Publisher's Synopsis
Alarmed by energy security & environmental concerns, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation & Clean Development Mechanism, and the Emission Trading Mechanism as well as the Net-zero 2050 target, are driving the Energy Transition. IOC's are investing in Offshore Wind, Biofuels, Solar, Hydropower, CCS, Hydrogen, Electric Vehicles, Energy Efficiency & REDD+ projects. Challenges include intermittency & high CAPEX, but low OPEX. While hydro and wind power turbines are rotated by water and wind currents respectively, solar PV and biofuels have no boiler, turbine, nor alternating current generator, as solar converts sunlight to direct current via the photovoltaic effect, while biomass energy is harnessed through fermentation processes. The most firmly established biofuels are ethanol, ETBE & FAME. Ethanol can be blended with gasoline; biodiesel with diesel, and biokerosene with biojet fuel. 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation biofuels are produced from food crops, plant residues & algae respectively, while biodiesel & renewable diesel are made by mixing fats/oils with methanol & hydrogen respectively. Geothermal energy from the natural heat of the earth is mainly due to natural radioactive isotopes of uranium, thorium and potassium decay, resulting in earth's surface heat flow averages of 82mW/m2 (about 42 million megawatts). Nuclear power's feedstock, uranium cannot be combusted directly, as it must undergo conversion, enrichment and fabrication before use as a final fuel in nuclear reactor cores. It also has high CAPEX & OPEX. Challenges include HSE risks and risk of nuclear bomb production if waste ends up with terrorists or rogue states. Electric vehicles rely on batteries as their only source of energy and are only as clean as their electricity source. Of the 1 billion cars on the world's roads, 2 to 3 million are pure battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Challenges are speed, availability & charging infrastructure reliability. Though, gaseous fuels have very good WtW balance, their use requires adapted engine calibration, storage & distribution networks. Hydrogen can be used in fuel cell vehicles, as electrons are drawn from the anode to the cathode through an external circuit, producing direct current. As a portable energy carrier, it is an exciting choice for climate change control since it only emits water, when it reacts with oxygen. If produced as green Hydrogen, which uses clean electricity to split water molecules, it will displace fossil fuel. The catalysis of natural gas & water mixture at high temperature produces a mixture of CO and hydrogen, known as syngas. The CO is converted to CO2, captured and stored with CCS/CCUS - grey hydrogen. Although this process generates significant CO2, it can become almost emission-free if coupled to a CCS to store carbon - blue hydrogen. As a highly explosive gas, hydrogen will have to be treated with care when used to fill vehicles. It requires high tankage weights and high storage vessel pressures. According to the Kaya equation, the major transport system sustainability parameters are energy carbon intensity, energy intensity per km, average distance traveled per vehicle and the global fleet of vehicles. Chapters: Climate Change & Mitigation Strategies; Renewables, Intermittency, Nuclear, Geothermal & Energy Efficiency; Hydropower: The Largest Global Renewable Energy & its Expansion Potential; Researching the Energy Transition; Infrastructure Planning, Innovation & Public Engagement; Energy Security, Mgt. & Low Carbon Fuels; Environmental Policy Instruments & Markets; Global Energy Policy & Economics; Energy Transition Strategy in the Oil & Gas Industry; Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Power, Hydrogen, Electric Vehicles & Renewables; Energy Transition Strategy, Technologies & Investment and the Decarbonization of Electricity & Sustainable Transportation.
