THE INEFFICIENCY BEHIND THE U.S. ELECTRICAL GRID post by Taylor Hay
As
gas prices continue on their skyward climb these days, much of the focus of
energy conservation and fuel consumption reduction is being placed on the
automotive sector, and how efficiency gains can be made in the automotive
industry. While this focus is definitely
a positive one, and a good step towards becoming more sustainable, often times
the need arises to step back and look at what other technologies effect our everyday
lives, and how we can make these technologies more sustainable. A perfect example of an inefficient
technology that is often overlooked is the United States electrical grid, as
well as other electrical grids that exist in developed countries throughout the
world. In taking a top-down view of the
electrical grid, inefficiencies start at the level where the fuel source is
turned into electrical energy. For
example, traditional coal power plants are only able to harvest about 35% of
the energy available in the coal fuel source.
Gas turbines and new, more efficient types of coal plants are still only
able to achieve approximately 60% efficiency.
Is there some sort of new fuel source or material out there that can
provide a higher level of efficiency?
After
looking at the fuel processing stage, we must next move on to the transmission
and distribution of the energy being produced at the power plant. Often times, power has to be transmitted over
long distances, which leads to a six to eight percent loss of energy through
resistance in the electrical power lines, as well as the many different devices
that the electricity has to flow through before it reaches the consumer. Unfortunately, the major outcome of this lost
energy is heat, which cannot be easily recovered from the environment. Could we come up with a new material for
power lines that would more efficiently transmit power over long distances with
minimal losses?
Along with the questions posed
above, my overall question to you guys is as follows: Can we solve these issues simply by switching
the current methodology, the material used, or some combination of both?
Interesting- efficiency is definitely a hot-button topic in virtually every industry these days.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the coal-fired power plants and gas turbines you refer to: I think it's important to keep in mind that much of this efficiency is limited by simple laws of physics; the Carnot Limit for example...
By 'energy available' in the material are you referring to that up to the Carnot limit? Due to this physical law, much of the energy beyond the 60% limit mentioned would be irrecoverably lost during transfer from one form (chemical energy) to another (mechanical and finally electrical energy).
Dear Nick, thank you for replying. You make a valid point with the Carnot limit. When convering from one form of energy to another, you do irreversibly lose some of the energy, but I think that efficiecies can still be higher than 60 percent. If not, I think the next best option would be to remove one of the energy transformation steps. In alternative fuel sources such as solar power, the energy is transferred straight from chemical energy to electrical energy, but the down side is that solar panels are still expensive and reltively inefficent.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point- reduce the number of steps to get from raw energy source to usable product...
ReplyDeleteWhat about thermoelectric materials? Some more-developed form of a thermoelectric could possibly accomplish this... A direct conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy- instead of chemical to thermal to mechanical to electrical...
As more work is done on the material-side of things, I can definitely see those efficiency improvements you mentioned coming about as a result- especially judging from the fact that the way we harvest much of our electrical power today is dependent upon methods and physical constraints imposed 40 - 50 years ago!
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