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GREEN ENERGY FOR ELECTRICITY INITIATIVE (GENEI)ALTERNATIVE TO NUCLEAR AND FOSSIL ENERGY
BY FRANCIS C W FUNG, PH.D.
July 18, 2008
On July 17, 2008 Al Gore, former US Vice President, made an important US energyindependent announcement. The main theme was to announce the timely and importantinitiative of converting all US electricity production to green energy in a decade, by 2018.The initiative is wise and admirable, but is it realistic? Is it achievable and how?Currently the US electricity generation is 70% by fossil fuel, 20% by nuclear power andonly 10% by solar, hydro, wind and other forms of renewable energy. Gore’s ambitiousgoal is achievable if supported by concerted national efforts of Solar Stirling Engine programs to gradually replace existing fossil fuel power plants, large or small.America is a country of vast resources and can do spirit demonstrated by the massmobilization of WWII in airplane manufacturing capability. Half a century later theworld has not yet caught up. In the urgency of the present national energy and climatecrisis, the same ‘can do’ attitude can be applied to the Green Energy for ElectricityInitiative (GENEI) for success. The GENEI policy will put US so far ahead in Solar Stirling system manufacturing that the world will not be able to catch up. Themomentum of GENEI advocacy will make us the largest energy technology and StirlingEngine export nation in the history of world green energy technology and product export.The potential world market of GENEI technology and products together with our reduction in oil imports can be so great as to more than halve the current American tradedeficit. The US is in great need of a president who will adhere to the mission and visionadvanced by Al Gore.Exactly twenty-four years ago I delivered a key note speech at the Second InternationalConference of Stirling Engines in Shanghai, China. The title of my speech was “ThePromising Future of Stirling Engines in China”. This was referring to American StirlingEngine technology being transferred to China. The idea was for China to deploynationwide, small size solar powered Stirling engines as an appropriate renewable energytechnology. The most endearing and commanding source of external heat to power Stirling Engines without doubt is solar heat. Because of the simplicity of the StirlingEngine’s operating principle and construction compared to the conventional internalcombustion engine, this is a winning combination from economical and renewable energyconsiderations. The operating gas in a Stirling Engine is hermetically sealed and heat isadded to the outside of the engine cylinder. Thus mechanically, high efficiency StirlingEngines are very simple and maintenance free. Most of all, because of its high heat and power concentration capability, it is also particularly suitable for large electric utilityapplications compared to solar voltaic panels. Solar voltaic panels as alternative utility power plants have significantly lower thermal efficiency, higher cost and take up muchmore space for the same electricity power delivered.1
As of this writing, the two largest Solar power Stirling Engine Utility Plants under construction are the Solar One Project being built for Southern California Edison at theCalifornia Mohave desert and the Solar Two Project being built for San Diego Gas andElectric at Imperial County at Southern California. The total designed power for thesetwo projects add up to be 1750 MW, the size of two large nuclear power plants.How does Solar Stirling Engine stack up against Nuclear Power plants? The solar Stirling Engine technology used in these two projects are called the SES SunCatcher system, they hold the record for the most efficient solar electricity generation technologyin the world. The SES SunCatcher is a highly concentrating solar thermal technologythat converts sunlight into electricity at a rate of 31.25 percent, significantly moreefficient than its closest competitor. The cost of electric power for these Sun Catchers is1/5 to 1/10 the cost of comparable photo voltaic panels. Each Sun Catcher dish is 38 feettall, 40 feet wide and generates 25,000 watts of power, which means they occupy muchless space compared to any solar voltaic panels on per kilowatt basis. The large spacerequired for solar voltaic panels, high price and low efficiency, disqualified them ascandidates for large utilities in competing with Solar Stirling Engine systems.The cost of nuclear power plants is manifolds higher than the equivalent Solar StirlingEngine power plants because of the strict need and regulation requirements to preventnuclear radioactivity leaks. All nuclear power plants must be housed in huge fortifiedcontainment housing, and all systems of hot and cooling water circulation must beheavily protected and isolated. The construction cycle is also unduly long. Despite all the built in safety factors for nuclear power plants, mechanical failures and human errors dooccur. Accidents like Three Mile Island in the US and Chernobyl in Russia areunavoidable and the consequences are too dear to accept.For the sheer amount of enormous energy needed for Green Energy for ElectricityInitiative (GENEI), from a safety point of view, Solar Stirling Engine System utility winshands down over other renewable energy choices. California has voted for StirlingEngines from expert experience and is moving ahead. Since the accident at Three MileIsland over thirty years ago, the US has consistently delayed building nuclear power plants. That is very responsible and to be commended. I was one time the China countryrepresentative of Combustion Engineering for the sales of moth-balled Tennessee Valley Nuclear power plants. The nightmares of TMI and Chernobyl still haunt me. The cost of disposal of spent fuel and its adverse effect of long lasting radioactivity on nature andmankind is well known. No nuclear power plant is permanent. The eventual need to tear down old dilapidated nuclear power plant for safety has also never been adequatelyaddressed.After the unprecedented severe Sichaun earth quakes, the construction of huge hydro power plants such as the three Gorges anywhere in the world will be most likely put off for a long time if not forever. Medium and small size hydropower stations are better alternatives.2
Aside from the fact that Solar Stirling Engine for electricity generation is non pollutingand renewable, the final merit is the economic pay back of its low life cycle cost due toease of manufacturing and maintenance of the engine. Solar Stirling Engine systemshave long life cycle and do not require the many additional ancillary accessories as dieseland steam engines. In a Solar Stirling Engine System the working gas is permanently andhermetically sealed. There is no replacement or treatment necessary of the working gasin the life cycle of the engine as is required in steam and internal combustion engines.In conclusion, as a national and local GENEI policy to reduce environmental pollution, tosteer away from long term radioactive degradation of the earth, and to reduce nationalfinancial burden, all point to the choice of using Solar Stirling Engine Systems as themost viable solution. Large Stirling Engine power plants can be incrementally added insmall modular units. They are much more thermally efficient than Solar voltaic panels.The recommendation of using Stirling Engine alternative for GENEI policy is based onmy over two decades of experience as a practitioner of international Solar Stirling Enginetechnology transfer. The US oil imports is 24% in the 1970’s and 42% in the 1990’s.Today we import 70% of our oil and at a staggering cost of $700 Billion. This increasingtrend and heavy cost are absolutely unsustainable.It is imperative for us to support Al Gore’s recommendations and advocate GENEI policyas a national priority. To play a responsible role as the leader of the world, the US mustalso set an example in her renewable energy policy. Other major fossil fuel consumingnations such as China and India will inevitably follow. With ample evidence as discussedhere, not to include the Solar Engine Systems for consideration as a major part of USGENEI imperative is unconscionable. Financially the US will be the biggest energytechnology transfer nation in world history and the beneficiary thereof.In fact the US is already ahead of the world in Solar Stirling Engine technology. TheGENEI policy will put US so far ahead in Solar Stirling system manufacturing that theworld will be hard put to catch up. The potential export of Solar Stirling Engine systemsto meet the pent up demand for rest of the world will be a great stimulus to the USsagging economy. Together with the reduction in oil imports, the US trade deficit can besignificantly reversed. The summation of total reduction of oil imports as the worldfollows our GENEI imperative will no doubt instantly halt the oil price speculation. Itwill not be surprising that a world concerted GENEI effort will instantly drive the oil price down by more than half. Our next president must show the vision and leadership toendorse Al Gore’s recommendations and implement the GENEI imperative as our energyindependence policy. Yours humbly is available for consultation by invitation fromrelevant national energy implementation departments and local government heads.In Service of Energy IndependenceFrancis C W Fung, PH.D.Solar Stirling Engine Partnership (SSEP)Word count 15003
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