Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Energy Analytics

Often time’s people get caught up on ‘the rage’. Whether it is the miracle ‘clean’ energy of Oil in the 30’s, or the nuclear boom in the 1950’s and 60’s, people seem to get engrossed with the newest, hippest technology of the day, and then fall by the wayside.

Is this necessarily bad? No. The progression of energy and energy sources has led to more and more innovation. Today, we are presented with an number of energy sources never previously thought possible. Coal, oil, natural gas, solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, you name it! And for every energy source you name, there are probably 3 or 4 that you haven’t even heard of. Cell extraction, nanotech magnetization, reverse plasmatic thermal gasification. There are countless processes to store, harness, or extract energy.

In fact, there are so many methods for energy storage and production that it gets difficult to truly asses which ones are the best. There are so many varying criteria of importance that it is ruthlessly difficult to put a finger on what is the ‘premier energy source’.

Take, for example, the issue with first generation biofuels. 20 years ago, biofuel from corn was hailed as the energy of the future. It was a way that the American heartland, which is rich in farms but dry in oil, could attain energy independence from the leash of the Middle East. However, it didn’t take long before people realized that the extra fertilizer, land, and water inputs into the corn stock were simply not worth it. Not to mention, the energy that pumped the water and drove the trucks to tend the crops was petroleum based. At the end of the day, it was close to a one-to-one ration between then energy that went into producing a unit of energy of biofuel.

Not to mention, there were some serious economic issues. When you take food and turn it into energy, you drive up prices of both. Where do we draw the line?

Second generation biofuels, based off of algae and cellulose seemed to mitigate these problems, yet as we see: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=algae-biofuel-growth-environmental-impact. There are still some issues that are unresolved.

So what is the point? To do nothing? Absolutely not.

However, the lesson is that people must fully evaluate, understand, and measure their energy decisions before leaping. Of course, this is a statement that is easy to state in hindsight. Nonetheless, there are many tools with which people can measure their energy decisions.

Evaluating an energy thought comes down to three crucial questions:

1) What are the social implications of this technology?

2) What are the environmental implications of this technology?

3) What are the economic implications of this technology?

Answering these three questions FULLY can give a sense of the true value of an energy related decision. Let us take, for example, the issue with Nuclear. There are definitely negative social implications due to the underlying issues on meltdown and weaponization. Environmentally, Nuclear is fantastic in the short term, however has some serious limitations in long term storage and management. And finally, economically, nuclear is a great success since plants are generally economically profitable after only 2-5 years.

Although a true run through of the process should incorporate many more decision weighing techniques such as economic forecasting and life cycle analytics, the main tenements of fully questioning the worth MUST be present.

It should be noted that when looking at the value of a project, numerous sites can assist in laying groundwork for the economic value. In particular with renewables, this is often an issue when it comes to implementing and enacting projects. www.energygridiq.com is proud to be a provider of assistance when it comes to accrediting project worth.

With all of this in mind, it is crucial to weigh energy decisions carefully. Do not fall for the salesmanship of a renewable energy source just because it has a nice social and environmental swing. Similarly, don’t leap towards coal because it will keep some money in your pocket. Weigh the decisions fully. There is no ‘right’ answer in energy situation, so it all comes down to you. 

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