SET-Plan strategic technologies
Fossil fuel power plants produce the majority of electricity in the EU, mainly through pulverised coal (PC) combustion. But most pulverised coal plants are over 15 years old and are relatively inefficient. As fossil fuel power generation is the biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, any gains in conversion efficiency would translate to substantial carbon dioxide savings. Using the best available technologies, such as ‘advanced supercritical plants’ and ‘ultra-supercritical plants’, can increase efficiency by allowing higher steam conditions (temperature and pressure). Combined cycle plants using natural gas or biomass in pulverised coal power plants, and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants, which turn coal into gas, can potentially reduce emissions even further, especially with carbon capture.
Biofuels are transportation fuels derived from agriculture, forestry or other organic feedstocks. Bioethanol and biodiesel are the most common biofuels used in transport worldwide. Other biofuels are also in use, such as pure vegetable oil and biogas, although with a more limited scope. The main drivers for biofuels production and use are the security of energy supply, diversification of energy supply, reduction of oil import and oil dependence, rural development and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.
Bioenergy is produced by means of several chains of technologies from the
production of biomass in a sustainable manner – meaning cultivation, harvesting,
transportation, storage and eventually pre-treatment – to its use in a conversion process to produce the final form of energy requested: electricity, heat, CHP or biofuel for transport.
The most important use of cement is in the production of concrete. It acts as the binder that ‘glues’ the other key ingredients of concrete – sand and gravel. Cement typically makes up about 12% of the concrete mix. Clinker, the main component of cement, is obtained during the calcination and sinterisation of limestone in a kiln. The
clinker, is then ground and blended with other materials into a powder (cement). Most carbon dioxide emissions from cement manufacturing result from the production of clinker. Reducing the clinker content therefore reduces the energy and carbon intensity of the cement produced.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies can be applied to energy production wherever carbon dioxide is produced in large quantities. This includes, but is not limited to, power generation and promises near zero emission electricity from fossil fuels. Given the likelihood that we will continue to rely on fossil fuels for some significant time to come, CCS is the single action with the greatest potential to combat climate change. It may well be able to address almost half of the world’s current carbon dioxide emissions, by preventing the gas emitted by large stationary sources from entering the atmosphere. For example, CCS can capture at least 90% of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and heavy industry before transporting it by pipeline or ship and storing it at least 700m below the earth’s surface.
Cogeneration is a technique where the production of heat and electricity occurs in a single process or power plant. A modern fossil-fuel power plant transforms about half the primary energy content of its fuel into electricity and rejects the rest as ‘waste’ heat. Cogeneration or Combined Heat and Power (CHP), uses a part of that heat to satisfy a heat demand which would otherwise require energy from another source, usually a fuel. The heat is often in the form of hot exhaust gases, steam or hot water. CHP thus improves the overall efficiency of fuel utilisation and saves on primary energy in comparison to the conventional separate production of power and heat.
After about a decade of low development, the concentrated solar thermal power sector (CSP) is now reviving, notably due to a favourable supporting framework in Spain and increasing investments in the USA. A CSP plant consists basically, of a solar concentrator system made of a receiver and collector to produce heat and a power block (in most cases a Rankine cycle). Three main CSP technologies are under development: Trough, Tower/Central and Dish. Today CSP technologies are in the stage of a first commercial deployment for power production in Europe.
Although there is no standard global definition, a smart electricity grid is generally defined as an electricity network allowing devices to communicate between suppliers to consumers, allowing them to manage demand, protect the distribution network, save energy and reduce costs. They can intelligently integrate the behaviour and actions of all users connected to it - generators, consumers and those that do both – in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. Smart meters – which provide utilities with a secure, two-way flow of data - may be part of a smart grid, but alone do not constitute a smart grid.
Electricity generated by renewables, such as wind and solar, is based on variable
resources. Electricity storage can optimise the energy flows between supply and demand and therefore enable a higher contribution of renewable energy in our electricity mix. Renewables may also not be fully available at the moment when demand is higher or they may supply an excess when the demand is lower, thus creating an imbalance. Electricity storage can overcome the mismatch between output and demand (the so-called time-shifting) and it can smooth out fluctuations in supply without calling on other back-up capacities. It can also save a supplier from penalties when forecast supply cannot be met (the so-called forecast hedging). The
principal electricity storage technologies include hydropower with storage,
compressed air energy storage, flow batteries, hydrogen-based energy systems,
secondary batteries, flywheels, super capacitors, and superconducting
magnetic energy storage.
Fuel cells convert the chemical energy stored in fuels into electricity and heat. They can be fed by fuels that are readily available as well as by waste-streams from industrial processes, thus reducing reliance on foreign oil and on an electricity grid that is ageing and increasingly pushed beyond capacity. As there is no combustion, fuel cells do not produce any emissions at their point of use, and because there are no moving parts, they are quiet and reliable. Due to their high efficiency, fuel cells are considered the most efficient means of converting any fuel to useful power, which they can provide at scales ranging from mW to multi-MW. They can be used in stationary applications such as generating electricity for industrial and residential applications where in many cases, the produced heat can also be used in transport, powering vehicles, buses and trains as well as off-road vehicles (e.g. forklift trucks) and in portable applications such as laptops, toys and cell phones.
Geothermal literally means ‘Earth’s heat’. The layers of rock that make up the Earth’s surface grow increasingly hot with depth, from crust to mantle to core, and this heat can be tapped as energy. The heat may be held in the rocks themselves (geothermal) or in subterranean water, brine or steam (hydrothermal). Humans have used geothermal energy for thousands of years, for example, using the heat from the ground for cooking or bathing. Nowadays, geothermal exploitation is divided into two technological aspects: the extraction of heat energy and its transformation into a usable form such as electricity. Extracted heat energy may be used directly, for instance, by pumping water heated by rocks to heat buildings. In addition, different types of power plants can transform geothermal heat to electricity; most use a turbine driven by steam to drive a generator that produces electricity.
Hydropower electricity is the product of transforming potential energy stored in water in an elevated reservoir into the kinetic energy of the running water, then mechanical energy in a rotating turbine, and finally electrical energy in an alternator or generator. Hydropower is a mature renewable power generation technology that offers two desirable characteristics in modern electricity systems: first, built-in storage that increases the system’s flexibility and second, fast response time to meet rapid or unexpected fluctuations in supply or demand.
Nuclear fission energy is a competitive and mature low-carbon technology, operating to high levels of safety within the EU. Most of the current designs are Light Water Reactors (LWR), capable of providing base-load electricity often with availability factors of over 90%. The ageing of Europe’s nuclear reactors and the requirements for secure, cost efficient and low-carbon energy systems will require a substantial investment in construction and development of nuclear reactors.
Nuclear fusion is an attractive long-term energy solution, although it is unlikely
that the technology will be ready for commercial power generation in the near future. Nevertheless, fusion energy has made significant progress over the last few decades and is now considered as a credible option for clean, large-scale electricity generation. Fusion is the process that produces the light and heat of the sun. Hydrogen nuclei collide in the sun’s core and release huge amounts of energy as they
fuse into helium atoms. On earth, fusion reactors heat gas to extreme temperatures to produce a plasma similar to the conditions found within a star. Fusion’s many benefits include an essentially unlimited supply of fuel, passive intrinsic safety and no production of CO2 or atmospheric pollutants. It is one of the very few candidates for the large-scale, carbon-free production of base-load power. Compared to nuclear fission, it produces relatively short-lived radioactive products, with half-lives limited to less than 50 years.
Ocean wave energy is mostly derived from a transfer of wind energy to the surface of the ocean. Due to the difference of properties in the energy carrier media (water), wave energy is less intermittent and more predictable than other renewable technologies such as wind, although forecasting techniques need improvement.
Oceans represent a huge, predictable resource for renewable energy. The main forms of ocean energy are waves, tides, marine currents, salinity gradient and temperature gradient. Wave and tidal energy are currently the most mature
technologies. Wave energy is mostly derived from a transfer of wind energy to the surface of the ocean. The energy is measured in terms of kilowatts per metre of wave front (kW/m) and can be converted to electricity in a number of ways.
Most passenger vehicles still rely on conventional petrol or diesel engines, for which incremental improvements can be foreseen in terms of energy efficiency. Electric motors offer higher efficiency, either as Battery electrical vehicles (BEVs), which are purely electrical, Hybrid electrical vehicles (HEVs), which combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor, or Plug-in hybrid electrical vehicles (PHEVs), where electricity can be charged from the grid. The main challenge is the low energy density of available batteries, which limits the range between charges.
Solar-thermal systems currently installed in Europe (active and passive) are predominantly based on glazed flat plate and evacuated tube collectors. The vast majority of the European capacity (90%) comprises single family house units used for the supply of domestic hot water. The remaining capacity consists of an equal share of domestic hot water – multi-family house units and single family house combi-systems that deliver both hot water and spatial heating.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is a large, rapidly developing industry. Photovoltaic technology is poised to help Europe make good on its goal of sourcing 20% of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2020. Recent progress has led to rising efficiencies, better reliability and falling prices. Improving solar cell efficiency while keeping costs low are the main challenges for further maturity and uptake of the technology. Commercial solar modules generally have efficiencies of 15%, which means about one-sixth of the sunlight striking a module generates electricity. At the end of 2010, about 38 GW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic power will be installed globally, which can produce about 40 TWh of electricity on a yearly basis. Europe,
meanwhile, has a cumulative installed capacity of more than 25 GW, making it the largest world market.
Wind energy is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. It is plentiful, renewable,
widely distributed, clean and produces no greenhouse gas emissions. Europe is a global leader in wind energy. In 2009, it accounted for five of the top ten wind suppliers and it held a 46 % share of globally installed wind energy capacity. In the same year, wind represented 39 % of all new power capacity in Europe, up from 36% in 2008 and leading new capacity for the second year in a row. Onshore wind energy is a mature technology. Currently, R&D is primarily focused on maximising the value of wind energy and on taking the technology offshore, where public opinion is more supportive of new wind farm installations.
