Chapter (1)

The old days of energy

Before the industrial revolution, our energy needs were modest. For heat, we
relied on the sunand burned wood, straw, and dried dung when the sun
failed us. For transportation, the muscle of horses and the power of the wind
in our sails took us to every corner of the world. For work, we used animals to
do jobs that we couldn't do with our own labor. Water and wind drove the
simple machines that ground our grain and pumped our water.
Simple machines based on the ability to harness the power of steam have
been dated by some sources as far back as ancient Alexandria. The evolution
of the steam engine continued over time and significantly ramped up in the
17th and 18th centuries. But it was the significant adaptations of Thomas
Newcomen and James Watt in the mid-1700s that gave birth to the modern
steam engine, opening up a world of possibility. A single steam engine,
powered by coal dug from the mines of England and Appalachia, could do the
work of dozens of horses.
More convenient than wind and water, and less expensive than a stable full of
horses, steam engines were soon powering locomotives, factories, and farm
implements. Coal was also used for heating buildings and smelting iron into
steel. In 1880, coal powered a steam engine attached to the world's first
electric generator. Thomas Edison's plant in New York City provided the first
electric light to Wall Street financiers and the New York Times.
Only a year later, the world's first hydroelectric plant went on-line in
Appleton, Wisconsin. Fast-flowing rivers that had turned wheels to grind corn
were now grinding out electricity instead. Within a few years, Henry Ford
hired his friend Edison to help build a small hydro plant to power his home in
Michigan.
By the late 1800s, a new form of fuel was catching on: petroleum. For years it
had been a nuisance, contaminating wells for drinking water. Initially sold by
hucksters as medicine, oil became a valuable commodity for lighting as the
whale oil industry declined. By the turn of the century, oil, processed into
gasoline, was firing internal combustion engines.
With the low-cost automobile and the spread of electricity, our society's
energy use changed forever. Power plants became larger and larger, until we
had massive coal plants and hydroelectric dams. Power lines extended
hundreds of miles between cities, bringing electricity to rural areas during the
Great Depression. The cheap car made suburbs possible, which in turn made
cheap cars necessary, feeding the cycle of suburban sprawl.
Energy use grew quickly, doubling every 10 years. The cost of energy
production was declining steadily, and the efficient use of energy was simply
not a concern.

After World War II unleashed nuclear power, the government looked for a
home for "the peaceful atom." They found it in electricity production. Over
200 nuclear power plants were planned across the country, and homes were
built with all-electric heating systems to take advantage of this power that
would be "too cheap to meter.
In 1973, American support for Israel in the Arab-Israeli War led the Arab oilproducing nations to stop supplying oil to the United States and other
western nations. Overnight, oil prices tripled. In 1979, when the Shah of Iran
was forced out by the Ayatollah Khomeini, oil prices leaped again, rising 150
percent in a matter of weeks. Motorists lined up at gas stations to buy
gasoline, and President Carter went on television to declare that energy
conservation was "the moral equivalent of war." By 1980, the average price
of a barrel of oil was almost $45.
Only three months after the fall of the Shah, the Three Mile Island nuclear
power plant suffered a partial meltdown after a series of mechanical failures
and operator mistakes. After years of hearing that a nuclear accident could
never happen, the American public was shocked. The accident added to the
sense of crisis.

This statistical review show the energy consumption rate from 1850 to 2010
and this explain the depending firstly at wood and coal and the rising of using
oil at 1930s and also the nuclear energy rising at 1970s

The energy shortage

The energy crisis is the concern that the worlds demands on the limited
natural resources that are used to power industrial society are diminishing as
the demand rises. These natural resources are in limited supply. While they
do occur naturally, it can take hundreds of thousands of years to replenish
the stores. Governments and concerned individuals are working to make the
use of renewable resources a priority, and to lessen the irresponsible use of
natural supplies through increased conservation.
The energy crisis is a broad and complex topic. Most people dont feel
connected to its reality unless the price of gas at the pump goes up or there
are lines at the gas station. The energy crisis is something that is ongoing
and getting worse, despite many efforts. The reason for this is that there is
not a broad understanding of the complex causes and solutions for the
energy crisis that will allow for an effort to happen that will resolve it.
It would be easy to point a finger at one practice or industry and lay the
blame for the entire energy crisis at their door, but that would be a very
naive and unrealistic interpretation of the cause of the crisis:
1- Overconsumption: The energy crisis is a result of many different strains
on our natural resources, not just one. There is a strain on fossil fuels
such as oil, gas and coal due to overconsumption which then in turn
can put a strain on our water and oxygen resources by causing
pollution.
2- Overpopulation: Another cause of the crisis has been the steady
increase in the worlds population and its demands for fuel and
products. No matter what type of food or products you choose to use
from fair trade and organic to those made from petroleum products in a
sweatshop not one of them is made or transported without a
significant drain on our energy resources.
3- Poor Infrastructure: Aging infrastructure of power generating
equipment is yet another reason for energy shortage. Most of the
energy producing firms keep on using outdated equipment that
restricts the production of energy. It is the responsibility of utilities to
keep on upgrading the infrastructure and set a high standard of
performance.

4- Unexplored Renewable Energy Options: Renewable energy still

remains unused is most of the countries. Most of the energy comes
from non-renewable sources like coal. It still remains the top choice to
produce energy. Unless we give renewable energy a serious thought,
the problem of energy crisis cannot be solved. Renewable energy
sources can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and also helps to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
5- Delay in Commissioning of Power Plants: In few countries, there is
a significant delay in commissioning of new power plants that can fill
the gap between demand and supply of energy. The result is that old
plants come under huge stress to meet the daily demand for power.
When supply doesnt matches demand, it results in load shedding and
breakdown.
6- Wastage of Energy: In most parts of the world, people do not realize
the importance of conserving energy. It is only limited to books,
internet, newspaper ads, lip service and seminars. Unless we give it a
serious thought, things are not going to change anytime sooner. Simple
things like switching off fans and lights when not in use, using
maximum daylight, walking instead of driving for short distances, using
CFL instead of traditional bulbs, proper insulation for leakage of energy
can go a long way in saving energy. Read here about 151 ways of
saving energy.
7- Poor Distribution System: Frequent tripping and breakdown are
result of a poor distribution system.
8- Major Accidents and Natural Calamities: Major accidents like
pipeline burst and natural calamities like eruption of volcanoes, floods,
earthquakes can also cause interruptions to energy supplies. The huge
gap between supply and demand of energy can raise the price of
essential items which can give rise to inflation.
9- Wars and Attacks: Wars between countries can also hamper supply
of energy especially if it happens in Middle East countries like Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, UAE or Qatar. Thats what happened during
1990 Gulf war when price of oil reached its peak causing global
shortages and created major problem for energy consumers.
10-. Miscellaneous Factors: Tax hikes, strikes, military coup, political
events, severe hot summers or cold winters can cause sudden increase
in demand of energy and can choke supply. A strike by unions in an oil
producing firm can definitely cause an energy crisis.

There are many solutions for the energy shortage such as:
1- Move towards Renewable Resources: The best possible solution is
to reduce the worlds
dependence on non-renewable resources and
to improve overall conservation efforts. Much of the industrial age was
created using fossil fuels, but there is also known technology that uses
other types of renewable energies such as steam, solar and wind.
The major concern isnt so much that we will run out of gas or oil, but
that the use of coal is going to continue to pollute the atmosphere and
destroy other natural resources in the process of mining the coal that
it has to be replaced as an energy source. This isnt easy as many of
the leading industries use coal, not gas or oil, as their primary source
of power for manufacturing.
2- Buy Energy Efficient products: Replace traditional bulbs with CFLs
and LEDs. They use less watts of electricity and last longer. If millions
of people across the globe use LEDs and CFLs for residential and
commercial purposes, the demand for energy can go down and an
energy crisis can be averted.
3- Lighting Controls: There are a number of new technologies out
there that make lighting controls that much more interesting and they
help to save a lot of energy and cash in the long run. Preset lighting
controls, slide lighting, touch dimmers, integrated lighting controls are
few of the lighting controls that can help to conserve energy and
reduce overall lighting costs.
4- Easier Grid Access: People who use different options to generate
power must be given permission to plug into the grid and getting
credit for power you feed into it. The hassles of getting credit of
supplying surplus power back into the grid should be removed. Apart
from that, subsidy on solar panels should be given to encourage more
people to explore renewable options.
5- Energy Simulation: Energy simulation software can be used by big
corporates and corporations to redesign building unit and reduce
running business energy cost. Engineers, architects and designers
could use this design to come with most energy efficient building and
reduce carbon footprint.
6- Perform Energy Audit: Energy audit is a process that helps you to
identify the areas where your home or office is losing energy and what
steps you can take to improve energy efficiency. Energy audit when
done by a professional can help you to reduce your carbon footprint,
save energy and money and avoid energy crisis.
7- Common Stand on Climate Change: Both developed and
developing countries should adopt a common stand on climate

change. They should focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions

through an effective cross border mechanism. With current population
growth and over consumption of resources, the consequences of
global warming and climate change cannot be ruled out. Both
developed and developing countries must focus on emissions cuts to
cut their emission levels to half from current levels by 2050.

Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from
other sources of primary energy. The fundamental principles of electricity
generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the
British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic method is still used today.
Every form of electricity generation has its strengths and weakness. The
global demand for electricity is rising, and future electricity generation
will need a range of options, although they must be low carbon if
greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced.Nuclear generation provides
reliable supplies of electricity, with very low carbon emissions and
relatively small amounts of waste that can be safely stored and
eventually disposed of.
Electricity is vital to modern life. It powers our lights and appliances at
home. It powers many industry processes. It is used to power trains and
to charge electric vehicles.
Globally, electricity use is rising rapidly as new major economies develop
in places such as China and India.
This need for electricity drives a growing demand for electricity
generation, with thousands of new power plants needed across the world
over the coming decades.
For many decades almost all the electricity consumed in the world has
been generated from three different forms of power plant - fossil, hydro
and nuclear. Renewables currently generate a relatively small share of
the world's electricity, although that share is growing fast.

Fossil
Fossil fuel power plants burn carbon fuels such coal, oil or gas to
generate steam that drives large turbines that produce electricity. These
plants can generate electricity reliably over long periods of time.
However, by burning carbon fuels they produce large amounts carbon
dioxide, which causes climate change. They can also produce other
pollutants, such as sulphurous oxides, which cause acid rain.

Fossil
fuel plants require huge quantities of coal, oil or gas. These fuels may need to
be transported over long distances. The price of fuels can rise sharply at
times of shortage, leading
to unstable generation costs.

Large hydro
Large hydro power plants generate electricity by storing water in vast
reservoirs behind massive dams. Water from the dams flows through turbines
to generate electricity, and then goes on to flow through rivers below the
dam.
Hydro dams can generate large amounts of electricity. However, dry periods
can drain the reservoirs. The flooding of reservoirs behind dams and slowing
of the flow of the river below the dam can have a serious impact on the
ecology around the dam. The number of sites suitable for new dams is
limited.

Nuclear
Nuclear power plants use the heat produced by nuclear fission to generate
steam that drives turbines, like in fossil fuel plants. However, no greenhouse
gases are produced in this fission process, and only small amounts are
produced across the whole fuel cycle.
Nuclear fuel can be used in a reactor for several years. The used fuel that
remains after this time must be stored and then either recycled to make new
fuel or carefully disposed of. However, because the amount of fuel used to
generate electricity is so much less than that used in fossil fuel plants it is
much more practical to do this with used nuclear fuel than with the wastes
and emissions from fossil fuels.

Nuclear power plants can run for many months without interruption,
providing reliable and predictable supplies of electricity.

Geothermal
Heat contained within the earth can be recovered and put to work. This heat
is called geothermal energy. Geothermal power is originated beneath the
surface of the earth. It comes from buried heat energy.

Solar
Solar power is obtained from the energy of the sun. Solar technologies use
the sun's energy and light to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity, and
even cooling. The energy from the sun is not always available and it is widely
scattered, however, solar power is renewable and environmentally friendly.

Biomass
Bioenergy technologies use renewable biomass resources -wood, municipal
solid waste (garbage), and agricultural waste (like corn cobs and wheat
straw) - to produce different types of energy, like electricity, liquid, solid and
gaseous fuels, chemicals, heat, and other materials. Bio-energy has the
second place after hydropower, in renewable U.S. primary energy production.
It is also a renewable resource and environmentally friendly.

Wind
Wind power uses the energy contained in the wind for practical purposes like
generating electricity, charging batteries, grinding grain or pumping water. A
wind turbine is very similar to a windmill; they operate together in wind farms
to produce electricity for utilities. Homeowners or remote villages can use
smaller turbines to produce energy. Wind power is also a renewable resource
and environmentally friendly.

Green
As we know, conventional electricity generation is based on the combustion
of fossil fuels, which is the number one industrial source of air pollution.
Green power is electricity that is generated from resources such as
geothermal, biomass, solar, wind, and low-impact hydro facilities. It uses
renewable energy technologies and its purpose is to reduce the
environmental impacts associated with electricity generation. It is an
alternative solution to the supply of energy.
The next chart explain the world electricity production from all energy in
2014

17%

7%

5%
11%

22%

39%

others
7

nuclear
11

coal
38

oil
5

Hydroele
ctric
17

Gas
22

Nuclear energy and electricity

All elements in the universe are made of atoms. An atom is composed
of a nucleus and electrons. A nucleus is composed of neutrons and protons.
Some nuclei are stable, and some undergo spontaneous radioactive decay.
Radioactive decay can also be induced by interaction with neutrons or other
particles.
In nuclear reactors, heat is produced by fission of fissile nuclear
materials like uranium-235. In this case, fission is induced when the nucleus
absorbs a neutron, causing it to split apart. This produces fission products,
including free neutrons, which can then split other uranium-235 nuclei. This
chain reaction produces heat, via radiation, and the slowing down of fission
products as they impact the fuel around them. Nuclear reactors are designed
to convert this heat into electricity, like in any other thermal power plant. To
avoid overheating, the plants incorporate cooling systems.

Nuclear fusion is another type of nuclear reaction in which extra

energy is released when light nuclei are fused together. This type of reaction
produces heat in the sun and other stars. Unlike the nuclear fission process,
extreme temperatures and pressure are needed to initiate and sustain the
fusion reaction, making it challenging, though research and development
aimed at achieving controlled fusion has resulted in significant advances in
recent decades.
Nuclear power is the largest source of low-carbon electricity in OECD
countries, with an 18% overall share of electricity production in 2013.
Globally, it is the second-largest such source, with an 11% share.
The generation of electricity using nuclear energy was first
demonstrated in the 1950s, and the first commercial nuclear power plants
entered operation in the early 1960s. Nuclear capacity grew rapidly in the
1970s and 1980s as countries sought to reduce dependence on fossil fuels,
especially after the oil crises of the 1970s. However, with the exception of
Japan and Korea, growth stagnated in the 1990s. Reasons for this included
increased concerns about safety following accidents at the nuclear power
plants at Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986), delays and higherthan-expected construction costs at some nuclear plants, and a return to
lower fossil fuel prices.

However, from 2000, there was a renewed interest in nuclear power,

and the pace of construction accelerated after 2005. At the end of 2010,
there were 65 reactors under construction, and 60 new countries had
expressed interest in launching a nuclear programme
Nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases, sulphur dioxide or ozone
during electricity generation. Entire life cycle analyses show that nuclear and
renewables produce negligible emissions of CO2 in comparison with the fossil
fuel chains. At the same time, nuclear power plants have demonstrated to be
a reliable source of base load electricity and as the past decade of
performance has shown, the costs of nuclear electricity generation are
competitive with those of coal and gas. Recent analysis has shown that
lifetime generation costs of new nuclear plants are also competitive with
other generating options. Increasing carbon pricing would make nuclear
generation even more competitive than is the case today. However, the high
up-front capital costs of new nuclear build may deter investment, especially
in liberalized electricity markets, and governments aiming to increase nuclear
capacity may need to provide support for financing new nuclear construction
According to NEA (nuclear energy agency) report the development of
nuclear energy in its member countries:
In Belgium: Concerns about security of electricity supply were
heightened in late 2014 as a transformer fire forced an unplanned shutdown
of the Tihange 3 reactor, at a time when the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors

were offline for further investigation by the regulator due to pressure vessel
fault indications, and Doel 4 remained shut down after a lubricant leak. The
Tihange 3 reactor was returned to service within two weeks after repair. Late
in 2014, the Belgian government agreed to a ten-year extension of the
operation of Doel 1 and 2 amid concerns about the security of energy supply.
In Canada: Moving ahead with plans to refurbish up to an additional
10 reactors in Ontario over the next 15 years starting in 2016. These
refurbishments represent a total investment of about CAD 25 billion and will
add about 25-30 years to the operational life of each unit.
In Hungary :an agreement was signed with Rosatom to supply two
new units (approximately 1 200 MWe each) for the Paks nuclear power plant
(NPP) and the parliament ratified a EUR 10 billion credit agreement with the
Russian Federation to finance the project. Unit 2 of the existing four reactors
supplied by the Russian Federation received a 20-year lifetime extension, the
second at the site to be granted such an extension
In United States: Construction of two AP1000 units each at the
Vogtle and VC Summer sites continued, with completion expected between
2017 and 2020. Construction of the Watts Bar 2 reactor resumed in 2007 and
is expected to be completed in 2015
The producers of nuclear electricity according to NEA report

Producer

TW
h

Us
France
Russia
Korea
Germany
China
Canada
Ukraine
United kingdom
Sweden

801
425
178
150
99
97
95
90
70
64

% of
worl
d
total
32.5
17.3
7.2
6.1
4
3.9
3.9
3.7
2.8
2.6

This curve shows the world daily power consumption and the sources
of these power, this load curve explained that how nuclear power contributes
in the base load of daily consumption power