1. Presentation by Trevor Branton on Energy Choices
Received on Thursday 22nd November 2007
At the Co-op training centre Ipswich.

2. ENERGY OPTIONS Fossil Fuels Nuclear Wind Waves Tides Sun Biomass
Heat inside the earth

3. ELECRICITY USAGE

4. Fossil Fuels Availability/Demand – World
Depleting resources — Dash for Gas
Fuel or Raw Material?
Security of supply — Georgia
Political — Iraq, Middle East
Cost - Fluctuation and dependence
Global Warming
Acid Rain
Transport
Fuel
Ash Disposal

5. Nuclear Energy
Siting Demand Grid Connections Foundations Cooling Water
Sizewell A Magnox
Capacity 420 MW (Supply homes)
Lifetime Availability ~75%
Typical Annual Production units
1 tonne Uranium tonnes coal (Magnox)
1 tonne Uranium tonnes coal (PWR)
Unit of Comparison Sizewell A Output
Sizewell B is equivalent to 3 Sizewell A Output
30 times Fibropower at Eye = Sizewell A Output

6. Coal Equivalent and Emissions
Sizewell A Lifetime Electricity Production
Electricity Production units
Fossil Plant Efficiency 35%
Total Heat Equivalent MWh GJ
Calorific Value of Coal 23.5 GJ/tonne
Coal Equivalent 48.1 million tonnes
Ash Produced 13.5 million tonnes
C02 Production million tonnes

7. WIND ENERGY British Wind Energy Association Installed Capacity 1200 MW
Average Availability 300 MW
Cost 500 MW Capacity £800 Million MW Output £3200 Million
Environment 1200 MW East Anglia
Wildlife Bird strike
Visual On shore Wales Lewis
Noise Radio Interference Reliability
Availability 25% When the ~jg~ wind blows
About 75% of Sizewell A output.

8. Wave Power Another form of wind power (BWEA) Potential 120 000 MW
Difficult Technology
Engineering problems are clearly formidable
(Pilot plants keep getting washed away, damaged or corroded up)
Getting the power ashore over long distances
No practical energy extraction demonstrated
Economics are speculative
Variations Winter Storms/Summer Calms
Scottish Isles - Small unit

9. Tides La Rance Small pilot scheme 12.4 hour cycle and 14 day cycle
Power approx. Tidal Range - Twice
Time of high tide changes daily
Severn Estuary 2.5 to 14 times Sizewell A
Very high capital costs — cf Thames Barrier
Long construction times
Environmental Impact
Weston-super-Mare 2 miles of mud
Wildlife Waders displaced
Shipping Restrictions

10. The Sun
Each year the Earth receives from the Sun times the energy consumed in 1970.
Solar Domestic Water Heating (5% of energy use)
Is it becoming more viable?
(Financial benefit cf interest from capital)
Solar Electricity Generation
Timing — energy need when Sun is not out
Britain one third of Sahara radiation
Very variable, particularly in Winter
Large collecting areas needed
High Capital Cost Service Life
£ installation — how much for £7500?

11. Biomass Sunlight harnessed by biological conversion Trees for fuel
Sugar and crops into alcohol
Algae into methane
Efficiency of sunlight into energy ~ 1%
Coniferous trees would need to cover 50% of land area to meet country’s energy needs. (Plus 20% to meet husbandry energy needs)
Sizewell A 3 to 4 million tonnes of wood
Fuel v Food - Mexico - Economics

12. Biomass — Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil use in UK tonnes/year
Could produce 40 MW from generation = units per day
A fry-up typically consumes 1 unit = fry ups/day
Therefore the recycling of waste vegetable oil could produce sufficient energy to be self sustaining.

13. Geothermal In theory — everything going for it BUT
Depth at which useful temperature occurs is dependent on how long ago there was volcanic activity.
Iceland and New Zealand Relatively recent — high geothermal gradient
UK 55 million years — low geothermal gradients 25 °C per kilometre
Test Site on Cheshire/Shropshire 16°C
Los Alamos Geothermal Test Site 100°C per kilometre
Would require at least an 8 kilometre deep hole costs and difficulty increase rapidly with increasing depth.

14. UK ELECTRICITY FUEL MIX
Gas 39% MW
Coal 33% MW
Nuclear 21% MW
Other (Oil) 3% 1500 MW
Renewable 4% 2000 MW
Hydro Resource nearly fully utilised
Biomass Fibropower
Wind
Nuclear (2006) MW
Nuclear (Current) MW
Nuclear (After 2010) ‘~ 9600 MW