The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

[fuelcell-energy] Digest Number 1537

There are 6 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

  1.  Metals firmer as oil pushes above $71   
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
  2.  The local energy revolution   
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
  3.  The local energy revolution   
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
  4.  World to be even hotter by century’s end    
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
  5.  Distributed Generation -Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells   
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
  6.  Overcoming Energy Security Concerns through Technology-led   
        From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 1
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 4:43am(PDT)
Subject: Metals firmer as oil pushes above $71

Metals firmer as oil pushes above $71
By Chris Flood
Published: May 26 2006 12:31 | Last updated: May 26 2006 12:31

Oil prices climbed back above $71 a barrel as prices pushed higher
after US GDP data released in the previous session pointed to demand
remaining robust. Sentiment has been bolstered by the release of US
government forecasts for another active hurricane seaason during the
week.


ADVERTISEMENT




Traders also said short-positions were being closed out ahead of the
long weekend which marks the start of the US summer driving season
with the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.

IPE Brent for July delivery gained 41 cents to $71.11 a barrel while
Nymex July West Texas Intermediate added 37 cents to $71.69 a barrel
in electronic trade. Traders said short-positions were being closed
out ahead of the long weekend.

Gold traded at $651.50 a troy ounce, slightly firmer than New York's
late quote of $649.80 a troy ounce on Thursday. Dealers said gold was
looking for direction from the dollar with key US inflation data (the
core-personal consumption expenditure deflator - the Fed's preferred
measure) on the due for release later in the session.

In spite of the recent market turmoil, Daniel Sacks, head of
resources at Investec Asset Management said it was not the end of
gold's bull run as none of the fundamentals drivers had changed such
as concerns over inflation, oil prices and the US twin deficits in
trade and government finances.

"Political and economic upheavals are the meat and drink of gold bull
runs," said Daniel Sacks: "if gold stays in favour as a risk-
diversifying asset class, there could be far more upside as investors
look for safe havens and the market discovers there is so much money
ansd so little gold supply."

Silver traded at $12.64 a troy ounce while platinum was at $1,290 a
troy ounce.

Copper was firmer at $8,145 a tonne but trading volumes continued to
be thin after the recent turmoil.

"Although it is unclear how long the current level of volatility will
persist, not only among base metals but the other major commodities,
it is certain that this atmosphere of edginess will remain until a
fundmanentally sound direction in the markets is established," said
Peter Richardson, chief metals economist at Deutsche Bank.

Regulators have taken steps to try and limit the voltility being
experienced in trading.

The New York Mercantile Exchange was due to raise the margins
required to trade on copper futures contracts next week and the
Shanghai Futures Exchange has already done so.

Bloomsbury Mineral Economics (BME) said a growing copper deficit was
likely for the second quarter as sales from the China State Reserve
Bureau stock pile now appear to have ended. BME said that adjusting
for movements in SRB stocks in the first quarter suggested the market
was in deficit by 45,000 to 55,000 tonnes in the first quarter.

"If Bloomsbury is correct, and the copper deficit continues to grow
then we feel volatile high prices are likely to remain a feature of
the market in the coming months," said John Meyer of Numis
Securities.

Nickel traded at $22,150 a tonne, within striking distance of this
week's record high at $22,350.

Zinc traded at $3,585 a tonne while aluminium was at $2,766.5 a
tonne.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/076d9bc2-ecaa-11da-a307-0000779e2340.html

j2997






________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 2
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 4:45am(PDT)
Subject: The local energy revolution

The local energy revolution
Peter Franklin
May 26, 2006 12:25 PM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_franklin/2006/05/energyillit
erate_ministers_can.html

On last week's Question Time, Harriet Harman informed the audience
that nuclear energy supplies between 20% and 25% of our energy. The
next day, another government minister, Caroline Flint, made much the
same claim on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.

I don't suppose either minister was deliberately lying. And I'll
discount the possibility that they had been briefed by liars
determined to deceive the public. But that leaves just one
explanation: that both are ignorant of the basic facts of Britain's
energy situation.

It so happens that nuclear supplies less than 5% of our energy.
Harman and Flint got it so wrong because they made the elementary
error of confusing energy with electricity. Nuclear supplies around
20% of our electricity, which in turn accounts for only about 20% of
Britain's energy demand. The rest is mostly made up of heating and
transport fuels (to which nuclear makes no contribution whatsoever).

Clearly, this is a vital distinction, and by blurring it, ministers
paint a wholly misleading picture.

The awful truth is that most of our politicians are energy
illiterate. If they demonstrated similar levels of ignorance in
economic matters they would not be taken seriously. But as the issue
at hand is a matter of real science rather than the dismal science,
ministers can get away with making sombre statements about the "need"
for nuclear, while we in the audience either nod or shake our heads
in equally sombre reaction.

As a result, everyone misses the point. Energy policy is dominated by
a debate over whether we should replace nuclear's 4% share of supply.
It's time to think bigger than that.

Or, rather, we ought to be thinking small - because the technologies
that could really solve our energy problems are at the opposite end
of the scale from the nuclear behemoth. What I'm referring to goes
under a number of names: microgeneration, micropower and distributed
energy are among them. But let's keep it simple and call it local
energy.

The boiler in your house is one example of local energy. But what if
it generated electricity as well as heat? Domestic combined heat and
power (CHP) systems are already on the market for larger houses. They
cost more than an ordinary boiler but pay back the investment by
generating electricity for less than it costs from the grid. Even
better, you can sell the surplus back to the grid. Or at least, you
could if the regulatory structures weren't so obstructive. And
therein lies the rub.

Few people associate Greenpeace with the drive to reduce regulation
and open up markets to free competition, but that is exactly the
approach they take in their groundbreaking report Decentralising
Power: An Energy Revolution for the 21st Century.

This documents all the ways in which government, in cosy partnership
with the utility companies, frustrates the development of local
energy. For instance, if you want to put a satellite dish on your
roof, it is easy to do. If, however, you want to install a wind
turbine of the same size, you have to apply for planning permission.

It should be said that some local energy technologies are not yet
ready to compete in the open market, but many of them are - if only
they were given a fair chance. Indeed, if the government were to
extend the favours it gives to centralised energy to the local
alternative, we could see the emergence of an entirely new paradigm.

There would be no more national grid: local energy networks would
provide a cheaper, more stable replacement. Worried about the
intermittency of some renewables? Then let your domestic CHP system
switch from heat to electricity production when the wind isn't
blowing or the sun isn't shining. As for carbon emissions, let's cut
them down by cutting out the centralised power stations that cannot
help but waste the heat they by-produce from fossil fuels.

In the future, the possibilities of local energy will multiply. Vijay
Vaitheeswaran, energy correspondent for the Economist, foresees a
future in which fuel cell-driven cars export power to the local grid
while they are parked in the evening but then charge themselves up
overnight to take advantage of off-peak electricity prices. In other
words, local energy has the capacity to create a truly free market in
which energy supply and demand can be managed without the need for
corporate or regulatory bureaucracy.

Vaitheeswaran's book on the subject is entitled Power to the People,
hinting at an emerging alliance between the green left and the
conservative right. It may seem unlikely, but they do have a common
interest in local energy and a common enemy in the form the corporate
interests that currently dominate energy policy.

Consider the combined forces of the New Labour government, the DTI,
Ofgen and the utility companies: an army of politicians, civil
servants, regulators and executives, not one of whom will suffer the
slightest career damage if local energy fails to progress. Now,
consider the opportunities and incentives that these individuals have
to actively oppose the development of local energy.

I hope, therefore, you can see why old adversaries should unite to
smash this oligarchy and allow local energy to achieve its full
potential.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_franklin/2006/05/energyillit
erate_ministers_can.html.printer.friendly

http://tinyurl.com/zcbb2

j2997





________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 3
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 4:46am(PDT)
Subject: The local energy revolution

The local energy revolution
Peter Franklin
May 26, 2006 12:25 PM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_franklin/2006/05/energyillit
erate_ministers_can.html

On last week's Question Time, Harriet Harman informed the audience
that nuclear energy supplies between 20% and 25% of our energy. The
next day, another government minister, Caroline Flint, made much the
same claim on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.

I don't suppose either minister was deliberately lying. And I'll
discount the possibility that they had been briefed by liars
determined to deceive the public. But that leaves just one
explanation: that both are ignorant of the basic facts of Britain's
energy situation.

It so happens that nuclear supplies less than 5% of our energy.
Harman and Flint got it so wrong because they made the elementary
error of confusing energy with electricity. Nuclear supplies around
20% of our electricity, which in turn accounts for only about 20% of
Britain's energy demand. The rest is mostly made up of heating and
transport fuels (to which nuclear makes no contribution whatsoever).

Clearly, this is a vital distinction, and by blurring it, ministers
paint a wholly misleading picture.

The awful truth is that most of our politicians are energy
illiterate. If they demonstrated similar levels of ignorance in
economic matters they would not be taken seriously. But as the issue
at hand is a matter of real science rather than the dismal science,
ministers can get away with making sombre statements about the "need"
for nuclear, while we in the audience either nod or shake our heads
in equally sombre reaction.

As a result, everyone misses the point. Energy policy is dominated by
a debate over whether we should replace nuclear's 4% share of supply.
It's time to think bigger than that.

Or, rather, we ought to be thinking small - because the technologies
that could really solve our energy problems are at the opposite end
of the scale from the nuclear behemoth. What I'm referring to goes
under a number of names: microgeneration, micropower and distributed
energy are among them. But let's keep it simple and call it local
energy.

The boiler in your house is one example of local energy. But what if
it generated electricity as well as heat? Domestic combined heat and
power (CHP) systems are already on the market for larger houses. They
cost more than an ordinary boiler but pay back the investment by
generating electricity for less than it costs from the grid. Even
better, you can sell the surplus back to the grid. Or at least, you
could if the regulatory structures weren't so obstructive. And
therein lies the rub.

Few people associate Greenpeace with the drive to reduce regulation
and open up markets to free competition, but that is exactly the
approach they take in their groundbreaking report Decentralising
Power: An Energy Revolution for the 21st Century.

This documents all the ways in which government, in cosy partnership
with the utility companies, frustrates the development of local
energy. For instance, if you want to put a satellite dish on your
roof, it is easy to do. If, however, you want to install a wind
turbine of the same size, you have to apply for planning permission.

It should be said that some local energy technologies are not yet
ready to compete in the open market, but many of them are - if only
they were given a fair chance. Indeed, if the government were to
extend the favours it gives to centralised energy to the local
alternative, we could see the emergence of an entirely new paradigm.

There would be no more national grid: local energy networks would
provide a cheaper, more stable replacement. Worried about the
intermittency of some renewables? Then let your domestic CHP system
switch from heat to electricity production when the wind isn't
blowing or the sun isn't shining. As for carbon emissions, let's cut
them down by cutting out the centralised power stations that cannot
help but waste the heat they by-produce from fossil fuels.

In the future, the possibilities of local energy will multiply. Vijay
Vaitheeswaran, energy correspondent for the Economist, foresees a
future in which fuel cell-driven cars export power to the local grid
while they are parked in the evening but then charge themselves up
overnight to take advantage of off-peak electricity prices. In other
words, local energy has the capacity to create a truly free market in
which energy supply and demand can be managed without the need for
corporate or regulatory bureaucracy.

Vaitheeswaran's book on the subject is entitled Power to the People,
hinting at an emerging alliance between the green left and the
conservative right. It may seem unlikely, but they do have a common
interest in local energy and a common enemy in the form the corporate
interests that currently dominate energy policy.

Consider the combined forces of the New Labour government, the DTI,
Ofgen and the utility companies: an army of politicians, civil
servants, regulators and executives, not one of whom will suffer the
slightest career damage if local energy fails to progress. Now,
consider the opportunities and incentives that these individuals have
to actively oppose the development of local energy.

I hope, therefore, you can see why old adversaries should unite to
smash this oligarchy and allow local energy to achieve its full
potential.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_franklin/2006/05/energyillit
erate_ministers_can.html.printer.friendly

http://tinyurl.com/zcbb2

j2997






________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 4
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 7:33am(PDT)
Subject: World to be even hotter by century’s end

World to be even hotter by century's end



If Earth's past cycles of warming and cooling are any indication,
temperatures by the end of the century will be even hotter than
current climate models predict, according to a report by University
of California, Berkeley, researchers.

The scientists based their conclusion on a study of Antarctic ice
cores containing a 360,000-year record of global temperature and
levels of carbon dioxide and methane - two of the major greenhouse
gases implicated in global warming. They found that during periods of
warming, greenhouse gas levels rose and created significantly higher
temperatures than would be expected solely from the increased
intensity of sunlight that triggered these warm periods.

Though the ice core data do not point to specific processes that
amplify the warming, the researchers suspect that it is due to warmer
soils and oceans giving off more CO2 and methane, which add to the
greenhouse effect of CO2 from fossil fuel burning and other human
activities.

Thus, while current models predict temperature increases of 1.5 to
4.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) from a doubling
of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, the natural processes injecting
more CO2 into the atmosphere will lead to temperature increases of
1.6 to 6 degrees Celsius (2.9 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit), with the
higher temperatures more likely, the researchers said.

"We are underestimating the magnitude of warming because we are
ignoring the extra carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere because
of warming," said John Harte, UC Berkeley professor of energy and
resources and of environmental science, policy & management. "Warming
gets an extra kick from CO2 feedback."

"The warming caused by our release of CO2 triggers changes in the
Earth system that lead to release of more CO2 to the atmosphere,"
added co-author Margaret Torn, a UC Berkeley adjunct associate
professor of energy and resources and staff scientist at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory. "If that is the case, then every bit of
CO2 release now is actually committing us to a larger CO2 change in
the atmosphere."

The result, Harte and Torn conclude in their paper, is "that the
upper value of warming that is projected for the end of the 21st
century, 5.8ºC [10.4ºF], could be increased to 7.7ºC [13.9ºF], or
nearly 2ºC additional warming."

The report is scheduled for publication in the May 26 issue of
Geophysical Research Letters. That issue also will contain an article
that looks at the same effect over a shorter time scale, confirming
the amplification reported by Harte and Torn and suggesting that it
may be even greater.

Current climate models, called General Circulation Models, start from
fundamental physical processes to calculate a probable temperature
increase based on likely atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, typically
a doubling of today's CO2 concentration. These models also include
feedback mechanisms that boost or moderate warming, such as the
increased heat absorption expected when highly reflective ice sheets
and glaciers melt; or the effect of more atmospheric water vapor on
the formation of clouds, which both reflect sunlight and insulate the
Earth.

But models are only now beginning to take into account the extra
carbon dioxide and methane injected into the atmosphere as global
temperatures increase. Though this is expected because warmer soils
decompose faster, releasing more CO2, and because warmer oceans
outgas more CO2, scientists have yet to quantify the full impact of
these processes.

"Without a mechanism, people feel uncomfortable putting these
processes in a model. I think that's a big mistake," Harte said.

Luckily, it's possible to estimate the effect of CO2 feedback by
looking at how the Earth responded to past cycles of warming and
cooling, which were caused by natural variations in the strength of
sunlight hitting Earth, rather than by human production of greenhouse
gases. Ice cores drilled in the Vostok ice sheet in 1998 and 1999 by
Russia, France and the United States span nearly 420,000 years and
carry information about four major climate cycles and many smaller
temperature swings. In 1999, scientists measured CO2 and methane
levels from gas trapped in bubbles in the ice, and have estimated
global temperature based on oxygen isotope and deuterium ratios. UC
Berkeley's Kurt Cuffey, professor of geography and earth and
planetary science, updated these measurements in 2001.

Climate scientists immediately saw that the ice core data imply a
strong positive feedback to global CO2 and methane levels, but how
much this impacted warming trends was unclear.

Harte, a physicist by training, and Torn devised a way to use these
data and current global climate models to estimate the effect of
increased CO2 entering the atmosphere as a result of warming, called
the "gain," analogous to the gain of an electronic amplifier - the
factor by which output power increases. From Cuffey's data, Harte and
Torn were able to extract the effect of temperature on CO2 and
methane levels. They calculated the reverse - the effect of CO2 and
methane levels on temperature, or the so-called climate sensitivity -
from climate models, using a number consistent with a new estimate
published in the April 20 issue of Nature.

Harte and Torn added the resultant gains from CO2 and methane to the
gain already known for other climate feedbacks, in particular the
largest source, increased atmospheric water vapor, to get a total
gain that they used to calculate the temperature increase that would
result from a doubling of current CO2 levels.

Both researchers emphasize that the large temperature range they
predict - 1.6 to 6 degrees Celsius - does not mean that we have an
equal chance of ending up with less warming as with greater warming.
In other words, it doesn't mean that the uncertainties are symmetric
about an average increase of 3.8ºC.

"People see this uncertainty and think that we have an equal
probability of dodging a bullet as catching it. That is a fallacy,"
Torn said.

"By giving the appearance of symmetric feedback, people have an
excuse to say, 'Maybe we don't have to worry so much,'" Harte
said. "But while there are uncertainties in the feedbacks, all the
major feedbacks are positive, meaning they would increase warming,
and we know of no significant negative feedbacks that would slow
warming."

While Harte acknowledges that the future may not look like past
periods of global warming, "in the absence of contradictory evidence,
we have to assume the future will respond like the past."

"Whatever the mechanisms that cause temperature to create a change in
CO2 and methane, they are repeatable again and again and again over
many cooling and warming cycles. So, although the world is different
today than it was then, we don't have a basis for ignoring them,"
Torn added.

Harte has been conducting studies on experimental plots in the Rocky
Mountains that would quantify the effect of warmer temperatures on
soil carbon. He and his colleagues found that artificially heated
plots lost significant soil carbon to the atmosphere as CO2, compared
to control plots. Thus, he said, the effect of heating on the carbon
cycle in his plots is to generate a positive feedback, though he
noted that this might be a short-term effect. The long term effect,
however, is unknown, as is the effect of warming in other habitats.

"We need to know the effect of warmer temperatures in all different
habitats, not just temperate Rocky Mountain forests but also the
tropics and European boreal forests and Eastern U.S. deciduous
forests and savanna and prairie. There are huge data gaps," he said.

Torn noted, however, that humans are the biggest unknown.

"To predict the future, you have to guess how much CO2 levels will go
up. That depends on the biggest uncertainty of all - what humans
decide to do. Do we get smart and prevent CO2 emissions? Do we
continue with business as usual? Or will we end up somewhere in
between?"

The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Climate
Change Research Division and by the National Science Foundation.

  
Weitere Informationen: www.berkeley.edu

http://www.innovations-
report.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/bericht-60303.html

http://tinyurl.com/q8gs8

j2997






________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 5
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 8:08am(PDT)
Subject: Distributed Generation -Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

Distributed Generation -Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

Mark C. Williams' and Hansraj C. Marut

.U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory
3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880
bFuelCell Energy, Inc.
3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
A
bstract: High efficiency and ultra-clean molten carbonate fuel cell
(MCFC) technology development by FuelCel1 Energy, with support from
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has progressed to commercial
power plants for stationary applications such as distributed
generation. Lessons learned from this development will
also be valuable to DOE for the ongoing Solid State Energy Conversion
Alliance (SECA) solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) development and cost
reduction, for fuel cell turbine hybrids, and for hydrogen economy
development with FutureGen.
Keywods: molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), distributed generation,
Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA), solid oxide fuel cell
(SOFC), Fuel Cell Turbine Hybrids.

http://fce.com/downloads/distributed_generation.pdf
(8pages)
j2997






________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message 6
   From: "janson2997" janson1997@yahoo.com
   Date: Fri May 26, 2006 8:10am(PDT)
Subject: Overcoming Energy Security Concerns through Technology-led

Initiatives 

Overcoming Energy Security Concerns through Technology-led
Initiatives 
5.25.06   Pradeep Roy, Senior Consultant, Energy & Utilities, Infosys
Technologies Ltd
Sachin Kumar, Consultant, Energy & Utilities, Infosys Technologies
Limited


Energy is a key building block for sustaining any nation's socio-
economic development. As the global economy continues to grow, global
energy needs as well as global emissions will increase by approx 60%
between 2004 and 2030 as per the World Energy Outlook 2004 published
by the International Energy Agency. Policy makers in developed as
well as developing countries have realized that economic security of
a nation has direct linkage with its energy security; hence for the
sustainable growth of an economy it is essential to ensure the
availability of dependable and affordable energy sources. Table 1
highlights the linkages between issues relating to energy security,
their adverse impact and the mitigation measures.


An article titled "What's next for Big Oil?" recently published in
the McKinsey Quarterly mentions that the major oil companies are
struggling to replenish their reserves amid increased competition for
new sources of petroleum. Figure 1 gives a graphical view of the
Ratio of reserves added (excluding acquisitions) to reserves produced
in given year; for major oil companies.



Nations are now encouraging pragmatic energy policies and
implementing state-of-the-art technology to mitigate the harsh
economic impact of volatile energy prices, global climate change and
to manage their energy security requirements. We believe that
technology innovations can significantly contribute towards the
development of clean, efficient, affordable energy sources over the
longer term, while continuing to contribute towards improving the
efficiency across various segments of the energy value chain.

Increasingly Information Technology (IT) is playing a role of a
facilitator in realizing complete benefits from such innovations.
Such technological breakthroughs will help countries manage the
energy needs of its population, grow their economies and reduce
poverty.

Approaches to enhance energy security

The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EP Act) lays down the guidelines to
incorporate alternative fuels and conserve energy. The goal of the EP
Act is to enhance USA's energy security. Several parts of the EP Act
are designed to encourage the use of alternative fuels to help reduce
U.S. dependence on imported oil.

Any step which contributes towards either creating new sources of
energy or helps in reducing energy consumption enhances energy
security. Encouraging the use of renewable energy sources like bio-
fuels, solar power and wind power through tax credits and other
incentives for such technology innovations will help in reducing our
dependence on fossil fuels whereby enhance energy independence.
Conservation and energy efficiency initiatives also contribute to
enhancing energy security as it results in using less energy for
undertaking the same tasks.

In the World Energy Council report on "Long-term energy Scenarios",
one of the ecologically driven scenarios described, appears to be the
ideal solution for achieving energy independence. This is a scenario
based on new renewable energy resources allowing a gradual phasing
out of most fossil fuel use and also creation of a new generation of
inherently safe small-scale nuclear reactors, which achieve public
and political support. The indicated possibilities over the next
century are huge; For instance, global fossil fuel dependency may
decline from its present 76% to scarcely 20%. There will also be huge
shifts lying behind these global figures. The present developing
countries that accounted for 34% of world primary energy consumption
in 1990 are expected to account for about 50% by 2020, at least 60%
by 2050, and over 70% by 2100.



Technology led energy security initiatives

In this paper we discuss a few of the outstanding technological
breakthroughs that are going to define the energy security strategy
in the 21st century. An environmentally sustainable energy system
necessitates technological breakthroughs, which can bring about a
paradigm shift in the way we extract, produce, deliver and use
energy. Harnessing energy successfully from various sources will
require advanced materials, new designs, and storage solutions.

Recent scientific advances in the field of Nanotechnology will
contribute significantly in developing advanced materials and
devices, which will enhance cost effectiveness and increase
operational effectiveness. Nanotechnology will induce efficiencies in
the entire energy value chain leading to substantial reduction in
energy demand and ecologically sound production of energy, which in
turn will lead to energy independence for energy consuming Nations.

In Power Transmission, a major challenge is to develop new
transmission line materials that are light in weight and have lower
transmission losses. Individual carbon nanotube fibers have an
electrical conductivity similar to or better than copper at only one-
sixth the weight and with negligible eddy current loss. Several
researchers have demonstrated that a carbon nanotube fiber bundle
could carry currents of 100 million amperes per square centimeter –
100 times the current carrying capacity of the best low temperature
superconductors. With current technology, losses in power
transmission lines are about 7% in the United States. Research has
shown that reducing these losses by 1% would result in annual energy
savings of 4×1010 kilowatt-hours – an annual energy savings roughly
equivalent to 24 million barrels of oil.

Fuel cells are a key enabling technology for many renewable energy
systems and represent a critical bridge between traditional fossil-
fuel energy systems and a clean, distributed and diverse energy
infrastructure. Fuel cells and the associated hydrogen-based energy
storage systems also provide a revolutionary opportunity to transform
our energy system from, one based on the instantaneous use of power
generation to one where energy can be efficiently stored and
dispatched.

In a fuel cell, hydrogen and ambient oxygen react electrochemically
to produce water and electricity, without emitting air pollutants or
greenhouse gases. In an electrochemical reaction there is no
combustion, so the efficiency can be far higher than existing
technologies. The only immediate products of the reaction are
electricity, water, and heat.

The most economical way to produce hydrogen at the present time is
from natural gas, through a process known as reforming that does lead
to small air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. However,
hydrogen can also be produced from water and electricity, as well as
from biomass and green algae. If the electricity used to produce the
hydrogen is generated from renewable technologies, then the entire
energy cycle of producing the hydrogen and using it in a fuel cell to
produce electricity is air pollution and greenhouse gas emission
free.

Figure 3 below shows the history of fuels in global use and
envisioned Hydrogen-Energy future. The figure highlights the reducing
dependence on hydrocarbons as the primary energy source by 2100,
which will be substituted with increased usage of hydrogen.



Quantum computing can also significantly contribute towards improving
design and control aspects of energy management systems. These kinds
of computers run with very low energy consumption and are many times
faster than current silicon based computers. Quantum computing relies
on quantum physics by taking advantage of certain quantum physics
properties of atoms or nuclei that allow them to work together as
quantum bits, or qubits, to be the computer's processor and memory.
By interacting with each other while being isolated from the external
environment, qubits can perform certain calculations exponentially
faster than conventional computers with negligible energy consumption.

Artificial Intelligence in electrical power systems can contribute
significantly in demand side management (DSM). Unlike conventional
DSM programs where customers are encouraged to modify their level and
pattern of electricity usage, the intelligent systems would have
electronic intelligence such as a smart chip for every device hooked
to the grid, from power plants to substations to home appliances. The
continual communication and interplay of smart devices will optimize
the grid for economical rates, reliable service and environmentally
clean operations.

IT as a facilitator for realizing these technologies

Leveraging IT will increasingly be a critical lever for optimizing
existing fuel sources, developing new sources, operating and
maintaining assets, manufacturing equipment, delivery, and monitoring
energy use. IT could immensely contribute in the area of introducing
new devices that can operate in real-time, facilitate dynamic
pricing, risk management, demand side management, energy efficiency
and monitoring energy flows. Figure 4 provides a snapshot of the
energy supply & demand - IT imperative relationship in the energy
security space. We are observing an explosion of initiatives in the
drive to ensure energy security and IT has taken a center stage like
never before as a facilitator to realize the benefits from the state-
of-the-art technologies.



Contribution of IT to the energy value chain

In the following section we have provided some of the areas where IT
has been making significant contribution to the various segments of
the energy value towards enhancing energy security.

In the exploration & production segment, IT will facilitate improved
finding and recovery rates and drive efficiencies, for example in:

Estimating reservoir boundaries using of remote inference techniques.
Development of a reservoir simulation model able to accurately
predict the production capacity of a given reservoir.
Assist the line managers and corporate office function in tracking of
production operations.
Delivering new technologies and techniques to increase recovery and
reduce "dry holes".

In the refining segment, IT will improve plant operations, reduce
manpower requirements and drive efficiencies, for example:

Flexible software solution that supports refining operations will
help in managing plant assets more effectively.
IT enabled control systems will help in managing a plant's
operational and environmental performance characteristics and assist
in complying with government regulations.
Software solutions will help manage both sales and purchasing
operations. The system must facilitate the purchase of feedstocks;
help track feedstock and product inventories, demand forecast and
supports tracking of sales of a wide range of fuel outputs. Such
systems will have the ability to easily handle multiple product
origins, multiple units of measurement and multiple currencies.

In the network or delivery segment, IT will improve knowledge of
energy flows to optimize delivery, for example:

IT systems will help track energy flow, usage and losses and also
assist in handling contingencies which may occur for a variety of
operational and accounting-related reasons.

In the consumption or end-use segment, IT will be a key factor in
delivering advanced devices to enable demand side management and
reduce overall demand, for example devices such as:

Automatic Demand Controllers
Tools for monitoring equipment performance in energy-intensive
industries

Conclusion

By 2030, there is likely to be even further changes to the energy mix
and the way energy delivery systems operate. We are of the opinion
that advanced, efficient, cleaner, affordable energy technologies
will play a key role in managing the energy demand to improve energy
security and IT will be a key enabler in the implementation of all
such technology led solutions. IT and the state-of-the-art
technologies discussed in this article have a symbiotic relationship
as behind the successful development and deployment of these advanced
technologies is IT based systems without which it would be impossible
to derive the benefits from such technological breakthroughs.

With Diagrams & Charts

http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_print.cfm?a_id=1270

j2997





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