Energy 101

1
Energy 101

• Steve Brick
• Energy Center of Wisconsin
• ecw.org

2
Overview

• Energy currency
• Rules
• Terms
• Statistics
• Implications
• The Future

3
The Currency

• Energy is the ability to do work
• Joules are the international currency
• A joule equals one watt-second (power time)
• A British Thermal Unit (Btu) 1,055 joules
• One kilowatt (kWh) hour 3,412 Btu
• One therm 100,000 Btu
• One calorie 4.184 joules
• One dietary calorie 1,000 calories
• kWh and therms are important for consumers
  these are the units that electric and gas bills
  are expressed in

4
Rules

• Thermodynamics
• Energy Facility Siting

5
The laws of thermodynamics

• You cant win
• You cant break even
• You cant get out of the game

6
The second law

• Entropy disorder always increases
• The most important law
• Disorder pollution

7
The rule of facility siting

• No one wants to live next to the skunk works, no
  matter how many skunks they use.
• Energy demand continues to grow, but building new
  facilities is difficult.

8
Energy resources

• Non-renewable resources
• Fossil
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural Gas
• Non-fossil
• Uranium
• Thorium
• Renewable Resources
• Wind
• Hydro
• Biomass
• Geothermal
• Solar

9
Non-renewable energy...

• Is running out ...
• Petroleum 100 years
• Coal 400 years
• Will we really run out?
• Maybe...

10
Basic statistics

• US per capita energy consumption 345 million
  Btus
• Denmark per capita energy consumption 175
  million Btus
• Energy consumption in China 20 million Btus

11
US Energy Production, 2002 (71 quads)

• Coal 33
• Gas 31
• Oil 17
• Nuclear 11
• Renewable 8

12
US Energy Consumption, 2002 (97 quads)

• Coal 23
• Gas 24
• Oil 39
• Nuclear 8
• Renewable 6

13
Energy Balance, 2002 (quads)
14
Total End Use Consumption, 2002 (quads)

• Residential 22
• Commercial 18
• Industrial 33
• Transportation 27

15
Primary End Use Consumption, 2002 (quads)

• Residential 7
• Commercial 4
• Industrial 22
• Transportation 27
• Electricity 40

16
Where do I use energy?

• Household electricity, natural gas, propane,
  wood, wind, photovoltaic
• Transportation gasoline, diesel fuel
• Purchases embodied energy

17
The Brick Family energy budget (1,725 Million
Btus....)

• Electricity 51 million Btus
• Natural gas 99 million Btus
• Automobiles 161 million Btus
• Air travel 79 million Btus
• This all equals 390 million Btus the rest is
  embodied in purchases and in all the energy it
  takes to run American society

18
Efficiency

• What if 3 quarts of milk were lost between the
  cow and the gallon in the refrigerator?

19
Efficiency

• Thats the way it is with electricity
• The total efficiency of the system (from mine to
  the outlet in your house) is only about 25
  percent!
• For every Btu delivered three are wasted

20
Efficiency

• Thats the way it is with the internal combustion
  engine
• Total system efficiency is only about 20 percent
• For every Btu delivered four are wasted

21
Implications

• Our standard of living is intimately tied to our
  consumption of fossil fuels
• Our standard of living has serious environmental
  implications

22
Environmental Issues

• Air pollution
• Ozone
• Particles
• Acid Rain
• Climate Change
• Water use
• Pollution
• Thermal
• Consumption
• Land use
• Sprawl
• Habitat fragmentation

23
Is the fossil fuel picnic sustainable?

• Fossil fuel resources are finite
• Scientific consensus that climate change is real
• To stabilize climate, we need to reduce emissions
  of greenhouse gases 70-80 percent below present
  levels by about 2050 Intergovernmental Panel on
  Climate Change

24
Can we do this?

• The Energy Pyramid
• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy
• New technologies

25
Consumer Responsibility

• Where does my energy come from?
• What does my energy cost?
• What are the direct costs?
• What are the indirect costs
• Education is key!