Energy Sector Transformation - Day 3

Day 3 Agenda
▪ Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study
▪ Renewables – A global view, Tidal, Wind & Solar
▪ Case Study – Hydropower – Bhutan
▪ Case Study : SECMOL Ladakh
▪ Renewables - The India story
• Renewable Energy In India - boon or bane
• Case Study – India – Nuclear Power Corporation
▪ Case Study – Solar – Driving through the Mojave desert – largest solar installation in
the world
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study
Ethanol derived from sugarcane is a comparatively sustainable fuel, with
direct emissions up to 90% lower than those of gasoline or diesel
Review Video
GD
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study…
▪ Brazil today is home to the world’s largest fleet of cars that use ethanol derived from
sugarcane as an alternative fuel to fossil fuel based petroleum.
▪ Twenty-seven million cars, 73% of the total, can use a mix of ethanol and gasoline.
▪ What is more extraordinary than the scale of the transition to ethanol fuel in Brazil
is the speed at which it occurred.
▪ In only 6 years from when the Brazilian Government introduced the National
Alcohol Programme, “Proálcool”, in 1975, 90% of all new vehicles sold in the country
could run on ethanol.
▪ This extraordinary rapid transition involved cooperation between sugarcane
farmers, ethanol distillers, national and international automobile manufacturers and
environmental groups, spurred to action by radical public policy that was initially a
response to the oil price shocks of the 1970s, but was extended and expanded for
the environmental benefits of transitioning away from petroleum
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study…
▪ Consumers turned away from ethanol cars in the 1990s when oil prices
were low, which led the government to respond from the early 2000s with
the active promotion of “flex-fuel vehicles” (FFVs);
▪ Cars which are capable of running on both ethanol and gasoline – allowing
consumers to switch their fuel choice depending on price and convenience.
▪ The FFVs have proven incredibly popular since their introduction in 2004,
just five years later they made up 90% of new cars bought in Brazil.
▪ Ethanol derived from sugarcane is a comparatively sustainable fuel, with
direct emissions up to 90% lower than those of gasoline or diesel
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study…
▪ The increase in oil prices and its impact on trade was the main incentive for the
Brazilian government – guaranteeing energy security was the priority and creating
new economic opportunities for the sugarcane industry in Brazil was an additional
benefit of the programme.
▪ The Brazilian government sought to reduce the country’s reliance on oil imports and
boost a national ethanol industry, resulting in substantial macro-economic savings.
Before the Proálcool programme, Brazil was dependent on imports for 80% of its oil
supply. By 2009, more than 60% of its motor fuel demand was met with ethanol.
▪ Finally, physical environmental factors – such as the relative abundance of land in
Brazil – has been critical to the rapid development of the ethanol market in the
country,
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study…
▪ The transition to an ethanol-based car industry in Brazil also provides
evidence of the possibility of just transitions that support economic
development and job creation.
▪ The ethanol fuel industry in Brazil has favoured large-scale producers to the
exclusion of smaller-scale family farmers, however a litre of Brazilian
ethanol still produces more than 30 times as many jobs as an equivalent
litre of oil, coal, or hydroelectricity.
▪ In 2009, sugar mills in Brazil employed close to 4 million workers, and
further managed 600 schools, 200 day-care centres, and 300 hospitals.
Although the work is strenuous, workers in sugar plantations and ethanol
distilleries received wages 80 percent higher than the agricultural-sector
average.
 Brazil – an Ethanol Case Study… review video

▪ Before the Proálcool programme was introduced in 1975, Brazil was dependent on imports for 80% of
its oil supply. By 2009, more than 60% of its motor fuel demand was met with ethanol.
▪ From 1975-2000, the entire ethanol program cost the government about 30 billion USD, but 30 billion
USD was saved every 2 years at an average oil price of 50 USD per barrel.
▪ It took just 6 years of the Proálcool Programme (from 1975 to 1981) for 90% of all new vehicles sold
in Brazil to have ethanol fuel capacity
▪ The uptake of flex-fuel vehicles was similarly rapid, in one year from when FFVs entered the Brazilian
market in 2004, they accounted for 25% of new car sales. 2 million FFVs were sold in the first five
years, reaching 90% of all cars sold in 2009.
▪ Since the launch of Proálcool, Brazil has become the second largest producer of ethanol after the US.
In 2014 Brazil produced 23.4 billion litres, representing 25% of the world’s total ethanol used as fuel.
▪ In 2011, ethanol production for Brazil involved 7 million hectares of planted land, more than 72,000
farmers and sugarcane producers, 390 sugarcane mills, 240 distillery plants, 3.5 million direct and
indirect jobs, a harvest of 569 million tons of sugarcane, 106 million tons of bagasse (a by-product
used to make electricity), 30 million tons of sugar, and revenues of $20 billion.
Renewables !
World production of oil and gas is predicted to
peak within 10 - 40 years

2010
 Energy conservation and
efficiency can buy time
(a factor of ~2)
but the fundamental problem remains
Today: Production Cost of Electricity

(in the U.S. in 2002) 25-50 ¢

25

20

15

Cost
10
6-7 ¢
6-8 ¢ 5-7 ¢
1-4 ¢ 2.3-5.0 ¢
5

0
Coal Gas Oil Wind Nuclear Solar
 Energy Costs

$0.05/kW-hr
14
12
10

Europe
8
$/GJ

Brazil
6
4
2
0
Coal Oil Biomass Elect
 Solar, Wind and Water

We do not know how to store electrical energy on a

massive scale
 Geothermal

Heat near surface of

the earth = geysers,
volcanoes, hot
springs
 Geothermal Energy in More Details

Use heat to make steam to turn turbine for

electrical generation
Note: deep hot waters are corrosive to best to inject
clean water in a closed system and bring it back to
the surface as steam.
https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/icelands-
sustainable-energy-story-model-world
Hydropower
Problems with hydroelectric
▪ Location = May be in inhospitable terrain or high population areas
▪ Competition with recreational uses (U.S.) and environmental concerns
▪ Hard to build dams in populated river valleys
▪ Siltation of dams – limited life.

▪ Review Turbulent video

 Tidal Power

1. In areas of large tides

2. Anywhere – build
offshore dam
 Tidal power anywhere, No dam – but a turbine.
Problems:
1. Corrosion
2. Navigation
3. Appearance
4. Amount of energy available
is low
5. Best tides are near poles –
away from people.
Wind Power in More Details

As of 28 February 2021, the total

installed wind power capacity was
38.789 GW the fourth largest
installed wind power capacity in the
world
Wind Power Generation
Netherlands =
coastal development
England = off shore
Wind energy problems

• Sufficient wind Speed

• Location – near population center
• Bird migration
• Visual
• Must be coupled with other sources of electricity (intermittent supply)
• Noise
Solar Energy in More Details
Solar Thermal
At focal point = heat liquid – steam to turn turbine
‘hard’ vs ‘soft’ energy paths
Hard = Soft =
1. Big plants 1. Decentralized
2. Centralized production 2. Units per household
Big Plants
Decentralized

Energy efficient house; wind

power on roof. Solar panels for
heat and electricity.
Solar electricity generation
Solar water heating solar air heating
Solar house economics
▪ Add $16,000 to price of house
▪ Pay back - $1500 per year in energy costs
▪ 15 years to break even
▪ Plus govt incentives…
Solar house problems
▪ Dirty air = smog NOT sunlight
▪ Retrofitting- very expensive
▪ Hard for big hotels, supermarkets, etc.
Case Study – Hydropower –
Bhutan
Case Study : SECMOL Ladakh
Renewables - The India story

Review IBEF deck

Renewable Energy In India -
boon or bane

GD
 NPCIL
Review Nuclear Energy generation Video
 NPCIL
▪ GOI undertaking
▪ Administered by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
▪ Created in September 1987
▪ All nuclear power plants operated by the company are certified for ISO-
14001 (Environment Management System).
▪ NPCIL was the sole body responsible for constructing and operating India's
commercial nuclear power plants till setting up of BHAVINI Vidyut Nigam) in
October 2003.
▪ As of 10 August 2012 the company had 21 nuclear reactors in operation at
seven locations, a total installed capacity of 7380 MW
▪ Employees : 11,500
 And more…
▪ The Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) is a wholly owned Enterprise of
Government of India under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic
Energy incorporated on 22 October 2003
▪ To construct the first 500 MW Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu
and to pursue construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of subsequent
Fast Breeder Reactors for generation of electricity
▪ In pursuance of the schemes and programs of Government of India under the
provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
▪ BHAVINI is currently constructing a 500MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at
Kalpakkam, 70 km from Chennai.
▪ BHAVINI is administered by the Department of Atomic Energy. Once the first fast
breeder reactor, called Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor goes into commercial power
production, BHAVINI will be the second power utility in India after Nuclear Power
Corporation of India, to use nuclear fuel sources to generate power.
 Case Study - Solar
Driving through the Mojave desert in the US- Review video