Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations

This paper employs a framework of dynamic energy analysis to model the growth potential of alternative electricity supply infrastructures as constrained by innate physical energy balance and dynamic response limits. Coal-fired generation meets the criteria of longevity (abundance of energy source) a...

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Main Authors:	Kessides, Ioannis N., Wade, David C.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Energy: Demand and Supply Q410 Energy Forecasting Q470
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4623

id	okr-10986-4623
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-46232021-04-23T14:02:18Z Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations Kessides, Ioannis N. Wade, David C. Energy: Demand and Supply Q410 Energy Forecasting Q470 This paper employs a framework of dynamic energy analysis to model the growth potential of alternative electricity supply infrastructures as constrained by innate physical energy balance and dynamic response limits. Coal-fired generation meets the criteria of longevity (abundance of energy source) and scalability (ability to expand to the multi-terawatt level) which are critical for a sustainable energy supply chain, but carries a very heavy carbon footprint. Renewables and nuclear power, on the other hand, meet both the longevity and environmental friendliness criteria. However, due to their substantially different energy densities and load factors, they vary in terms of their ability to deliver net excess energy and attain the scale needed for meeting the huge global energy demand. The low power density of renewable energy extraction and the intermittency of renewable flows limit their ability to achieve high rates of indigenous infrastructure growth. A significant global nuclear power deployment, on the other hand, could engender serious risks related to proliferation, safety, and waste disposal. Unlike renewable sources of energy, nuclear power is an unforgiving technology because human lapses and errors can have ecological and social impacts that are catastrophic and irreversible. Thus, the transition to a low carbon economy is likely to prove much more challenging than early optimists have claimed. 2012-03-30T07:28:53Z 2012-03-30T07:28:53Z 2011 Journal Article Energy Policy 03014215 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4623 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Energy: Demand and Supply Q410 Energy Forecasting Q470
spellingShingle	Energy: Demand and Supply Q410 Energy Forecasting Q470 Kessides, Ioannis N. Wade, David C. Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	This paper employs a framework of dynamic energy analysis to model the growth potential of alternative electricity supply infrastructures as constrained by innate physical energy balance and dynamic response limits. Coal-fired generation meets the criteria of longevity (abundance of energy source) and scalability (ability to expand to the multi-terawatt level) which are critical for a sustainable energy supply chain, but carries a very heavy carbon footprint. Renewables and nuclear power, on the other hand, meet both the longevity and environmental friendliness criteria. However, due to their substantially different energy densities and load factors, they vary in terms of their ability to deliver net excess energy and attain the scale needed for meeting the huge global energy demand. The low power density of renewable energy extraction and the intermittency of renewable flows limit their ability to achieve high rates of indigenous infrastructure growth. A significant global nuclear power deployment, on the other hand, could engender serious risks related to proliferation, safety, and waste disposal. Unlike renewable sources of energy, nuclear power is an unforgiving technology because human lapses and errors can have ecological and social impacts that are catastrophic and irreversible. Thus, the transition to a low carbon economy is likely to prove much more challenging than early optimists have claimed.
format	Journal Article
author	Kessides, Ioannis N. Wade, David C.
author_facet	Kessides, Ioannis N. Wade, David C.
author_sort	Kessides, Ioannis N.
title	Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
title_short	Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
title_full	Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
title_fullStr	Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
title_full_unstemmed	Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations
title_sort	towards a sustainable global energy supply infrastructure: net energy balance and density considerations
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4623
_version_	1764392160309805056

Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Supply Infrastructure: Net Energy Balance and Density Considerations

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