Blog Entry #8

Lesson Overview

Our lesson today highlighted the key topics and concerns regarding the current sources of energy, and where we are headed in the future in this aspect. Fossil fuels have long been regarded as the world’s primary source of energy. However, this source is highly unsustainable and a shift towards renewable energy sources is inevitable and necessary. Firstly, fossil fuels are limited and finite resources. The continuous burning of these fuels will result in there not being any fossil fuels left for future generations. Secondly, the increased burning of fossil fuels results in an increased production of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. We discussed the drivers of global energy change such as rising energy consumption and the need for economic development, and key considerations such as energy security and energy as a source of national income. We discussed about emerging and future sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and the use of biomass.  

Interesting ideas & observations

The days of fossil fuels are numbered

“The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution.” I agree with this statement by Prof Shahi. The continuous burning of fossil fuels has led our environment to a dire state. A study carried out showed that the social costs of all environmental impacts caused by burning of fossil fuels amounted to a total of US$3.8 billion, with health impacts accounting for the largest portion of the costs. Furthermore, the finite nature of fossil fuels is another indication that a change to a more renewable source is needed. The figures produced by the world’s oil industry say it all. Already 50% of the world’s entire oil supply has been burnt through. If we continue with our current oil consumption pattern, our future generations may not have any oil to consume. Hence a change is definitely needed. Renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind, and other emerging technologies like biofuels, look like the solution to this problem and an adequate replacement to fossil fuels. Although solar panels in deserts and windmills in the seas may have environmental implications towards desert and marine life respectively as mentioned by one of the presenters today, I feel that the negative effect of these energy sources on the environment is nothing compared to the impact of fossil fuels. This, and the finite nature of fossil fuels, brings us an imperative need for change.

The paper ‘Energy technologies for a sustainable future (transport)’ proposed an interesting action plan to push a more sustainable transport system to the market. The goal: All transport modes (except air travel) dominated by hydrogen-fuel-cell or electric vehicles fuelled by near-zero-GHG emission biofuels. The action plan is divided into 3 phases; the first phase (2000-2030) would see the commercialization of at least one of the 3 technology groups. The second phase (2030-2050) would see the mass market of consumers accept these new technologies and high demand for these vehicles and the third phase (2050 onwards) would see the goal fulfilled with nearly all new vehicles utilizing the new technologies. I think that this goal is definitely attainable by 2050. The Chevrolet Volt is set to go on sale this November as General Motors recently began an intensive campaign to explain the car.

The transition process from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources has already begun in the transportation industry. I will not be long before other industries follow in this direction.

Sustainable energy sources waiting to be harnessed

These were the figures provided during the lesson:

Solar Energy: 3850,000EJ

Wind Energy: 2250EJ

Biomass: 3000EJ

Primary Energy Use in 2009: 487 EJ

Electricity: 567 EJ

From these figures, we can see that these alternative energy sources can provide an adequate amount of energy that would fulfill and even exceed our future energy needs.

The above video link shows how a farm can be run where farmers will be able to generate their own energy to run their farm and agricultural equipment. Technologies like solar, wind, hydrogen fuel cells and bioenergy are all utilized to enable the farm to function as one giant self-generating ecological cycle. The energy sources proposed are also completely green and have little to zero environmental impacts. I feel that these are the type of energy systems that we need to move towards in the future in order to preserve our earth and resources for the use of future generations. We do not need to decide which type of renewable energy source serves us best as existing together as one system is the best approach in shifting towards sustainable energy sources. Each source of energy fills in where other sources fail. For example, in times of little sunlight and heat, we can shift from solar energy sources to wind energy sources. The large diversity of energy sources also increases our energy security.

As Randy mentioned in his presentation, however, mainly nine challenges are faced in the search for alternative energy. Two challenges that struck me as strong hindrances to the shift towards alternative energy are intermittency and commercialization. As mentioned before, I feel that having a variety of alternative energy sources that can be used during periods when one source is unusable can solve intermittency. Commercialization is a problem as it is a long process (20-25 years) for technologies to successfully penetrate the global market.

In the paper ‘Energy Technologies for a Sustainable Future’, under the section Beyond R&D, it advocates that apart from R&D, it is extremely vital for governments to provide more direct support for bringing these technologies to a commercial state. Certain policy tools facilitating change to a green energy, as mentioned in the lesson, are subsidies, incentives (as exemplified in Germany) and education campaigns (which are likely only to work in the long term).

Renewable Energy Sources in Singapore

It was mentioned during the course of the class that the energy security in Singapore is zero. Why? We depend on other countries for energy imports and have not invested in anything capable of energy generation. Though one key concern is the lack of available land space in Singapore, I feel that we should stop using this as an excuse to continue depending on other countries for energy.

Just look at what Germany has done. Every roof is a potential site for a solar panel. They even deployed solar panels along the highway. Kinetic track pads, as someone mentioned, could help harness kinetic energy from people who step on the pad and the energy harnessed could be used to operate a traffic light.  

The following ‘speed bump’ technology is an enhancement of this technology, which can be used to harness kinetic energy from the weight of your car. The technology has already been implemented overseas in several high volume traffic areas.

Nuclear Energy

Lastly, it was addressed in one of the presentations today that Nuclear Energy has the potential to be the sustainable energy source of the future. Personally, I highly doubt this. Too many people have attributed nuclear energy to a dangerous and highly hazardous source of energy. Health concerns, such as genetic mutations leading to tumors as a result of exposure to radioactive materials, dampen public acceptance of nuclear energy into the market. I also feel that one key concern is the production of nuclear waste, which is long-lived and has no safe means for disposal. That, and the high maintenance costs, makes the shift towards nuclear energy highly unlikely in my opinion.

Prof mentioned an interesting idea that entailed nuclear energy being transmitted from plants in the US to other countries. No maintenance costs are imposed on recipient countries and the US handles the waste disposal.

Key takeaways

-       The complete shift towards renewable energy sources is necessary and inevitable and the sooner we move in that direction, the better.

-       Governments have to play a key role in pushing these technologies to be commercialized by using policy tools to facilitate this change.

-       Renewable energy sources should exist together, as a system, like in the energy-sufficient farm, and not be seen as a tradeoff with other renewable energy sources.

Issues for further discussion

-       The investment in renewable energy sources in Singapore was an interesting topic and could have been discussed further. I can see solar and kinetic (Kinetic energy track pads and ‘speed bumps’) being key energy sources in Singapore in the future, but highly doubt that wind energy will be feasible. Because of the number of high-rise buildings in Singapore, there is a lot of obstruction to the free-flow of wind. Hence the full potential of harnessing wind energy will not be realized here.

-       The question on Carbon Capture Recycling could have been further tackled. The question posed was “If CCR on a large scale removed CO2 from the atmosphere, which is a key component of the carbon cycle, should we continue to remove CO2 from the atmosphere?” Personally, I feel that the proposition that we will run into a scarcity of carbon dioxide in the future after implementing this technology on a large scale is quite far-fetched. Carbon dioxide is so abundant in the environment today that a net decrease in CO2 levels will only lead to a benefit to the environment. However there is a possibility that energy-intensive industries may use this as an excuse to burn more fossil fuels resulting in further depletion of already scare non-renewable resources.

Personal ratings

9/10. The lesson brought up many important issues regarding the ‘real’ and current problem of finding sustainable alternatives for fossil fuels. Many interesting ideas were raised and I learnt about many new technologies preparing to enter the energy arena such as osmotic power and fusion energy. A very informative & thought-provoking session!