1. Sustainable Electric Power
Scott Norr, P.E.
EE 4501
September 20, 2016

2. Electric Power Delivery and Consumption Getting More Complex
More Environmental Issues - SUSTAINABILITY
Greater Population Density
Larger Variety of Sources, Delivery Methods and Loads
Aging Infrastructure Undergoing Life Extension
New Technology Blended with Old – Grid is Already Pretty Smart

3. ELECTRIC DEMAND Demand growing 0.9% per year in U.S.
Source: Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook (

4. World Energy Consumption
US – 5% of population
using 20% of
world resources
505 Quad
In 2008
Source: Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook (

5. Electric Grid – Efficiency Generation is the Weak Link (40% Limit on Thermal Efficiency)
Lighting: 100 Lumps IN, 1 Lump OUT???
Courtesy of Tom Ferguson

6. Electric Generation Changing to Meet Demand
Large, Centralized Plants (Rarely, now)
Small, Modular, Distributed Plants
Also, Siting Renewable Generation where it makes Sense (and Profit)

7. Large Plants Environmental Issues Fossil Fuels Location/Siting
Outlet Transmission

8. HydroElectric No Longer “Clean Energy”
3 Gorges Dam – China – 20,000 MegaWatts
Hoover Dam – US – 2,000 MegaWatts
Eoearth.org

9. Large Plants (Cont.) We’ll See New Ideas for Big Plants:
Coal is dirty – so … “Clean Coal”!
Wind and Solar are expensive and intermittent: Large-scale and Storage Needed
Geothermal has limited application: Low-Temp
Biomass puts pressure on agriculture: Cellulose
Nuclear is Tricky: Gen IV Nuclear?

10. Clean Coal 2% Growth in all Coal Gen, 345 GW in 2012 (Natural Gas is too cheap!!)
Coal Gasification (Combined Cycle) - Low Emmissions
Potential for Carbon Sequestration

11. WIND 25% growth, 60 GW in 2012
Wind Generators currently very popular (Several Thousand MWs in Upper Midwest
More and more Cost Effective
(4 - 5 Cents/KWH)
Not a Cure-All - never
windy when you need it most
Difficult to Dispatch
Source: Town of Hendricks, MN

12. Solar Electricity 80% growth, 11 GW in 2012
Photvoltaics
Electricity Directly from Sunlight
Low Conversion efficiency
Fairly High Cost
Solar Potential:
US uses 100 Quad of Energy
each year
38,200 Quad of Solar Energy
hits the lower 48 each year
BUT ONLY WHEN THE SUN SHINES …

13. New Solar Ideas: 3-D PhotoVoltaic Cells
New Breakthroughs in Nano-Materials greatly increase the effective surface area of a Solar Cell and its ability to catch reflected light
Theoretically 50%-70% efficient
Very High Cost
Solar Concentrators
Simple Idea used in Space
– Collect More Sunlight for your Existing Cells
- Combine Solar Electric AND Solar Thermal
Graphene??

14. Current Photovoltaic Technologies

15. Thin Film Solar: Convert your window into a solar panel
How do you wire all your windows together, safely?

16. Solar Isn’t Necessarily Simple:
Uneven Shading or internal defects can cause Hot Spots on a panel.
This can reduce panel productivity or WORSE…

17. Solar Flare
greentechmedia.com
Fire safety and Electric Safety will lead to new regulations for Solar Panels

18. Houston, We Have a Storage Problem:
Renewables
are not
“Dispatchable”
Courtesy of
Tom Ferguson
If we could
Store energy
when available
for use when
it’s not….

19. Energy Storage Technology: We’re not ready yet
Source: Haresh Kamath, EPRI PEAC

20. Promising Battery Tech: Polymer Ionic Liquid (PIL) lithium battery

21. Tesla Power Wall

22. 92% “DC Efficiency”, Elon? What about AC?
92% under ideal duty for a NEW battery
Drops off quickly for irregular charge/ discharge profile
Drops off to 80% with age
Another 3-5% loss to make AC (Inverter losses)
Valøenaa, et. al. – “THE EFFECT OF PHEV AND HEV DUTY CYCLES ON BATTERY AND BATTERY PACK PERFORMANCE

23. Tesla Economics
mnpower.com
Tesla adds between $0.12 and $0.20 per kWh to any installation (such as solar or wind)
At present in MN, Net Metering Cost Recovery makes this unattractive
cleantechnica.com
Future changes to rates (real-time price, PP Tariffs) could
change the economics drastically!

24. Minnesota Power Pilot Rate:

25. Geothermal 5% Growth, 3 GW in 2010
Extract Hot Water from the Earth
Use the Hot Water (low temp) or Flash to Steam (high temp)
11 GW installed capacity worldwide (2010)
Capacity growing at 5% worldwide (5yr Avg)
Excellent Idea for Home Use – Ground Source Heat Pumps

26. Binary-Cycle Plant (Geothermal)

27. Levelized Electricity Costs for New Plants, 2015 and 2030
Source: EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2015

28. DEMAND SIDE
Conservation Through:
Market Pricing
Efficient Products

29. IBM Predicts the Future of Electric Energy Use
“The future of energy and utilities”

30. Market Pricing
Utilities MUST and will adapt (slowly!) to the changing market:
- Energy Prices becoming De-Regulated
- Shop around for a better provider
- Time of Day Rates
- New Equipment to Automate Pricing:
- Smart Meters
- Smart Appliances

31. Smart Meters Talks to Electric Company
Talks to Consumer About Hourly Prices and Hourly Consumption
Tells Appliances what
current Price is
Shops Around for a Better Rate?
Source: elster.com and en.wikipedia.org

32. Efficient Products
Smart Appliances run only when energy is cheapest, talk to each other and to the Electric Utility
Passive Solar Thermal Designs and Devices
Energy Efficient Home Designs and Ground-Source Heat Pumps

33. Sustainability More than Conservation More than Smart Energy Use
Being Responsible with ALL resources and Preserving Them for the Future
“7th Generation” Concept

34. Sustainability at UMD
umdsustain.wp.d.umn.edu

35. CONCLUSIONS
New Social Pressures and New Technologies are both changing and complicating the way we convert and use energy
In a World with 7.3 Billion People (9 Billion by 2030), We MUST become more mindful of How and Why We Use Energy. (

36. WEB References National Renewable Energy Labs
Electric Power Research Institute
US Dept. of Energy
Energy Information Association