Arno's EnergyIdeas (31)
Energy Efficiency: What is actually done since 1979? ...
It happened in 1979 (and much has happened since): Pink Floyd released their album "The Wall", Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Iran, a barrel of oil cost at the end of the year 24 U.S. Dollars (without depriation), and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced payment of five dollars per barrel for oil consumers.
It happened in 1979 (and much has happened since): Pink Floyd released their album "The Wall", Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Iran, a barrel of oil cost at the end of the year 24 U.S. Dollars (without depriation), and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced payment of five dollars per barrel for oil consumers.
The graphics created by us show the flow of energy in Germany in the year 1979, originally published by Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Bölkow Ludwig (founder of the German aerospace industry, and the Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH) in his book, "Decisions for a long-term energy policy“ (released in1982). In 1979, the total primary energy consumption in Germany, was 408 million tonnes Coal units (SKE). At he conversion of raw materials like coal, oil, and gas and uranium and hydropower to consumer useable fuels such as gasoline and electricity, conversion losses are occurring in the amount of 106 million tonnes SKE. After deduction of non-energy consumption (raw materials, which are not used for energy purposes, but for the manufactoring of products such as plastics and chemicals), leave only 270 million tonnes RACO as a so-called final disposal - These were 67 percent of primary energy. Of these, 92 million tonnes Ce in the industry, 74 million tonnes in the households, followed by transport with 56 million tonnes and commercial / services with 48 million tonnes SKE.
Dr. Ludwig Bölkow highlights in his book shows that in the use of the final item process heat, heating and hot water with about 50 percent dominated by the slightly through measures such as heat insulation, etc. could be reduced.
Really utilized energy (mechanical work, driving, heat, etc.) account for only 30 percent of the energy.
What has changed with the ever-evolving, much quoated energy-efficient technology in Germany in the 30 years since 1979 ? Despite all the many assertions of political sources, in Germany, it did not happen to produce and distribute electricty more efficiently. On the contrary: the efficiency of the combustion of fossil fuels and use of nuclear energy to generate electricty has got even worse today since 1979. The primary energy consumption increased by 16.1 percent, but instead of raising up domestic production (-14.7 percent) more raw materials (+37.2 per cent) were imported. The share of renewable energy rose by a significant 423 per cent, but only because its proportion in 1979 (with 6 million tonnes tce) was vanishingly small. At the time, these were the shares of hydropower for electricity generation and ever growing energies (wood!) for heat. The conversion losses, which are mainly the losses in the production of electricity in central power plants and the losses during the transport of electricity, have increased in the last 28 years by remarkable 21.4 percent, although the consumption only rose by 8.5 percent. Anyone who speaks of energy savings, and so do many, should be the first to start with the conversion losses, which raise from year to year, and are higher than the total energy consumed in the transport sector (1979: conversion losses = 106 million tons tce ; traffic = 74 million tons, 2007: conversion losses = 128.7 million tons tce; traffic = 88.7 million tons).
In 2007, the proportion of much summoned "Renewable Energies" are at 6.7 percent (31.4 million tons of coal equivalent) of the energy supply, of which about 73 percent are solid (wood) or liquid (manure) biomass, 8 percent are from large and small hydropower. Wind powers around 16 percent of renewable energy, photovoltaic only amounts to 1.2 percent. The utilities (electricity companies), however, would prefer to have nothing to do with these flactuating sources, because they do not fit into their centralist view of the world.
What can we all do now? Actually, it's not difficult: real, physical (and not political) progress can only be achieved with a fundamental change in our existing energy system. We have to turn away from the central and less intelligent use of thermal generation (combustion) and the associated ineffective distribution of the energy (electricity) towards a much more smart distributed generation. Complemented by environmentally friendly energy storage and effective use at the place of production. In a short message: "Power to the people!". The components needed are all available, perhaps we see something like this at the 15th Group Exhibit on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells during Hannover Fair 2009, from 20 to 24 April. That would be great.
It should also be noted that in the figures of the time frame from 1979 to 2007 all further losses caused by the consumption or the use of energy by industry, transport, etc. are not even considered. The efficiency or rather inefficiencey of light bulbs or internal combustion engines are therefore not calculated and have to be added in this graphics.
Sources: EAT, 1982, Dipl.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Bölkow Ludwig, Ottobrunn; Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen 08/2008.
Links to the news:
http://www.ag-energiebilanzen.de
https://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/energiefluss-deutschland-1979-2007.php
https://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/erneuerbare-energien-in-deutschland-2007.php
Graphic:
Energy Balance in Germany from 1979 to 2007.
(Copyright: Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR)
Date: 10.03.2009 |