Assessment of Alternative Energy Technologies and Recommendations for a National Energy Policy

Project Number: MH-1073 Assessment of Alternative Energy Technologies and Recommendations for a National Energy Policy An Interactive Qualifying Project Report submitted to the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Authored by: Alex Hindley, Kyle Bartosik, and Kevin Brown Submitted to: Professor Mayer Humi March 9, 2011 Abstract The objective of this IQP is to analyze the current state of energy production by all major energy sources, explore the technical and economic feasibility of individual alternatives, and to develop a set of public policy recommendations that can be implemented at the federal level to address this situation over the next few decades. i Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... i Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ ii List of Figures and Tables ............................................................................................................................ iv Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... vi 1 - Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 2 - Background and Technical Research ....................................................................................................... 2 2.1 - Traditional Energy Sources .............................................................................................................. 2 2.1.1 - Crude Oil ....................................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1.1 - Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines ............................................................................ 7 2.1.1.2 - Efficiency of Internal Combustion Engines ............................................................................ 9 2.1.2 - Coal Power .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.1.3 - Natural Gas .................................................................................................................................. 22 2.1.4 - Nuclear Power ............................................................................................................................. 26 2.2 - Summary of Current Energy Supply and Usage ................................................................................. 32 2.3 - Alternative Energy Sources ................................................................................................................ 35 2.3.1 - Wind Power ................................................................................................................................. 36 2.3.2 - Tidal-Flow Energy ....................................................................................................................... 44 2.3.3 Photovoltaic Solar Power (PV) ...................................................................................................... 50 2.3.4 - Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSP) ................................................................................. 57 2.3.5 - Geothermal Power ....................................................................................................................... 61 2.3.6 - Nuclear Fusion ............................................................................................................................. 63 2.4 - Transportation Applications ............................................................................................................... 68 2.4.1 - Algae Biofuel ............................................................................................................................... 69 2.4.2 - Hydrogen Fuel Cells .................................................................................................................... 76 2.4.3 - Electric Cars and Hybrids ............................................................................................................ 84 3 - Existing Energy Legislation .................................................................................................................. 91 3.1 - Renewable Portfolio Standards....................................................................................................... 95 4 - Analysis and Summary of Data ............................................................................................................. 98 4.1 - Energy Cost Comparisons .............................................................................................................. 98 4.2 - Energy Demand and Infrastructure Growth.................................................................................. 101 5 - Conclusions and Policy Recommendations ......................................................................................... 108 ii 5.1 - A Federal Renewable Portfolio Standard. .................................................................................... 108 5.2 - Low Interest Renewable Energy Loans. ....................................................................................... 110 5.3 - Tax Credits and Rebates ............................................................................................................... 110 5.4 - Disincentives and Pollution Accountability ................................................................................. 111 6 - Hypothetical Energy Crisis Solutions .................................................................................................. 113 7 - References ........................................................................................................................................... 115 iii List of Figures and Tables Figure 1 - U.S. Crude Oil Production ............................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2 - U.S. Total Petroleum Net Imports ................................................................................................................ 3 Figure 3 - Inflation Adjusted Monthly Crude Oil Prices ................................................................................................... 5 Figure 4 - Energy Losses of Average Vehicle .............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 5 - Driving More Efficiently ................................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 6 - Diesel Combustion ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7 - Simplified Diagram of Wet-Scrubbing ................................................................................................. 17 Figure 8 - Coal Gasifier ........................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 9 - Diagram of an IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) power plant. ............................... 19 Figure 10 - Schematic of Different CCS Technologies/Methods ...................................................................... 21 Figure 11 - Highly Fractured Shale Figure 12 - Horizontal Drilling .............................................................. 23 Figure 13 - Typical Annual Space Heating Costs ............................................................................................... 25 Figure 14 - Natural Gas Price Paid by Residential Consumers ....................................................................... 25 Figure 15 - Natural Gas Reserves ......................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 16 - Binding Energy vs. Mass Number ..................................................................................................... 27 Figure 17 - Nuclear Fuel Cycle .............................................................................................................................. 28 Figure 18 - U.S. Primary Energy Flow (2009) ...................................................................................................... 32 Figure 19 – Primary Energy Production Figure 20 – Primary Energy Consumption .................................. 33 Figure 21 - Crude Oil Prices ................................................................................................................................... 34 Figure 22 - Natural Gas Prices ............................................................................................................................... 35 Figure 23 - Wind Energy Conversion .................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 24 - Typical decibel reading of common sounds .................................................................................... 41 Figure 25 - Wind Turbine Components ................................................................................................................

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