In the post-World War II period, until the beginning of the 1970s, oil price fluctuations were very small. From 1949 to 1970, average annual fluctuations of oil prices in U.S. dollars, as measured by the absolute value of year-to-year price changes, were of the order of 1%. Therefore, the real price (i.e., inflation adjusted) slightly declined throughout this period. This so-called Golden Age peak oil impacts period was characterized by a remarkable price stability and very strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the main industrialized economies. The stability of oil prices was an important element behind the low inflation and strong economic growth. (more…)

Power generation and distribution networks are built with spare capacity to meet peak periods of energy consumption is usually a time when demand for heating and / or cooling is particularly acute accommodate. Normally, peak electricity demand in some cases last just a few hours every year. And while the networks have always had to cope with peaks in recent years, the electricity consumption during peak hours has increased dramatically in the afternoon. (more…)

There are numerous possible applications for hybrid power systems. The most common examples are (1) remote AC network, (2) distributed generation applications in a conventional utility network, and (3) isolated or special purpose electrical loads.

The classic example of the hybrid energy systems is the remote, diesel-powered AC network. The basic goal is to decrease the amount of fuel consumed by diesel generators and to decrease the number of hours that they operate. The first addition to ‘‘hybridize’’ the system is to add another type of generator, normally using a renewable source. (more…)

A propulsion alternative is to transfer power to the vehicle and then have a magnetic structure on the vehicle that can create a moving field that, in turn, interacts with a conducting guide way to provide propulsion. This is called a short stator linear induction motor (or linear asynchronous motor), generally referred to as a Linear Induction Motor. It is possible to put the powered winding on the guide way and induce currents in a conductor on the vehicle, in which case it would be a long stator design, but this turns out to be an expensive and inefficient approach to maglev propulsion. (more…)

There are literally thousands of uses for lasers. One of the largest applications is telecommunications—sending a signal through fiber optic cables, for example. This application grew rapidly in the 1990s with the phenomenal increase in traffic on the Internet. Optical data storage, such as on compact disks, CD-ROMs, and DVDs, is another important use for lasers. The information age was obviously a boon to this application, and as researchers obtained smaller wavelengths with diode lasers, they were able to fit more information on smaller storage devices. (more…)

Although technology change (usually involving an improvement in energy efficiency) is not inherently a geographic process, it does not occur uniformly over geographic space. Consequently, mathematical modeling and behavioral and innovation diffusion studies by geographers have improved our understanding of the pervasive phenomenon of technology energy efficiency change in energy markets. Similarly, creative government policies in Germany since 1990 have led to a faster rate of adoption of renewable energy sources, compared to the United States. (more…)

With ethanol’s future uncertain, many commentators see the transportation debate evolving into a war between two other technologies—hydrogen-powered fuel cells and battery powered electric vehicles. Some alternative fuel advocates are putting their support behind hydrogen, the most abundant element on Earth. Water, for example, is composed of hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Hydrogen can be produced from water by electrolysis, which separates the oxygen from the hydrogen. It can be used to power hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles (or to provide heat and electricity for buildings). Hydrogen fuel cells work by recombining hydrogen and oxygen—a process that produces electricity, heat, and water. Hydrogen-powered cars, therefore, could be an ideal transportation solution—nonpolluting, zero-emission vehicles that release only water, a natural and completely safe waste product. Also, fuel cells are highly efficient and powerful, and unlike typical batteries, fuel cells will never lose their charge as long as hydrogen fuel is supplied.

Hydrogen fuel cell technologies, however, must overcome many stubborn challenges before they can become a practical source of energy. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is cost; it currently takes more energy to make hydrogen than is produced, and production relies on expensive catalysts made from platinum, a scarce metal. And like biofuels, hydrogen is currently made using fossil fuels, so it is not emissions-free. In addition, liquid hydrogen fuel is highly flammable and must be stored at very low temperatures or under very high pressure, making transport and storage difficult. Switching vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell power also would require building a whole new infrastructure similar to the chain of gas stations that currently dot the landscape. Researchers are hoping to find answers to these problems by searching for other types of catalysts, studying other ways to improve production, and developing better hydrogen storage options.

Hydrogen researchers, however, have been promising breakthroughs since the 1990s with little progress to show for their efforts. Many observers are thus coming to the conclusion that the hydrogen fuel cell is a technology that will not be perfected in the near future. As physicist and climate expert Joe Romm explains, “Neither government policy nor business investment should be based on the assumption that these technologies will have a significant impact in the near or medium-term.” The Obama administration apparently agrees; it submitted a budget for 2010 that sharply cut back on government support for hydrogen projects. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained the administration’s problems with hydrogen technology:

Right now, the way we get hydrogen primarily is from reforming [natural] gas. That’s not an ideal source of hydrogen. . . . The other problem is, if it’s for transportation, we don’t have a good storage mechanism yet. Compressed hydrogen is the best mechanism [but it requires] a large volume. We haven’t figured out how to store it with high density. What else? The fuel cells aren’t there yet, and the distribution infrastructure isn’t there yet. So . . . to get significant deployment, you need four significant technological breakthroughs. That makes it unlikely

Congress promptly reversed President Obama’s decision, however, restoring more than $200 million to 190 hydrogen projects around the country.

Reductions in carbon intensity, C/E, the carbon emitted per unit of energy generated, reflect the degree to which societies decarbonize their energy sources. The long-term trend has been a shift from coal to oil to natural gas––hydrocarbons with decreasing C/H ratios emitting progressively less CO2 per joule. However, the increasing use of clean low-carbon fuels is not sustainable without somehow disposing of excess carbon because it opposes the trend in the abundance of fossil fuels, with coal resources being the most abundant followed by oil and gas. (more…)

Addressing global warming, however, is a highly complex and daunting endeavor. Many climate experts have urged the world to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere around 450 to 550 parts per million (ppm)—that is, no more than 450 to 550 units of greenhouse gases for every million units of air in the earth’s atmosphere. This approach, experts say, could keep average global temperatures at no more than 3.6° Fahrenheit (2° Celsius) above preindustrial levels, which could avoid some of the worst, irreversible consequences of climate change. (more…)

The United States depends heavily on imported oil to fuel its transportation infrastructure. The use of alternative fuel derived from plant oils was examined by researchers in the mid-1970s to determine if internal combustion engines could be fueled from sources other than petroleum. (more…)