Abstract
The different energy sources that humanity has in its hands now to satisfy its energy needs in the future are the following:
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Fossil Fuels: Oil (crude and nonconventional), natural gas (including shale gas and other nonnatural gas), and coal;
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Nuclear energy: (fission and in the future fusion);
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Renewables: Hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal/wave/ocean energy, and hydrogen.
The mix of primary fuels used to generate electricity has changed a great deal over the past four decades on a worldwide basis. Coal continues to be the fossil fuel most widely used for electricity generation, except in the Latin America and Caribbean region. However, electricity generation using natural-gas-fired power generation plants grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, and is expected to continue growing in the next two decades. The use of oil for electricity generation has been declining since the mid-1970s, when oil prices rose sharply, and this is also expected to continue decreasing during the coming decades.
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Notes
- 1.
The energy efficiency (E) of electricity production is defined as: E = (P + H × s)/I, where: P = electricity production from electricity power plants and CHP plants; H = useful heat output from CHP plants; s = correction factor between heat and electricity, defined as the reduction in electricity production per unit of heat extracted; and I = fuel input for electricity power plants and CHP plants.
- 2.
The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant occurred in Japan in March 2011 changed the perception of many countries about the use of this type of energy for electricity generation in the future. Some EU countries canceled all plans to expand the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation or their plans for the introduction of this type of energy for this specific purpose.
- 3.
In 2012, around 52.3 % of the electricity generated in the EU was produced using fossil fuels. In 1999, the total electricity generated by fossil fuels was 1,567 billion kWh; in 2012, the electricity generation was a little bit higher than 3,050 billion kWh, an increase of 94.6 % respect to 1999.
- 4.
Crude oil is a complex mixture consisting of 200 or more different organic compounds, mostly alkanes (single bond hydrocarbons on the form CnH2n+2) and smaller fraction aromatics (six-ring molecules such as benzene C6H6). The oil and gas industry classifies “crude” oil by were it was produced of its origin and often by its relative weight (API gravity or viscosity (“light”, “intermediate” or “heavy”); in addition it may also be referred to as “sweet” (it contains relatively little sulfur), or as “sour” (it contains substantial amounts of sulfur) and requires more refining in order to meet current petroleum specifications.
- 5.
According to some experts’ opinions, these sources may eventually more than triple the potential reserves of hydrocarbon fuels. Beyond that, there are even more exotic sources, such as methane hydrates, that some experts claim can double available resources once more.
- 6.
While the ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes must be removed from natural gas, this does not mean that they are all waste products. In fact, associated hydrocarbons, known as natural gas liquids (NGL), can be very valuable byproducts of natural gas processing. NGLs include ethane, propane, butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline. These are sold separately and have a variety of different uses such as raw materials for oil refineries or petrochemical plants, as sources of energy, and for enhancing oil recovery in oil wells. Condensates are also useful as diluents for heavy crude oil.
- 7.
One cubic feet is 35.315 m3.
- 8.
The first and foremost conclusion from different experts’ studies is that data quality of coal reserves and resources is poor, both on global and national levels and, for this reason, it is difficult to confirm the real world, regional, and national coal reserves. The most dramatic example of unexplained changes in data is the downgrading of the proven German hard coal reserves by 99 % from 23 billion tons to 0.183 billion tons in 2004. Poland has downgraded its hard coal reserves by 50 % compared to 1997 and has downgraded its lignite and subbituminous coal reserves in two steps to zero since 1997 (EWG 2007).
- 9.
In the IEO (2010) report, world’s coal consumption is expected to increase by 56 % from 2007 to 2035, and coal’s share of world’s energy consumption is expected to grow from 27 % in 2007 to 28 % in 2035; this represents an increase of only 1 % for the whole period.
- 10.
OECD Europe include the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK.
- 11.
The dependency factor can be calculated using the following formula: \( {\text{Energy}}\,{\text{dependency}}\,=\, \frac{{{\text{Net}}\,{\text{imports}}}}{{{\text{Production}}\, + \,{\text{Net}}\,{\text{imports}}}} \times 100. \)
- 12.
According to IEA sources, the global average efficiencies of electricity production are 34 % for coal, 40 % for natural gas and 37 % for oil. For all fossil fuels, the global average efficiency is 36 %. In absolute terms, the United States and China have the highest production of electricity from fossil fuels and account for 44 % of world production. A further five countries, Russia, Japan, India, Germany, and the UK, account for another 20 % of fossil-fuelled electricity production. Globally, most fossil-fuelled electricity production is from coal (63 %), followed by natural gas (29 %) and oil (9 %).
- 13.
According to IEA sources, the highest absolute levels of electricity production from oil are in the United States, Japan, Mexico, China and Italy. These five countries now account for more than 36 % of global oil-fired electricity production.
- 14.
According to public information, the new power capacity to be installed in the next 25 years is almost the same than the current power generation capacity already installed in the region. The total capital investment required for this expansion has been calculated by different sources between €440 and €1,200 billion. The final amount of capital investment will depends of the electricity generation technology to be used.
- 15.
The EU has from July 2013, a total of 28 members (Croatia is the member 28 of the EU).
- 16.
In Europe, indigenous electricity generation was down by 4.9 % in 2009 as a result of the economic and financial crisis that are affecting several countries of the region and in the USA. Contrary to expectations, five EU countries increased their indigenous electricity generation in 2009. These countries are Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Portugal. This outcome is somehow surprising due to an important industrial output reduction in all these countries, sometimes sharply (Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria). In other EU countries electricity generation suffered a significant reduction, particularly in Slovakia, Sweden, Hungary, and Greece, in line with a collapse in their industrial production outputs. In Germany, Italy, France, and the UK electricity generation registered a sharp decline while it was less severe in Turkey and Spain.
- 17.
In 2009, electricity generation in Europe accounts for 33 % of CO2 production. Globally, the energy sector emits 26 billion tons of CO2 each year and electricity production alone accounts for 41 % of total emissions (10.7 billons). The IEA expects CO2 emissions in 2030 to have increased by 55 % to reach more than 40 billion tons of CO2. The share of emissions coming from electricity generation is expected to increase up to 44 % in 2030, reaching 18 billion tons of CO2; this represents an increase of 7.3 billons respect to 2009.
- 18.
These includes the costs of building the plant and bringing it to commercial operation and the costs associated to interest charges accrued during the construction period. The construction costs are further split into direct costs and indirect costs (contingency and spare parts, among others). Capital costs vary greatly among different power plants. The fixed costs should be paid even when the power plant does not operate at all.
- 19.
These include taxes and insurances, personnel administration costs and, typically, the annual overhaul.
- 20.
These costs includes the cost of consumables, waste disposal, and of unscheduled repairs, Variable cost could change during the operational life of a power plant, and it will depend of the total hours that the power plant runs over a year.
- 21.
Third World countries consume only 13 % of the world’s energy production.
- 22.
The EC expects a 73 % decline in EU oil production between 2000 and 2030; natural gas production will fall by 59 % and coal by 41 %.
- 23.
In March 2012, the price of oil barrel was around US$120.
- 24.
In the period 2005–2030, the EU needs to install 862 GW of new electricity generating capacity. A total of 427 GW of generating capacity will be retired in the EU and an additional 435 GW will be needed to satisfy the growing demand for power. The required capacity exceeds the total capacity currently operating in Europe (723 GW) (Zervos and Kjaer 2008).
- 25.
According to World Energy Investment Outlook 2003 report, the total investment requirement for energy supply infrastructure worldwide over the period 2001–2030 is US$16 trillion, or US$ 550 billion a year. This investment is needed to replace existing and future supply facilities that will be exhausted or become obsolete during the period 2001–2030, as well as to expand supply capacity to meet projected primary energy demand growth of 1.7 % per year. Capital needs will grow steadily through the mentioned period. The average annual rate of investment is projected to rise from around US$450 billion in the period 2001–2010 to US$630 billion in the period 2021–2030. The level of investment represents only 1 % of global gross domestic product on average foreseeable over the next 30 years.
- 26.
It is important to highlight the following: The last boom for the construction of conventional and nuclear power plants in the European region was in the 1980s. Since then mainly gas-fired power plants have been built. For this reason, around 40 % of thermal and nuclear power plants are older than 25 years and around 60 % of hard coal plants are older than 25 years. The replacement of all these power plants is needed by 2030.
- 27.
Distributed generation can be defined as a source of electric power connected to the distribution network or the customer site. This approach is fundamentally distinct from the traditional central plant model for energy generation and delivery. The wide development of distributed generation requires a thorough examination of all technical and non-technical aspects of an increased use of renewable energy resources and other decentralized generation units in distribution networks. A recent survey undertaken by ENIRDGNET to assess the driving forces creating demand for distributed generation in European countries indicated that the most important drivers are environmental concerns, deregulation of the electricity market, diversification of energy sources, energy autonomy, and energy efficiency.
- 28.
Transmission and distribution remained regulated monopolies.
- 29.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU and generally falls outside of the EU’s regulatory frameworks.
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Morales Pedraza, J. (2015). General Overview. In: Electrical Energy Generation in Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08401-5_1
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