TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary p. 2 Introduction.p. 3 Personal and Overall Electricity Usage..p. 5 Primary Energy Sourcespp. 6-8 Benefits and Problems Caused by Power Generation.pp. 9-11 Future Method of Power Generation..pp. 12-13 Sustainable Electricity Production.p. 13 References.p. 14

SUMMARY

The Worlds electricity requirement is still growing due to population explosion, and the immediate solution that we can do is to build more power plants to generate electricity. People are using different types of energy resources to meet the rising demand. One of these is the use of cheaper power production using fossil fuels and other thermal methods. But some of these power generating methods have negative impacts especially to our environment. Greenhouse gases are emitted that results to climate change that everyone is dealing right now. This report discusses the different primary energy sources, methods on how to generate electrical power, benefits and environmental impacts of these methods, trends and how to have a more sustainable electrical generation.

INTRODUCTION

The technology to utilize nonrenewable energy sources such as oil, nuclear power, coal and other fossil fuels have been developed extensively in the past century, which allowed the provision of electricity to a lot of different countries in the world. The distribution of the technology and, consequently, the provision of energy to different communities have provided opportunities for newer technologies to be researched and tested. This in turn has resulted in the energy-saving devices and machinery that we have today. Although oil and coal have been hailed as two of the most important sources of energy, it has been reported by scientists in the recent decades that the earths oil and coal supply are about to depleted. In recent years, the focus of more and more researchers have been turned towards renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and water. However, not enough have been discovered for us to be able to utilize these sources. Developed countries have taken the lead in ensuring that these renewable sources are developed so we will not need to depend on the nonrenewable sources as much and also to protect our environment.

REVIEW THEIR USAGE INTERMS OF OVERALL AND PERSONAL

Over the past centuries, overall usage of electricity in developed countries was extremely high. Thus, all means of primary energy to power their nations were used such as Fossil Fuels. Oil, Gas and Coal were the most abundant of all these fossil fuels. Industrialization, to improve economy or economic status, was the main factor that made rich countries with lots of resources used greater amount of electricity as well as increased their capacity due to demand. First, power requirement for the manufacturing, transportation, production, construction and development of a certain country made great demands and these lead to the upgrading of power generation in terms of capacity. Additional substations to step up the power distribution are sometimes not enough, like in Saudi Arabia, the number of substations; feeders are growing while the power plants keep on expanding. These are due to demands in electrical supply in their industrial area where the local business operates. Basically, its a supply and demand relationship that was carried out. Moreover, these industries of manufacturing, transportation, production & construction required manpower that causes population explosion. Development of residential communities for the workers for the industry sector started, and these communities also needed electricity, mainly for living comfortable lives. People back in that days relied mostly on non-renewable resources like oil, gas and coal and these are the most abundant. Because of that, it is noticeable that today most of the countries use Coal, Oil and Gas to fire up their power plants and still making good use of this structures on producing power. Although the use of renewable energy starts to come up, again developed countries started their step towards cleaner energy. As of now, they are the only ones who can revolutionize the use of renewable energy in producing electricity because they have the technology and budget for these type of projects. On the other hand, third world countries will still depend on the conventional methods of power generations especially the use nonrenewable resources as primary source of energy until the worldwide commercialization of the newer technologies. One main issue there is the cost or budget because we all know that PV (photo-voltaic panels), CSP (Concentrated Solar Power), Wind Turbine are not cheap and there are issues regarding how efficient they are. Therefore, the trend for power consumption will still go up because of industrialization and development, whether renewable or nonrenewable resources are to be used. Developed countries will still work harder to have a better economic stand while third world countries will find ways to at least help their own economy, of course with the use of their natural resources. As for the personal use, consumption will also increase regardless of what source of energy they use, because almost all of the appliances and housing equipments need electricity to work, like stoves, lighting systems, heater and air-conditioning systems.

THE USE OF THESE PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCES TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY:

The graph illustrated the past as well as future consumption of primary energy sources from 1990 to 2035, mainly oil, coal, gas, nuclear and group of renewable resources against Btu (British thermal unit) production in quadrillions. Oil and coal have the largest production of power and nuclear has the smallest from the group. Fossil fuels are the commonly used supply of primary energy in the world due to its abundance and projected to increase its usage until 2035 with the same trend as what we can observe nowadays. Oil has produced 150 quadrillion Btu in 1990 and expected to generate a total of about 220 quadrillion Btu at the end of 2035. Next are coal and gas that generated 70 to 80 quadrillion Btu from the start of 1990 and will increase to over 200 and 160 quadrillion Btu respectively. The worlds dependence on renewable resources comes third with 30 quadrillion Btu of production from 1990 that is predicted to climb to 100 quadrillion in the year 2035. Probable reason why renewable resources produce lesser energy is that there are still factor that need to be improved and not to mention the cost of the machines are not that cheap, they produce clean energy though. Lastly, nuclear energy comes last with just about 20 quadrillion production of Btu in 1990 and expected to go up to less than 50 quadrillion at the end of 2035. In conclusion, the overall trend of the usage of primary energy whether these are renewable or non renewable, will increase as we go along. Cost of production of electricity is the main factor that is considered, where abundance of supply dictates the cost of a material. As of now, oil, coal and gas are the most abundant and they are frequently used to generate electricity. 5

PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCES

NON RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES: FOSSIL FUELS are non renewable sources of energy and are formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The fossil fuels, which contain high percentages of carbon, include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. The fossil fuels are categorized as non-renewable resources because it takes millions of years before it is made or formed. The consumption on these resources is at a faster rate than it is produce. The production and use of fossil fuels raise environmental concerns that turn the focus on the use of renewable resources.1 The abundance of fossil fuel against other primary energy sources made it the most commonly used. More than 60% of the power generating countries have and use Coal, Gas and Oil. Fossil fuel is burned in a large industrial furnace that is surrounded by boiler tubes filled with water. It boils the water that turns it into steam, and then the steam is pushed towards the turbine with a certain pressure and makes the turbine rotate. The turbine is connected into the generator and electric power is produce. Biggest consumers of Coal are countries like China and USA, for Oil are Japan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and lastly for Gas are Japan, Russia and USA.2 NUCLEAR FUELS is a type of nonrenewable energy and use in thermal power plant to create electricity. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy metal fissile elements that can be made to undergo a nuclear fission chain reaction in a nuclear reactor. The conversion to electrical energy takes place indirectly, as in conventional thermal power plants: The heat is produced by fission in a nuclear reactor and given to a heat transfer fluid - usually water (by either submerged uranium rod into boiling water or application of pressurize water to produce heat). Heat from nuclear fission is used to raise steam, which runs through turbines, which in turn powers on electrical generators. The pressurized steam is then usually fed to a multi-stage steam turbine. After the steam turbine has expanded and partially condensed the steam, the remaining vapor is condensed in a condenser. The condenser is a heat exchanger which is connected to secondary side such as a river or a cooling tower. The water then pumped back into the nuclear reactor and the cycle begins again.3 USA, France and Japan are the top producers of power using nuclear power. RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES BIOMASS a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, (hydrogen) gas, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat, usually by direct incineration. Most of the biodegradable (decomposing matter) materials like wood, waste and other landfill can be a source of Biomass. The decomposition of this matter produces gases (mainly methane gas) that can be extracted and use as primary energy source. The waste product of biomass
1 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

where primary energy source was extracted (e.g. biogas) can be use as organic fertilizers. Biogas can be used to fuel motor vehicles that have a cleaner combustion. Countries in Europe, namely Spain, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland increased the use of Biomass in electricity generation. In the Philippines, there is a project called Landfill Gas to Energy Project which is situated in Payatas Dumpsite. This dumpsite receives an estimated volume of 8,000 tons per that produces gas and these gases are extracted to power a 1MW power plant, which is also located in Patayats. The main reason behind this project is that the government wants to lessen or reduce the use of imported sources of energy.4 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals and from volcanic activity.5 Geothermal energy can give a steady supply of energy that can be use for power generation with lesser impact in the environment compared to the use of fossil fuels. Water from underground reservoirs is heated by magma thousands of meters from Earths surface. Wells are drilled or somehow tapped into these hot reservoirs to extract hot water and steam. The force of the steam spins the turbine which is connected in a electrical generator that produces electricity. The USA and Philippines have the most number of geothermal power plants with 17 and 11 respectively.6 HYDRO POWER is power that is derived from the force or energy of moving water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Prior to the development of electric power, hydropower was used for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile machines, sawmills, dock cranes, and domestic lifts.7 Hydropower energy (energy of falling water) is converted into electricity. Water in the upstream flows into a conduit which is connected to a turbine water wheel and as the water flows, it drives the turbine which is connected to a generator and produce electricity. China, USA and Canada are the leaders in the use of hydropower energy as main source of electricity.6 TIDAL POWER also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power - mainly electricity.8 The principle of extraction of power or energy is the same as to the wind power generation; the difference is that tidal energy is under water. Tidal power comes from the oceanic movements under water where the Moon has a great influence. These tidal movements make the blade spin which is attached to a turbine that produces electricity.

4 5

http://gec.jp/gec/jp/Activities/cdm/PDD03_Mitubishi.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation 7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectricity 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power

France and South Korea have the largest production of electricity in terms of MW with the use of Tidal energy.9

WAVE POWER is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work for example, electricity generation. Machinery able to exploit wave power is generally known as a wave energy converter. The ocean is an enormous energy storage that is supplied with energy from sunlight, geothermal sources, the earths rotation and gravity, in concert with mechanical and hydrothermal processes.10 Waves are generated by wind passing over the surface of the sea. As long as the waves propagate slower than the wind speed just above the waves, there is an energy transfer from the wind to the waves.11 SOLAR ENERGY, only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used. Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat engines and photovoltaics. To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use solar panels.12 PV panel are directed to sun and catches sunlight, this panels filter the positive and negative particles that produces electricity. CSP uses large mirror and concentrates the sunlight into one area and send it to power system to generate electricity. Countries like Spain, Germany and the USA energy to produce electricity.

WIND POWER is the product of wind energy converted to maximize its use, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships. Wind power is abundant, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and do not emit greenhouse gases that affect our environment during its operation. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network. Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration, such as 21% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 18% in Portugal, 16% in Spain, 14% in Ireland and 9% in Germany in 2010. As of 2011, 83 countries around the world are using wind power on a commercial basis. 13

The use of primary energy resources whether renewable or non renewable are being developed to produce more efficient power to provide the needs of people in different parts of the globe. Factor s like efficiency, cost, geographical locations and environmental impacts are considered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tidal_power_stations http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1083 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power 12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy 13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power

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BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS CAUSED BY POWER GENERATION14

FOSSIL FUELS (COAL, OIL and NATURAL GAS) The power generated from fossil fuels (coil, oil and natural gas), as energy source, is about 85% and 87% respectively15, which can be considered as efficient electricity production, fossil fuels can be found in a lot of places and relatively cheap. For that reason Power Plants which uses fossil fuels can be seen all over the world in large numbers. On the other hand, extraction and power generation have negative impacts to the environment and human health. Miners exposed to coal due to mining can be affected by black lung disease or pneumoconiosis and emphysema. The burning of fossil fuel as source of energy emits a greenhouse gas that causes climate change, like sulfur oxide and more. It also adds to the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere which is estimated to be 10 billion tons per year from electrical power industry. Fly ash is another particulate matter that is produce from burning of coal. In the Philippines, power plants are capturing or filtering these fly ashes, before it comes out to the air, and sold to local ready mix concrete suppliers as plasticizer admixtures. But not all of this particulate matters are captured13. NUCLEAR The use of nuclear fuels to generate electricity, unlike with the use of fossil fuels, does not emit greenhouse gases and with lesser carbon dioxide because the process do not require burning of any source. The carbon dioxide emitted during mining, enrichment, fabrication and transport of fuel is small when compared with the carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuels of similar energy yield. Its electricity production is almost identical with electricity generated from fossil fuels13. The water consumption of nuclear plants can reach up to 1500 liters/MWh on power generation.16 Water thrown out to natural body of water, from nuclear power plants, can result in unwanted increase of the water temperature with adverse effect on marine life. Another environmental impact is that the wastes produced in nuclear power plants are radioactive and harmful, as well as to humans. Uranium is a non renewable resource that may only last for 85 years or less.17 WIND The use of renewable energy source does not emit greenhouse gases during operation, one of which is the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. It occupies lesser land area per kilo watt hour (kWh) of electricity generated than other renewable energy conversion system.13 Geographical locations with consistent strong wind are needed in order to make the wind turbine work and be efficient in generating power. Since wind turbines capacity factor is just about 35%, building more wind turbines are needed to produce more power13. In addition, fatalities of birds and bats are seen often on wind turbine site.

14 15

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_electricity_generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levelized_energy_cost 16 http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2006-07/07rn12.pdf 17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_supply#Supply

TIDAL & WAVE Tidal power is renewable for as long as the moon orbits the earth since water gravitates towards the pull being produced by the moon. The change on under water current due to rise and fall of tides causes the turbines under water to rotate and this produces electricity. While the wave energy is the movement of surface of sea water or ocean produce by wind and change in currents. It is a renewable source of energy that can generate electricity. Changes in tides occur every morning and early late afternoon, hence, electricity is only produce during those times. Tidal power requires the use of large dams that can cause tremors underground because of the weight created by the water. Collecting water in dams can also cause disruptions in the ecosystems that are supposed to be covered in water but are not because the water is stuck elsewhere. The water staying in one place also restricts the movement of marine life13. HYDRO-ELECTRIC Hydropower has quite a few advantages compared to many other sources of electrical energy. Hydropower only produces a small degree of air pollution, acid precipitation or greenhouse gas emissions. Hydropower contributes to reduced use of fossil energy sources such as oil, gas or coal18. Hydroelectric power changes water flow since is causes the collection of water in a reservoir. Like tidal power, it disrupts movement of marine life, also affecting downstream ecosystems that rely on them. Damming the areas would reduce public access to certain areas, communities that may lead to their relocation.19 GEOTHERMAL Geothermal energy does not burn fuel like the other methods. Water from geothermal source can be used for industry, agriculture and household uses. The steam from the geothermal source runs the turbine that creates electricity. Geothermal power, unlike solar, is not infinite since the water that is present underground may be depleted. Once this water supply is depleted, tremors can begin, which ultimately may turn into earthquakes. Although it does not burn fuel, its byproducts produce dangerous emissions like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. The steam coming from geothermal plants also requires cool water from natural sources to cool off the hot water that it produces. When water is released, it is still warmer than normal so it causes disruption in natural ecosystems13. SOLAR Solar power produces very clean supply from the abundant sunlight. Solar panels catch this sunlight and turn in a form of heat. This formed heat boils the water in high temperature and create steam. The steam turns the turbine blades to generate electricity. The one good thing about solar cells is that the upfront cost to the environment during its production is offset by the clean energy that it produces during its lifetime.

18 19

http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1082 http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1115

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Solar power requires solar cells before it can be utilized. The cells are made from silica that comes from the sand and its extraction requires the use of fossil fuels. The generation capacity of solar energy is about 15 to 18% which needs more panels to be built and installed to maximize its power production. BIOMASS Biomass sources are able to produce energy by burning materials that can combust. Technology is also being developed to practice growing biomass energy sources, helping capture carbon dioxide before they are used as fuel themselves. Biomass fuel is relatively cheap. Burning biomass fuels have the same emission as to what fossil fuels had. The process of growing biomass uses large scale of land area that can affect other agricultural products. The methods of developing energy have been extensively developed in the past few decades. However, the impact that the different methods have on the environment are one of the things that have not been minimized as of today. There are a number of good outcomes brought by some of the methods that produce energy. But will take a lot of research, money and other resources before humankind can figure out ways to minimize the negative effects of energy production to the environment. Currently, the negative effects almost outweigh the positive effects.

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EXPECTED METHOD POWER GENERATION

Fossil fuels are expected to dominate for the next 25 or more years as source of primary energy due to decline in the usage of nuclear fuels. Most of the power generating plants in the world is fired by fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas, so it would be economical to maximize the use of these structures while the use of renewable resources as energy source is under development. Technological improvements on fossil fuels in terms of sources locations explorations, process of extractions are being used. The uses of Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) or Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in extraction of oil were used by large oil companies for more precise extraction (IEA 2004). For example, Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia had been using the Horizontal Drilling instead of conventional vertical direct drilling to extract more oil. On the other hand, coal resources are vast and well scattered all over the world. Clean coal technologies (Coal Washing) can lessen the amount of ash in raw coal to help combustion, enlarge energy content per ton, remove or prevent SO2, NOX and particulate matter that make coal more efficient and less harmful to the environment.20 Technological changes and modifications will improve the competitiveness of fossil fuels as primary source of energy, which also makes them cost efficient. The table below represents the Total System Average Levelized Cost for Plants entering Services in 2016 (in 2009 $/MWh) unit of production where it shows that the cost of electricity production using renewable resources is relatively higher than the use of non-renewable resources by 100% to 200%. In contrary to its price, the capacity factors of renewable resources are just below 50%.21

20 21

IEA (2004) WORLD Energy Outlook, 2004, OECD and IEA Paris Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2001, December 2010, DOE/IEA-0383(2010)

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Nowadays, more developed countries are taking steps on improvement and utilizing the use of renewable resources for power generations, mainly to resolve climate change that was caused by presence of greenhouse gases through burning of fossil fuels. It is easier for these rich countries to take the first steps because they have the technology on how to take advantage of these resources; they have the funds to long term research and tests to improve things for their benefit without damaging the environment.

MOVING TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

Green Engineering can be the best way to at least lessen the usage of electricity and make more electricity production more sustainable. By doing so, greenhouse gases emission can be prevented which results to climate change. Making use of new construction techniques that only require a small amount of energy or electricity to complete a certain activity. Choose building materials that can be use multiple times and with long serviceability span to limit the wastage of materials and its production. Limiting the demand can limit the production. Include in the design the use of renewable energy sources, provision of solar panel and wind turbines, small or large scales, to make the building or structure self sustaining when it comes to electricity. And as a responsible resident, discipline and control on the use of electricity at home and at work can play a small part on having a sustainable electricity supply. It is agreeable that using equipment powered by electricity is convenient, but sometimes we need to sacrifice something to achieve something, like doing things manually rather than electrically. Another way is to balance the usage between public transport system and personal transportation; the issue of convenience comes up again. For those who are in the position or in power, pushing through on the use of renewable resources can also make a difference. Lastly, the cooperation and awareness of people will be a very big contribution towards sustainable electricity production.

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REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power http://gec.jp/gec/jp/Activities/cdm/PDD03_Mitubishi.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectricity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tidal_power_stations http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1083 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_electricity_generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levelized_energy_cost http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2006-07/07rn12.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_supply#Supply http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1082 http://www.renewable.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1115 IEA (2004) WORLD Energy Outlook, 2004, OECD and IEA Paris Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2001, December 2010, DOE/IEA-0383(2010) US Energy Information Administration (REPORT# DOE/EIA-1484(2010)

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