Arno's EnergyIdeas (26)

The Electric Car: Between Euphoria and / or irrational act

Huge was the euphoria in the media, when BMW's Board member Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG and Tuomo Hatakka, CEO of Vattenfall, started a "remarkable project“ in Berlin. What was all the fuss about? The two „forerunners“ introduced one of 50 recharging points, which will supply 50 electric Mini cars with electricity sometime in the future. One charge will last for a range of 250 km - then the vehicles have to be reloaded. In response, Daimler is teaming up a similar project in London with e-vehicles based on their Smart models. And all - of course - free of pollutants, or attend the creative diction: local pollution-free. That sounds good, though...

GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster (right), chairman of the supervisory board of Adam Opel GmbH, receiving a briefing from the author about the HANNOVER FAIR.

Well, then, congratulations to the electricity suppliers in the world, for them this is a gift of a completely new market, which brings revenue and profit. However, what does it also bring? That, as always in life "depends" on the strategy. In this case it depends on how the electricity is being generated for tue use in the electric vehicles to support clean mobility. It is known, that coal-fired power plants - not only in Germany, but worldwide - are by far the largest carbon dioxide producers. Depending on the source and way of calculation, the new advanced e-vehicles, although small and light, still generate over 160 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, far more than what similar vehicles available at the car dealers with "clean" fossil combustion engines blow in the streets.

A few days later, car maker Opel, regardless of being threatened by the liquidity shortage financial crisis of the U.S. parent company General Motors (GM), presented the development of its promising fuel-cell propulsion vehicle in Berlin as well. GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster and the German Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) displayed the “next generation” of hydrogen-powered cars: the HydroGen4 . Also on this occasion the question of the origin of the hydrogen was again not being asked. Noteworthy is also the "expert" hyphen in: "Hydrogen- and Fuel Cells" on the homepage of the Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (http://www.bmvbs.de). Good to know and now virtually on the record – that there are hydrogen cells existing. Many believe in it anyway.

As part of the National German Innovation Program, hydrogen and fuel cell technology is supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport with 500 million Euro (...over a period of ten years) to: "... maintain the German advance in these technologies..." Here we (Germany) are, according to the Ministry on its homepage, already very well positioned. Now it will also be the subject of long-term battery technology and market research and preparation programes in this field are going to be coordinated. With the Integrated Energy and Climate Change Program IEKP the theme of "Electric Mobility" will close this gap. It remains exciting were the origin of the primary energy for the mobility in our country is going to come from.

What has been achieved so far? In 2007 in Germany "exemplary" 87 billion kWh electricity were produced from renewable energies. This corresponded to a share of just 14 percent on total gross electricity consumption. In the case of electricity, the power of coal and lignite underwent a significant growth in 2007: The power generation based on coal rose by 5.2 percent to 145 billion kWh, in the lignite power plants were generating 3.3 percent more electricity than in 2006. Overall, coal supplied 301 billion kWh of electricity. ´That means, 47 percent of the electricity comes from coal in Germany. Nothing to be proud of, really,

Nuclear power plants supplied 140.5 billion kWh in 2007 - almost 16 percent less electricity than in previous year. After temporary closure of up to six of the 17 German nuclear power plants, in the end of 2007, again 14 plants resumed in operation. The proportion of nuclear power in gross electricity generation in Germany fell to 22.1 percent in 2007 and is now behind the shares of coal as a primary energy for electricity production.

The installed capacity for wind power rose in 2007 by about 1.670 MW to around 22.290 MW. Overall, at year-end in Germany were estimated 19.570 wind turbines in operation. Electricity generation from wind power grew by nearly 29 percent to 39.5 billion kWh. An impressive number, however, for comparison: The electricity exports to countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria amounted to 63.3 billion kWh in the same period.

From biogenic energy sources, including the prorated production in garbage power plants (biogenic waste), 24 billion kWh of electricity were produced in 2007 in Germany. Even the electricity generation from photovoltaic contributed approximately remarkable three billion kWh to the production of gross electricity. The electricity in hydroelectric plants, including those pumped to water reservoirs, amounted to 27.5 billion kWh. Of these, 20.7 billion kWh were calculated as being with regenerative effect.

However: Not only in Germany, the whole, "regenerative" electricity generated, is forced, by law, as 50-Hz alternating current (AC) to the low, medium or high tension grid, to then "somewhere", indefinable appearing at the power sockets again. Where and how exactly this happens, nobody can say today seriously. Furthermore, the regenerative electricity generated is following the whole "Conversion loss chain", of the electricity network supply to the consumer, be it for mining, industry and SME`s, households or even transportation. So around 30 percent of the primary energy disappear quickly, before it is arriving to the respective points of use. This conversion losses alone amount to more than 1.7-fold (171 percent) of total the energy consumption in German households.

My question now: Why are there little or no activities towards a decentralized energy system - not only for transportation services; where the energy is produced intelligently, directly at the point of usage, without much conversion and transportation losses? Especially since batteries can only be charged with DC . By now, to jump upon the bandwagon, to follow the existing path, to rely again on a given network structure will lead again to dangerous monopolistic dependencies. Which will probably be questioned again in 40 to 50 years earliest. If it is not too late than...

Links to news:
http://www.opel.de/shop/technics/hydrogen4/index.act
http://www.bmvbs.de/Klima_-Umwelt-Energie/Mobilitaet-Verkehr/Technologien-Energie-,2987.1059206/Elektromobilitaet.htm
https://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/strombilanz.php

Image:
GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster (right), chairman of the supervisory board of Adam Opel GmbH, receiving a briefing from the author about the HANNOVER FAIR.

(Photo: Julio E. Foster, Aragon Grafico, Zaragossa, Spain)

Date: 02.12.2008