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.

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.

Electricity Generation and the Present Challenges in the Nigerian Power Sector

National development requires adequate electricity supply of which all activities--generation, transmission and distribution leading to it are capital-intensive in terms of funds, natural and human resources. The dwindling power sector government funding coupled with low private sector participation and weak level political will require creative and innovative solutions in addressing the power supply problem in Nigeria. Hence, this paper seeks to examine power sector privatization as a viable option.

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.

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.

POWER GENERATION POTENTIAL OF BIPV APPLICATION IN CHINA

This paper discusses the potential and prospect of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) for solar electrical power generation in China.The BIPV technology has been identified as the most economical renewable energy resource to contribute to world electrical energy demand for protecting environment from reduced fossil fuel consumption.The available solar energy resource of 14 cities and the potential power generation from PV claddings in buildings in China were estimated.The economical analysis of BIPV application is discussed.It is found that the potential is significant and the government should play an important role in its development.

Manufacturing Development Emphases on Power Generation and Transmission Apparatus in 11th Five-Year Plan Period and Prospect to the Year 2020

Based on predictions on Chinese power development in the coming 20 years, this paper introduces the emphases and key technologies in power sources and power network construction, and puts for ward the major tasks and technological orientation for machinery manufacturers to supply qualified equipment to China power industry.

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.

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.

Impact of renewable power market penetration on coal power generation capacity growth

Since renewable energy sources are growing in importance, how well they can penetrate the energy market for power generation will be a very important factor in the role the coal industry will play in the future. This paper examined the displacement of coal power plant capacity from 2010 to 2050 by renewables with respect to three drivers assumed under various conditions： the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act （ARRA）, Greenhouse Gas （GItG） policy, and varying plant capital cost cases. The results by 2050 illustrate that renewable market penetration captures anywhere from 1.9% to 6.4% of potential coal power generation capacity additions. Renewable power generation capacity additions is expected to outpace coal power plant additions by 89% with respect to ARRA in 2050, however with no GHG policy coal power generation capacity build-outs will outpace renewables by as high as 809%. Finally, coal power generation is still projected to be the largest single energy source contributor to the electricity market making up 28.0% of total available capacity, while renewables are expected to only make up 16.3% of total available capacity.

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.

Estimating the Impacts of Nuclear Phase-out and FIT on Tokyo Electric Power Company Jurisdiction

This study examines the effects of nuclear phase-out and newly implemented FIT （feed-in tariff） at the TEPCO （Tokyo Electric Power Company） jurisdiction. A power generation mix linear programming model is developed for the TEPCO jurisdiction up to 2030. Three results are found from this analysis. First, coal-fired power plants compensate for an abolishment of nuclear power generation when power mix is analyzed to maximum profits. Second, it is clarified that FIT provides competitiveness to wind power for potential and photovoltaics at the location where 15% of efficiency is expected at the TEPCO jurisdiction. Third, implementing FIT can decrease fossil-fuel dependency and CO2 emissions as much as planned nuclear power generation. However, system costs increase 4.61 trillion.

Power Generation from Municipal Solid Waste Plastics

Generation of electrical energy from imported fossil fuels is subject to the price fluctuations of the global marketplace and, thus, constitutes a major expense in its distribution to the end users. Even with the current low prices of fuel, residents and businesses in the United States pay a significant price for their utilities, if not higher than most other countries in the world. Emissions from the evaporation and combustion of these traditional fossil fuels contribute to a range of environmental and health problems, causing poor air quality, and emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Alternative fuel created from domestic sources has been proposed as a solution to these problems and much alternative energy are being developed based on solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, fuel cell, geothermal, etc. A new alternative hydrocarbon fuel which is produced from waste plastics can be used with compatble power plants and generators appliances to produce electricity that can be supplied into homes, businesses, power grids and other sectors.

Profit-Based Optimal Operation of a Head-Dependent Hydroelectric Power Station in the Bilateral Market

Deregulation and liberalization of electric power industry, among other things, has created new requirements for the market participants. The power system engineer, operator, and, in general, the market participants are being faced with requirements for which they do not have adequate training and the proper software tools. In this framework, among others, a pure hydro-generation company has to operate its hydro units, throughout the operating day, trying to fulfill the market clearing schedule or a bilateral contract, and modify the program in the intra-day energy markets if necessary （or more suitable） as real-time operation is getting closer. In this scenario the objective is to maximize the hydroelectric power plant profit from selling energy in the spot market or by means of bilateral contracts. In this paper the optimal operation of a head-dependent hydroelectric power station in bilateral market-short-term hourly hydro resource scheduling for energy is obtained.

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.

Quantum particle swarm optimization for micro-grid system with consideration of consumer satisfaction and benefit of generation side

Considering comprehensive benefit of micro-grid system and consumers,we establish a mathematical model with the goal of the maximum consumer satisfaction and the maximum benefit of power generation side in the view of energy management.An improved multi-objective local mutation adaptive quantum particle swarm optimization(MO-LM-AQPSO)algorithm is adopted to obtain the Pareto frontier of consumer satisfaction and the benefit of power generation side.The optimal solution of the non-dominant solution is selected with introducing the power shortage and power loss to maximize the benefit of power generation side,and its reasonableness is verified by numerical simulation.Then,translational load and time-of-use electricity price incentive mechanism are considered and reasonable peak-valley price ratio is adopted to guide users to actively participate in demand response.The simulation results show that the reasonable incentive mechanism increases the benefit of power generation side and improves the consumer satisfaction.Also the mechanism maximizes the utilization of renewable energy and effectively reduces the operation cost of the battery.

Electricity Pricing for Natural Gas CHP Projects The Higher, the Better?

Regarding the state's policy that gives a higher on-grid electricity price to natural gas CHP (combined heat and power) projects, this paper studies the effect of it on the operation of those projects by theoretical analysis and a case study. It concludes that on-grid electricity price on the high side, compared to heat price, will lead power plants to produce more electricity but less heat, thus causing decrease of the plants' thermal eff iciency and harm to energy saving of the whole society.