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| Image credit: Pelican Web |
Having done that, lets get down to some energy business. I am starting by being rhetoric in asking this, who does not like clean things? Okay no answer, so I am answering myself by ascertaining that I am the only one who does (just kidding), we all do. But do we take into cognizance the fact that there is always a cost for anything to come in clean and pure state, as far as planet earth is concerned there is always a cost associated and this cost always involves energy conversion from one state to the other hence obeying the first law of thermodynamics. I am pretty sure what I stated above makes
a little bit of no-sense, it is an analogy to clean energy (Renewable Energy), yes we all love the idea of world energy system dominated by Renewable Energy, mainly because they are inexhaustible and do not combust to give off climate threatening emissions, how marvelous it seems, that advocates backing it will propound arguments upon arguments supporting it as the solution to energy challenges facing us all, but then there are issues surrounding renewable energy systems which will be briefed in this post.
Successfully commercialized and known renewable energy systems include Solar Cells (PV's and Solar thermal), Wind Turbines, Biomass, Geothermal and Hydropower, those still in R and D (Research and Development) phase include Ocean wave and Tidal Energy, while hydrogen fuel is on a different accord as it can be produced both from renewable source and non-renewable source. I failed to mention earlier that the main source of energy for both renewable and non-renewable energy (fossil energy) is from the sun, the difference is that, in the case of fossil fuel, it has been stored within sedimentary layers beneath the earth surface in stock quantities for millions of years, while recent renewables are obtained directly at instant time, the difference between the two can be related to stored data and real-time data. Yes renewable energy is great, sustainable and does not pollute, but then it posses its own constraints, which are environmental, cost and energy demand related, in most cases the environmental constraints facing them is related to land space required if large arrays are to be installed to contribute a substantial amount to the energy mix mostly in case of Photo Voltaic (PV) Solar Cells and onshore Wind turbines which have been protested against to cause visual blights, noise and harm to migrating birds that pass between the blades. Biomass faces land space constraint of competing with agriculturally edible products, hydropower is said to obstruct or influence the ecosystem of aquatic organisms, while also causing flood in surrounding dammed areas leading to evacuation of residents. Constraints facing geothermal are minimal and mostly entail leakage of particulates which is given off in the process, this is however always well curtailed as it is often re-injected in a continuous cycle. The overall major constraint facing them is the intermittent energy supply and capital intensiveness associated with the construction and the economic viability of energy produced to that produced by fossil fuel in the international markets.
Having sorted that out to certain extent, lets take a look at another major underlying factor known as population. While 1/3rd of the world's population currently utilize 80% of the world's energy which is mainly concentrated in developed nations, with a current world population of about 6 billion plus estimated to increase to between 9 and 12 billion by 2030-2050, that is an astonishing 33%-50% increase in population, majority of which will take place in developing nations in areas like South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with that there is a projected increase in per capita income, which means per capita consumption is bound to increase, hence per capita production which leads to intense energy demand to cushion the useful service it provides inform of electricity, oil and gas. The challenge in hindsight thus is this, can a total renewable energy system meet the expected demand of the projected population growth to support the impending economic activities? even though some peculiar ones such as wind and biomass have continued to grow in contribution to total world energy mix year in year out with data available from IEA world energy outlook, OECD, IAEA and all, the overall contribution is still pretty much negligible. Advocates have argued that a continuous increasing trend is expected particular with gradual diffusion of solar cells, thereby causing a decrease in price per unit installed capacity, it as also been viewed as a prominent electricity source in regions with epileptic or poor energy supply particularly in developing nations. The main bone of contention is the fact that economy of scale and economy of productivity of renewable energies are still yet to match that of cheap fossil fuel, they are expensive, yes, but then they give pay back within a certain period of time and the reality is that man is not really patient to await pay back.
Another dicey situation will arise from the fact that economic prosperity of any nation is strongly tied to its energy, hence, reason why wealth of developed nations was built on cheap fossil energy starting from the industrial revolution age. But then, considering the issues currently facing the international community on climate change and global warming which were largely caused by industrialization of developed nations mainly by fossil energy sources, there has been intensified interest in fashioning out energy source which are sustainable to mitigate the environmental impact the current energy source posses. These thus leads to the issue of resource depletion, and uneven distribution, which makes some nations which have these resources particularly crude oil concentrated in them determine the flow of energy prices in international markets which always have negative economic effect on dependent nations. That is why there are organizations like OPEC, a memorable event which triggered interest in other energy sources can be attributed to the Oil price shock of 1970's and early 1980's, caused majorly due to conflicts in middle-east which holds the worlds largest resource of conventional fossil energy, however, there have been predictions upon predictions that the fossil energy resource of the world is near extinction, as one of my lecturers rightly said, when he was in school in the 70's and 80's they were told the fossil energy resource has a life time of 40 years, which according to him is supposed to be gone by now, apparently with increase technological development, more and more reserves are been discovered, and unconventional means of exploration has been perfected with a typical example of oil sands in Canada and shale oil and gas in U.S. These have been explored and stood economically viable at the current energy price in the international markets, with estimated reserves and resources dubbed to last at least 200-300 years, depending on rate of utilization.
Going back to the environmental impact issue, debate has ensued on whether it is environmentally sensible to keep depleting natural resources purely for economic gains whereas renewable energy sources could be diffused to a commercially affordable state and not merely a show of wealth energy by those who can afford it. Others have argued that the environmental impact of continued exploitation of fossil energy whether or not it will last centuries will eventually trigger a shift in energy source pattern, as it has been ascertained that the current level of greenhouse gas emissions in tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere has already exceeded its limit in parts per million (ppm), warning that if business as usual is continued, there is a possibility that the environment might be damaged beyond repairs with great consequence for us all as climate knows no boundary. Hence, reason why most energy companies and Oil giants have started investing largely in renewable energy sources, improved technologies to mitigate emissions from flue gas from plants chimneys like CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage), improved efficiency in energy conversion with CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine), ICCGT (Integrated Combined Cycle Gas Turbine), and hydrogen-fuel cells.
Examining the concept of sustainability in relation to energy provision, the truth is, there is no clear cut answer to the energy challenges facing us just yet, trade-offs will always have to be accounted for. As my sustainable energy lecturer said, if there was a perfect answer to these challenges, then there would be absolutely no need for different energy sources, one particular source will be adhered to. However, with the immense expected population growth, there is bound to be an immense energy demand to cushion the impending economic activities yet to occur.......Concluding post to come subsequently
(Ibraheem Kolawole BEng is a Civil Engineer, a Part-time Blogger and an Energy and Industrial Sustainability MSc candidate at De-Montfort University)
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