Towards an Ethical and Ecological Approach to Electricity Generation: A Comparative Analysis of Coal and Nuclear Power in the USA

According to the US Energy Information Administration, about 4118 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) electricity was generated at large-scale generation facilities in 2019. About 63% of this was from fossil fuels, e.g., coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. Environmental exposure to particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, arsenic, radioactive fly ash, and other pollutants are extremely detrimental to the human cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. Such exposure increases the risk of lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, respiratory infections, and other illnesses. In light of the challenges associated with renewables providing large quantities of base load power, as well as other factors, the benefits offered by nuclear power should be reexamined by policy makers to move the country towards a more ecological and ethical method of electric power production. This paper offers a concise analysis of many of the salient issues, comparing electricity generation from coal plants and light water nuclear reactors.

An Overview on Piezoelectric Power Generation System for Electricity Generation

Coal, petroleum and natural gas will still be the basis of economic development for a long time. However, with a rapider consumption speed, these fossil fuels will be exhausted in the near future. In addition, the usage of these fossil fuels can also cause environmental pollution and greenhouse effect. To deal with energy security and environmental crisis, it is wise to work towards three directions: energy saving and emission reduction, energy recovery, exploration of new renewable energy. Currently, the electricity generation technology using piezoelectric material to recover the compressional or vibrational energy begins to draw attention. However, most of the researches are devoted to designing small self-powered devices. This paper presents an overview of the feasibility of piezoelectric power generation system for electric power system, in which the fundamentals of piezoelectric power generation and the feasible structure of the system are discussed.

Thermo-Dynamical Analysis on Electricity-Generation Subsystem of CAES Power Plant

Besides pumped hydropower, Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is the other solution for large energy storage capacity. It can balance fluctuations in supply and demand of electricity. CAES is essential part of smart power grids. Linked with the flow structure and dynamic characteristic of electricity generation subsystem and its components, a simulation model is proposed. Thermo-dynamical performance on off-design conditions have been analyzed with constant air mass flux and constant gas combustion temperature. Some simulation diagrams of curve are plotted too. The contrast of varied operation mode thermal performance is made between CAES power plant and simple gas turbine power plant.

Influences of uncertainties to the generation feasible region for medium- and long-term electricity transaction

For the implementation of power market in China,medium-and Iong-term security checks are essential for bilateral transactions,of which the electricity quantity that constitutes the generation feasible region(GFR)is the target.However,uncertainties from load forecasting errors and transmission contingencies are threats to medium-and Iong-term electricity tradi ng in terms of their in flue nces on the GFR.In this paper,we prese nt a graphic distortio n pattern in a typical threegenerator system using the Monte Carlo method and projection theory based on security constrained economic dispatch.The underlying potential risk to GFR from uncertainties is clearly visualized,and their impact characteristics are discussed.A case study on detailed GFR distortion was included to dem on strate the effectiveness of this visualization model.The result implies that a small uncertainty could distort the GFR to a remarkable extent and that different line-contingency precipitates disparate the GFR distortion patterns,thereby eliciting great emphasis on load forecasting and line reliability in electricity transacti ons.

Power Quality Issues Concerning Photovoltaic Generation and Electrical Vehicle Loads in Distribution Grids

The high utilization level of renewable generation including residential photovoltaic (PV) systems together with the uncontrolled charging of electric vehicles (EVs) can have a significant impact on load characteristics in distribution networks. Harmonic content of PV generation, EV charging loads, and their influence on power quality indicators in residential distribution networks are discussed in this paper. For investigating likely power quality scenarios, PV generation and EV charging measurement results including current harmonic amplitude and phase angle values are used and compared with present load characteristics. Different modelling scenarios are analysed and a simplified model of harmonics in PVs and EVs is offered. The results of the study show moderate additional harmonic distortion in residential load current and voltage distortion at the substation’s busbar when PV generation and EV loading are added. The scenarios presented in this paper can be further used for modelling the actual harmonic loads of the PVs and EVs in distribution networks.

Technical Analysis: Generation of Electricity by Pyrolysis of Plastics in a Canadian Environment

The study takes motivation from provincial and national issues regarding waste management and electricity production in Canada.Most sources include previous research relating pyrolysis’applications in different parts of the world.The research included 2-3 weeks of extensive reading of previous research and understanding the theory relating polymers.Research has been conducted to understand why polymers have the properties that they do.Thorough analysis about the chemical reactions relating polymers on a small and large scale is conducted.More research was conducted relating to socio-economic conditions of Canada and Singapore for application purposes.Findings of the research point to an addition the Canadian government can uphold i.e.,build more plastic pyrolysis plants in different regions for waste management.Our findings also suggest that the short term spending on such projects can yield long term benefits.This research is important because it will solve Canada’s non-recyclable waste problems,it will help bring in a new source of electricity and it will help increase the budget of municipalities in the long run.This paper is not just informative on polymers,but also will help readers understand issues regarding Canadian waste management and propose possible solutions.

Development modes analysis of renewable energy power generation in North Africa

North African countries generally have strategic demands for energy transformation and sustainable development.Renewable energy development is important to achieve this goal.Considering three typical types of renewable energies—wind,photovoltaic(PV),and concentrating solar power(CSP)—an optimal planning model is established to minimize construction costs and power curtailment losses.The levelized cost of electricity is used as an index for assessing economic feasibility.In this study,wind and PV,wind/PV/CSP,and transnational interconnection modes are designed for Morocco,Egypt,and Tunisia.The installed capacities of renewable energy power generation are planned through the time sequence production simulation method for each country.The results show that renewable energy combined with power generation,including the CSP mode,can improve reliability of the power supply and reduce the power curtailment rate.The transnational interconnection mode can help realize mutual benefits of renewable energy power,while the apportionment of electricity prices and trading mechanisms are very important and are related to economic feasibility;thus,this mode is important for the future development of renewable energy in North Africa.

Wireless Power Generation Strategy Using EAP Actuated Energy Harvester for Marine Information Acquisition

The energy of a radio wave is reduced through the dispersion, the refraction and the absorption because the medium transferring the vibration of a radio wave is the seawater. In the end the reduced energy of a radio wave causes the reduced transmitting length for communication, the long postponed communication and the frequent error. The subsea communication for the marine environment monitoring which must overcome the weak points of the RF wave and the most practical method for the marine sensor network realization is to use the acoustic wave method, but the energy consumption rate of the acoustic wave communication method is about 100 times greater than the one of the RF wave method. So, the power supply of the sensor node in the marine sensor network system is the most important interest field. In this study, the sample which consists of an acrylic elastomer(VHB4905 film from 3M), conductible carbon grease(from MG chemical) and electric wire for the basic study of an energy harvesting strategy and technique using EAP actuator was fabricated, and the conductible carbon grease was used for an electrode. The characteristics of the fabricated sample were analyzed through the experiment. We also mixed carbon grease with aluminum powder for conductibility improvement, and the effect of the mixed electrode was confirmed through the conductivity measurement.

Development of a methodology for assessing the adequacy of electric power systems

This study presents the results of a research into the developing a methodology for assessing the adequacy of advanced electric power systems characterized by the integration of various innovative technologies,which complicates their analysis.The methodology development is aimed at solving two main problems:(1)increase the adequacy of modeling the processes that occur in the electric power system and (2)enhance the computational efficiency of the adequacy assessment methodology.This study proposes a new mathematical model to minimize the power shortage and enhance the adequacy of modeling the processes.The model considers quadratic power transmission losses and network coefficients.The computational efficiency of the adequacy assessment methodology is enhanced using efficient random-number generators to form the calculated states of electric power systems and machine learning methods to assess power shortages and other reliability characteristics in the calculated states.

Effects of loading contact on electric-power generation of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramic plate

To better understand the generation of electric power for piezoelectric Pb Zr Ti O3(PZT)ceramic plate(?25 mm),an attempt was made to investigate experimentally and numerically electricpower generation characteristics during cyclic bending under various loading fixtures(?0–?20 mm),i.e.,different contact areas.Increasing the load-contact area on the PZT ceramic leads to a nonlinear decrease in the generated voltage.Decreasing contact area basically enhances the generated voltage,although the voltage saturates during loading when the contact area is less than?5 mm.A similar voltage is generated for?0 and?5 mm,which is attributed to strain status(ratio of compressive and tensile strain)and material failure due to different stress distribution in the PZT ceramic.On the basis of the obtained electric generation voltage,suitable loading conditions are clarified by loading with the?5 mm fixture,which generates a higher voltage and a longer lifetime of the PZT ceramic.From this approach,it is appeared that the area contact with the area ratio of 0.04(?5 mm/?20 mm)is suitable to obtain the high efficiency of the electric voltage.

Electrical Power Generation Using Dynamic Piezoelectric Shear Deformation Under Friction

A new electrical power generation device based on high-frequency dynamic piezoelectric shear deformation under friction is developed.During the operation of a moving plate compressed and sliding on the top of a piezoelectric patch with constant velocity,dynamic shear deformation of the elastic piezoelectric patch is excited by periodic friction force and status(sliding and stick)variation.The dynamic piezoelectric shear strain can then generate continuous electrical power for energy absorbing and harvesting applications.The design of the piezoelectric couple device is first provided,and its mechanism,dynamic response and electric power generation under friction are described by a detailed iteration model.By comparing with previous experimental results,the accuracy of the proposed model is proven.Through numerical studies,the influences of the equivalent mass of the system,the velocity of the sliding object,the static friction coefficient and its lower limit,as well as the friction force delay rate on the power generation are obtained and discussed.The numerical results show that with the proposed design,up to 50-Watt maximum electrical power could be generated by a piezoelectric patch with a dimension of 20×2×6 cm under continuous friction with the moving plate at the velocity of 15 m/s.The possible bi-linear elastic stiffness variation of the system is also introduced,and the threshold of bi-linear elastic deformation,where the system stiffness changes,can be optimized for obtaining the highest power generation.

Benefits of Reducing Air Emissions: Replacing Conventional with Electric Passenger Vehicles

The study estimated the cost of local and global air emissions, and to compare the differences between electric passenger vehicles (EV) and conventional, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The air emissions were estimated for the year 2020, for Denmark, France and Israel, because of their significantly different fuel mixes to produce electricity—a high percentage of renewable energy, mainly nuclear energy and high fossil fuels, respectively. Air emissions from electricity production and conventional traffic were calculated for each country and then multiplied by the specific country’s cost of emissions. Subtracting the total cost of electricity production from the total cost of conventional transportation yields the total benefit for each of the economies studied. The environmental benefit, depending on EV penetration rates, was found to be in the range of 7.8 to 133 MEUR/year for Denmark, 94 to1948 MEUR/year for France and only 4 to 82 MEUR/year for Israel, whose energy mix is the most polluting. Our analysis also shows higher potential benefits when replacing passenger car fleets comprising a high percentage of diesel cars with EVs, as well as in highly populated areas. In addition, we quantified the differences between EVs with fixed batteries and the new switch able battery concept (EASYBAT), as part of the EU 7th Framework Program me. The additional electricity demands for the EASYBAT concept are negligible, and therefore, do not change the overall conclusion that the cleaner the electricity energy mix and the higher the penetration of EVs, the higher the environmental benefits achieved.

Proposal of a Solar Thermal Power Plant at Low Temperature Using Solar Thermal Collectors

To this day, only two types of solar power plants have been proposed and built: high temperature thermal solar one and photovoltaic one. It is here proposed a new type of solar thermal plant using glass-top flat surface solar collectors, so working at low temperature (i.e., below 100°C). This power plant is aimed at warm countries, i.e., the ones mainly located between -40° and 40° latitude, having available space along their coast. This land based plant, to install on the seashore, is technologically similar to the one used for OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion). This plant, apart from supplying electricity with a much better thermodynamic efficiency than OTEC plants, has the main advantage of providing desalinated water for drinking and irrigation. This plant is designed to generate electricity (and desalinated water) night and day and all year round, by means of hot water storage, with just a variation of the power delivered depending on the season.

Wind Turbines as Additional Power Supply

Recently, mankind’s need for more amount of energy has been increasing day by day, though there is a trend to reduce the usage of the traditional energy source to an energy carrier (or fuel) that results in emitting harmful gases to the envi-ronment that is separated in the air and water. Researchers have conducted re-searches to increase projects that will generate clean and renewable energy. Us-age of renewable energy via mankind is in continuous progress such as solar en-ergy, bioenergy, ocean energy and wind energy. Wind energy waste while the car moved was used to produce electric energy. In this paper, the usage of unused wind energy in vehicles was developed so that additional power for vehicles was enable via converting wind power into electric one. The wind turbine was assem-bled from a fan and transducer. Indoor test showed generation of different elec-tric voltages when varying the ambient temperature. The main experiment was carried out so that the wind turbine was installed above the car;values of volt-ages in various speeds of the car were recorded. When two fans were used with different specifications, the consequence was a direct proportionality that changes the happened between voltages and car’s speeds. A comparison between the two fans showed that: the fan with big blade dimensions was the best one to generate voltages. Finally, the high voltages were generated in low temperatures. These results reveal that we can avail from wind energy to supply vehicles with electricity as long as vehicles move along the way.

Current Situation of Power Development in the World and Its Enlightenment to China's Power Industry

Based on a detailed analysis of China's current power installed capacity,power generation,power structure,as well as the world's power installed capacity,power generation,power structure,and power regional distribution,some policy suggestions have been put forward through objective analysis and comparison.Firstly,power sectors in China should develop from high-speed growth to high-quality development,digest power excessive production capacity,control newly-added production capacity absolutely,and control the construction of power points orderly according to power planning.Secondly,non-fossil energy power generation needs to develop energetically,and should attach great importance to biomass power generation,in addition to gas power generation,wind power,and solar power.Lastly,on the basis of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects,electricity consumption per capita should be improved in the high-quality development stage in China,and the development of energy conservation and emission reduction,renewable energy,and distributed energy and so on should be considered collaboratively.

Renewable Energy:Wind Turbines,Solar Cells,Small Hydroelectric Plants,Biomass,and Geothermal Sources of Energy

In this paper,we present five basic types of renewable energy sources,namely:wind turbines,solar cells,small hydroelectric plants,biomass,and geothermal sources of energy.Wind turbines transform energy of wind into electrical energy,solar cells transform energy of sun into electric energy,hydroelectric plants transform energy of water into electric energy,devices or machines can be constructed to transform energy of biomass into heat energy,and geothermal energy into some form of energy.In this paper we present basic information and reasons why there is need today to use these forms of energy—called green energies,we present how these devices or machines function,and we propose for future work design of typical devices or machines that will satisfy basic functional needs.

Impacts of solar multiple on the performance of direct steam generation solar power tower plant with integrated thermal storage

Solar multiple （SM） and thermal storage capacity are two key design parameters for revealing the performance of direct steam generation （DSG） solar power tower plant. In the case of settled land area, SM and thermal storage capacity can be optimized to obtain the minimum levelized cost of electricity （LCOE） by adjusting the power generation output. Taking the dual-receiver DSG solar power tower plant with a given size of solar field equivalent electricity of 100 MWe in Sevilla as a reference case, the minimum LCOE is 21.77 /kWhe with an SM of 1.7 and a thermal storage capacity of 3 h. Besides Sevilla, two other sites are also introduced to discuss the influence of annual DNI. When compared with the case of Sevilla, the minimum LCOE and optimal SM of the San Jose site change just slightly, while the minimum LCOE of the Bishop site decreases by 32.8% and the optimal SM is reduced to 1.3. The influence of the size of solar field equivalent electricity is studied as well. The minimum LCOE decreases with the size of solar field, while the optimal SM and thermal storage capacity still remain unchanged. In addition, the sensitivity of different investment in sub-system is investigated. In terms ofoptimal SM and thermal storage capacity, they can decrease with the cost of thermal storage system but increase with the cost of power generation unit.

Application of a simplified Grey Wolf optimization technique for adaptive fuzzy PID controller design for frequency regulation of a distributed power generation system

A Simplified Grey Wolf Optimizer(SGWO)is suggested for resolving optimization tasks.The simplification in the original Grey Wolf Optimizer(GWO)method is introduced by ignoring the worst category wolves while giving priority to the better wolves during the search process.The advantage of the presented SGWO over GWO is a better solution taking less execution time and is demonstrated by taking unimodal,multimodal,and fixed dimension test functions.The results are also contrasted to the Gravitational Search Algorithm,the Particle Swarm Optimization,and the Sine Cosine Algorithm and this shows the superiority of the proposed SGWO technique.Practical application in a Distributed Power Generation System(DPGS)with energy storage is then considered by designing an Adaptive Fuzzy PID(AFPID)controller using the suggested SGWO method for frequency control.The DPGS contains renewable generation such as photovoltaic,wind,and storage elements such as battery and flywheel,in addition to plug-in electric vehicles.It is demonstrated that the SGWO method is superior to the GWO method in the optimal controller design task.It is also seen that SGWO based AFPID controller is highly efficacious in regulating the frequency compared to the standard PID controller.A sensitivity study is also performed to examine the impact of the unpredictability in the parameters of the investigated system on system performance.Finally,the novelty of the paper is demonstrated by comparing with the existing publications in an extensively used two-area test system.

Electricity Price of Hybrid Power System and Decision Making of Renewable Energy Investment Capacity

In the existing electricity market,the traditional power suppliers and renewable energy generators coexist in the power supply side. In the power supply side,renewable energy generators generate power by wind and other natural conditions,leading renewable energy output a certain randomness. However,the low marginal generating cost and the reduction of carbon emissions,and thus brings a certain advantage for renewable energy compared to alternative energy. Electricity,as a special commodity,stable and adequate power supply is a necessary guarantee for economic and social development. Power shortage situation is not allowed in the power system,and the extra power needs to be handled for the purpose of safety. In this paper,the hybrid power generated by renewable energy generators and traditional energy generators is used as power supply,and then the electricity market sells hybrid power to electricity consumers,the hybrid power system determines the optimal daytimeprice,nighttime price,and the optimal installed capacity of the renewable energy suppliers. We find that the installed capacity of renewable energy increases first and then decreases with the increase of the price sensitivity coefficient of traditional energy supply. Electricity demand is negatively related to electricity price in the current period,and is positively related to price in the other period. The average price of day and night is only related to the total potential demand of day and night and the total generation probability of renewable energy. The price difference between daytime and nighttime is positively related to potential electricity demand,and negatively related to the sensitivity coefficient of electricity price.