider controlling emissions from non-fire anthropogenic sources.