ETSC101 F23 Assignment 13 - The US Energy System

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Dec 6, 2023

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ETSC101, Fall 23 Assignment 13: U.S. Energy System Watch the YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaThhJKX83s , starting at the beginning until 41:30. The Q&A at the end is lengthy. You may watch this if you are interested in that part, but the Q&A is optional. As you watch the video, you will probably need to pause and rewind at some points, to get notes on the information needed for the assignment. Answer the following questions: 1. What is a Quad of energy? How does it convert to a British Thermal Unit (BTU) and a Megawatt-hour (MWh)? a. A quad of energy is a quadrillion BTU. It converts to MWh to 293,071,070 2. About how many tons of coal must be burned to produce a Quad of energy? a. 36 million tons 3. How many times would that much coal fill up the Empire State Building? a. 22 buildings 4. Measured in Quads, how much energy does the U.S. use in a year? a. 98 quads 5. What are the relative percentages of energy produced by the following sources in the U.S.? a. Renewable Sources i. 13% b. Nuclear i. 9% c. Coal i. 10% d. Natural Gas i. 34% e. Petroleum i. 35% 6. What percentage of U.S. energy consumption is in the form of electricity use? How may quads is that? 7. How many quads of energy are consumes by the following U.S. sectors? a. Residential i. 20.7 b. Commercial i. 16.7 c. Industrial i. 31.1 d. Transportation i. 24.3 8. Why does the U.S. consume about 36 quads of energy to produce about 13 quads of electrical energy? a. The sources of electrical energy generation are diverse, and that we are not efficient in how we produce energy 9. What is the percent efficiency in terms of the amount of energy available for consumption versus how much energy is produced? a. 35% efficiency 10. Use the bar chart in the video to estimate how many millions of MWh electricity are produced in the U.S. by each of the following generation sources: a. Natural Gas i. 1600m MWh b. Coal i. ~800m MWh

ETSC101, Fall 23 Assignment 13: U.S. Energy System c. Wind i. 270m MWh d. Hydro i. 240m MWh e. Nuclear i. 800m MWh f. Solar i. 100m MWh g. Petroleum/Other i. >50m MWh h. Biomass i. 50m MWh i. Geothermal i. >20m MWh 11. What are the three primary electric grid systems in the U.S.? Why can’t electricity be exchanged between these three systems? a. Western Interconnect, Eastern Interconnect, and ERCOT 12. What are the four primary components of an electrical system, from generation through consumption? a. Generation, Transmission, Distribution, and Consumption 13. What is a vertically integrated electric utility? a. The utility owns the generation, transmission, and distribution, in which they distribute directly to customers 14. What is a deregulated system of independent electrical operators? What is the name of the U.S, law that made deregulated systems possible, and when was it enacted? a. In 1978, the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act required utilities to purchase power from qualifying facilities. 15. Briefly explain what each of the following management issues means for electric system operators: a. Maximum or peak demand i. The timeframe where most users are demanding power and putting the most strain on the power grid b. Cost minimization i. Lowering cost to a minimal amount for operating expenses c. Capacity i. Maximizing unitality and electric capacity d. Transmission losses i. Where energy is lost via transmitting through certain capacities e. Backup capacity i. Having a backup of power incase systems go down f. Flexibility to match supply and demand. i. Being able to generate enough energy to meet customer demands 16. Briefly describe how the California electric utility system balances the power produced by solar and wind versus nuclear versus all other sources of electricity with demands that fluctuate over time. a. California generates electricity via solar and wind during the day, in which when demand for electricity comes towards the end of the day, the difference is made up with nuclear power 17. Name four efficiency upgrades that residential and commercial buildings can make to reduce demand on the electrical system.

ETSC101, Fall 23 Assignment 13: U.S. Energy System a. Personal solar panels, reducing thermostat use when not necessary, improving building insulation, and installing efficient lighting 18. What does it mean to decarbonize the electrical production system? a. Decarbonizing is decreasing the amount of carbon output electrical production makes, in which leaving a smaller carbon footprint 19. What is the current U.S. goal for the date by which our electric system will be completely decarbonized? a. 20. This question is purely based on your opinion. No facts are required. Do you think the U.S. will reach zero percent carbon in its electrical production system by the target date? You don’t need to cite factual sources, but briefly explain, in your opinion, why or why not? a. No because there is too much profit to be had from fossil fuels. There’s also little incentive for those who are in the industry to change their formula on what has made them money, such as gas-powered cars. Also, the current methods for extracting resources for current electric vehicles and other sorts of batteries is very pollutive. 21. In the video, they discuss waiting until the U.S. reaches zero percent carbon emissions in its electrical production system, before electrifying devices within certain sectors (E.G. vehicles in the transportation sector and heating systems in the housing sector). Why did they suggest this? a. They say this because then there will be no other alternative to electricity, in which this limiting factor may create better types of devices to power ones home rather than relying on fossil fuels 22. In regions that burn fossil fuels to make electricity, what is currently the best type of vehicle for reducing carbon emissions? What will the best choice be once the electrical production system reaches zero percent carbon emissions? a. Electric vehicles will immediately reduce carbon emissions, as charging a vehicle leaves little in the way for carbon emissions.

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