Energy Production

Енергетика
 1. Major characteristics
Involves three types of activities:
– extracting of fossil fuels (изкопаеми горива)
– production of electricity
– transmission and distribution of electricity
Needs heavy capital investment
Serves extremely diverse market:
– the entire national economy
– everyday life of people
Economic development leads to increasing energy
consumption per capita (total amount of energy used divided
by the number of population)
 2. Extracting of fossil fuels
Coal mining
– old industry
– only about 5% of the total production is traded internationally
Petroleum extracting
– one of the largest businesses in the world with international
commercial and political influence
– about 2/3 of the production is traded internationally
Natural gas extraction
– one of the fastest growing
– about 1/3 of the production is traded internationally
Major oil extracting countries
Major oil consuming countries
 Coal, oil and natural gas can be used as raw
materials (суровини) in chemical industry and for
production of electricity
but
– coal is mainly used for production of electricity
– oil is mainly used in internal combustion engines
and in chemical industry
– gas is mainly used directly in industry and at
home, but also as a source of electricity
3. Production of electricity

World Electricity Production by Source

2017
a) Thermal power plants (ТЕЦ)
– most common
– burn mainly coal or gas
– provide > 65% of the world
electricity
– advantages and
disadvantages
b) Hydroelectric power
plants (ВЕЦ)
– provide 16% of the world's
electricity and over 60% of
electricity from renewable
sources
– advantages and disadvantages
c) Nuclear power plants (АЕЦ)
– require a lot of water for
cooling and a large sanitary
area
– produce huge amounts of
energy from small amounts
of fuel
– produces small amounts of
waste, but it is extremely
dangerous
– a lot of money has to be spent
on safety
d) Other sources of
electricity
provide less than 10% of
electricity worldwide, but up
to 40% in some countries
Include
– wind
– solar
– geothermal
– tidal
– wave
Solar power tower plants in Spain
The plants use 2 fields of 624 and 1,255 flat mirrors (120 m2 each) to
concentrate sunlight on a receiver mounted on a central tower. Water
pumped up the tower and through the receiver boils into steam, which is then
directed through a turbine to produce electricity.
 Geothermal
energy
Heat emitted from within the
earth’s crust as hot water or
steam may be used for either
local direct heating supply or A geothermal power plant in Iceland
for electricity generation.
Geothermal energy involves
carbon dioxide and hydrogen
sulphide emissions
Cold water may be pumped
downwards to be heated
naturally.
The Philippines and Iceland are
the only countries to generate
a significant percentage (15-
20%) of their electricity from
Natural steam from the production wells power the
geothermal sources turbine generator. The steam is condensed in the
cooling tower and pumped down an injection well to
sustain production.
 Tidal energy
A dam is built across the
mouth of a bay or estuary, at
the narrowed entrance the
rise and fall of the tides
produce a strong water flow
which is used to turn
turbines for electricity
generation.
A major drawback of tidal
power stations is that they
can only generate when the Rance tidal power plant (NW France)
tide is flowing in or out - in
other words, only for 10
hours each day.
Tidal barrages are expensive
to construct and frighten
coastal environment.
 Wave power
The world's first
commercial wave farm
(converts wave energy
into electricity),
officially opened on
the 23 September
2008, located three
miles offshore north of
Porto in Portugal.
Loss of energy