With population and energy demands at an all time high, there is keen competition between the developers of renewable energy for a meaningful share of the energy market. While it is unlikely that a single alternative or renewable energy source could meet the needs of the entire world, it is important to look at just how much energy each type of renewable energy source could provide.
This article will look at several of commercially viable renewable energies in an effort to shed light on the following questions. Could a single energy source power the world ? If such a farm were somehow possible, what would it look like? Finally, what are the pros and cons of attempting this and would it be at all practical?
The DOE (US Department Of Energy), reports that the total world consumption of all commercial sources of energy can be expressed as about 508 x E15 BTU (British Thermal Units) or 508,000,000,000,000,000 BTU. This includes all liquid and gas fuels, nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, and wind turbine power. In order for a single renewable energy source to power the world, it would be required to produce 508 x E15 BTU per year. [1][2]
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Wind Power
The Pacific Northwest Laboratory of the DOE has calculated that 5.6 x E11 Kilowatt hours (1.91E15 BTU,) or about 15% of the electrical energy used in one year in the US, can be generated by wind turbines and the equipment required to maintain and harvest that energy, in an area of roughly 30 mi x 30 mi, or about 900 sq. mi total.
This does not include the interstitial and surrounding areas left untouched by the wind farms (i.e., cities, animal and plant food farms, roads etc.) DOE estimates that area would include about 6% per cent of the land area of the lower 48 states. This area is about 18,000 sq. mi and is about the size of four counties in Montana.
Making the necessary calculations, (508 x E15 BTU total world energy divided by 1.91 x E15 BTU produced by wind farms in an area the size of four counties in Montana) times the area in those four counties (i.e., 18,000 sq. mi) yields a number of about 4.8 million sq. mi.
By comparison, the total world land mass is 57.3 million sq. mi, and the US land mass area is 3.7 million sq. miles. This means that based on the DOE’s study the world would need an area slightly more than 1.25 times the size of the United States to generate the wind power needed to equal all forms of the energy it currently uses!
Proponents of wind power believe that with the advent of 5 Megawatt super wind turbines with extended propeller designs, coupled with the extensive use of off shore wind farms, and ever improved efficiencies, this picture will change to a more manageable number.
It’s also important to note, that the actual area that would be occupied by wind mill equipment, is 5% of the above number for total land area needed for wind mill farms in the above scenario, or about 239,000 square miles, (about 90% the size of Texas). It’s also very important to note that calculations such as the one above, do not take into account energy conversion into different forms of portable energy, such as auto fuels, or the need to place wind turbines in areas with adequate wind velocities.
Critics of wind power, cite the cost of transportation and maintenance, and perhaps as importantly, the potential effects on the ecosystem and local weather patterns. Based on its current implementation and due to the demand of energy savings, it is reasonable to assume that wind power will supply a much greater portion of the world’s energy in coming generations, as the technology improves. [3]
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Solar power
Commercial Solar power has also been shown to yield promise as a widely used energy source. The design for SoCal Edison Power Company’s solar park project was scheduled to begin construction in 2008. The design consists of 22,000 computerized solar dishes, with a total park area of 7 sq. mi. The solar park is estimated to yield 4.38 x E9 Kilowatt hrs or 15 billion BTU of energy per year.
Performing similar calculations to the wind power example above, it is estimated that about 238, 000 sq. mi. of land area would be needed to provide the total annual energy the world uses, from all contributing forms of energy. This is about 90% of the area of Texas. It’s important to remember that this calculation is based on SoCal Edison’s estimates for their solar farm design.
Stirling Energy Systems has a solar park design with 12,000 computerized solar dishes in an area of 3.1 sq. miles that is estimated to yield about 9.7 billion BTU. Running the same calculations for a world powered by the Stirling Energy Systems design, the land mass area needed would be 158,000 sq. mi. This is about the size of California. The advances in solar technology predicted could reduce the size of land in square miles needed considerably.
Solar power has many advantages over other forms of energy. There is no pollution from the use and transfer once the panels are installed. The advantage for Solar Power over Wind Power (Land Based) is that Wind power creates noise pollution. Solar panels can be installed on the tops of buildings and can be aid in reducing power consumption in the home.
Some of the disadvantages of Solar power are it’s cost, the impaired performance of the solar cells in areas with polluted air (i.e. large cities) and the effect that inclement weather has on the collection of sunlight. The last disadvantage is that the solar panels are only working half the time - no energy can be generated at night due to the loss of sunlight. [4]
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Nuclear Power
There are 436 operational nuclear power plants in the world. These power plants account for about 18% of the total energy produced from all commercial sources in the world. This means that all of the world’s energy produced by commercial sources could be produced by 2,400 nuclear reactors. This would be a logical choice for solving the world’s energy needs, except for the dangers to people and the ecosystem that this power source poses.
Possible failure modes include a release of radiation due to a meltdown, an act terrorism, a release from a storage facility, or an accident/ terrorism during material transit. Cyclotron transmutation of radioactive elements has been considered by cyclotron researchers, but no practical solutions to the occurrence have emerged yet. Additionally, the energy that would be required for such a processes may have a significant effect on over all energy producing efficiency. [2][5]
No Single Source
There are no “ready-made” or “wave the magic wand” solutions to the world’s ever growing needs for energy efficiency. Wind and Solar energy make compelling cases for producing commercially via renewable energy to serve the world’s needs. Over the next generation, these energy sources along with hydroelectric power and other renewable energy sources are expected to be developed into robust and reliable alternatives to coal, nuclear, natural gas, and petroleum energy sources.
1. http://www.doe.gov
2. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/highlights.html
3. http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/050629_Wind_Wildlife_FAQ.pdf
4. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050819_0041_tc024.htm
5. http://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/n/nuclear-power-plant-world-wide.htm
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