Ashegoda: Africa's new gold mine?

Quite of a lot of this blog has focused on energy supply in highly developed countries because they usually have the highest demand and are widely researched. So what about other locations and how they tackle energy needs?

A really interesting case study which fits in well with the focus section on renewable is the Ashegoda Wind Farm in Ethiopia. Opened in October 2013 by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, the farm is actually owed by Vergnet SA (French) and BNP Paribas (French and British). 9% of the costs were covered by the Ethiopian government (Reuters, 2013). 

Ashegoda Wind Farm
Image Courtesy of Africa Energy, Cross Border Information

Ashegoda is the largest wind farm in Africa consisting of 84 turbines and aims to produce 5-8% of the country's total energy needs (IEEE, 2013). Currently around 90% of the Ethiopia's energy comes from around 15 dams which generate hydroelectric power (IEA, Energy Statistics, 2013). The construction of the wind farm is part of the governments plan to diversify energy sources to help meet rising demand and provide a back up energy supply during drought periods. They aim to "become climate resilient and energy self sufficient by 2013" United Nations Development Programme - Ethiopia's Green Economy.

This seems pretty positive on the whole and the project was completed (almost) on schedule but there are few downsides. Firstly the impacts on farmers who have lost their crop land with little or no compensation, this has a knock on effect for food supply and local communities. Secondly the focus of the government seems to be about becoming a energy exporter. The government minister for International Affairs has signed agreements with seven different neighbouring countries to increase energy supply to them and Ethiopia has invested around $1.2bn in a pipeline to Kenya (All Africa, 2013). This is a little surprising since Ethiopia suffers regularly from blackouts and 77% of its citizens don't have access to electricity (NewScientist, 2013).  In this case it seems that we can only hope that the 'trickle down' impact of greater wealth from energy production can help reduce poverty in the rest of the country.   

Technology Idea of the Week

"All I've heard from you lot so far is a lot of hot air, so in the interests of climate change: you're fired!"

A classic Lord Sugar quote from the BBC series The Apprentice (top on liners blog). Nice to see a acknowledgement of environmental change as well! Business plan competitions have become quite a major event for entrepreneurs over the last few years and are a great way to get a head start in business, unless of course you make a fool of yourself on The Apprentice. The CleanTech Challenge is a competition run by University College London and London Business School which looks for ideas which provide a "sustainable environmental benefit". So for this weeks tech innovation I am going to look at the 2013 winners of the CleanTech Challenge. 

The Power Window - Delft University of Technology 

• A luminescent foil is placed over a glass window
• The foil absorbs photons of light and scatters them towards the edge of the window 
• Solar panels around the window frame absorb the light and generate electricity
• The students at Delft University of Technology developed a new material which helped improve the efficiency of this process by a factor of five
• For more information check out the Delft TU Website or CleanTech Challenge. There is also an interesting video on the subject, link is posted below. 

A Solar Concentrator developed by MIT, similar to the Delft Invention

Delft TU Power Window YouTube Clip

It is really interesting to see the variety of business plan competitions that are focused on finding technological solutions to environmental and energy challenges. What is also interesting is that often these competitions are organised and funded by large engineering or energy companies as well as by research institutions. I think this is a really positive move for the green movement: by making it a business opportunity you can guarantee peoples interest and investment to make real change. I look forward to see what ideas come out of the competition this year! 

Bye bye birdie

Wind power: one of the main potential sources of renewable energy and is particularly important for a country like the UK. It is also quite contentious, here are some of the reasons why.

Main Advantages 

Turbines have a very small footprint on the land so can be used as part of integrated land use schemes. For example having turbines amongst cropfields, which is common practice in Denmark. Farmers invest in wind turbines and have responsibility for maintaining them, in return the energy they generate can supply the farm and go back into the national grid (Vermeylen, Renewable Energy, 2010). This is becoming a more popular approach in other countries such as the UK with many projects like Community Windpower in North Cornwall. 

Wind turbines are also relatively cheap to maintain, even though the initial cost of the turbine is relatively high compared to other renewable. This is really important in allowing grassroots projects because local stakeholders can invest in a project and therefore gain some benefits from it. This is a benefit for land based wind farms however the costs are considerably higher for offshore. Cost of the foundations is just 6.5% for land based turbines but it is 34% of offshore projects (Horgan, Renewable Energy, 2013). The energy payback time for offshore wind farms is much higher but the potential for energy generation is also higher.

UK offshore wind farms - Telegraph December 2013

Main Disadvantages

Disruption to communities and wildlife due to the visual impact and noise produced by the turbine is one of the biggest arguments against them. This can impact an ecosystem and species biodiversity for example the wind farm in Vagsoy in Denmark is located near a coastal cliff where sea eagles nest. There have been many reports of eagles colliding with turbines and the eagle population in the area has declined over the last few years (Rygg, Energy Policy, 2012).

Wind farms can also impact the local economy and tourism which is a big source of controversy. The Lindesnes region in Denmark attracts over 80,000 tourists a year for outdoor pursuits, fishing and its natural beauty. There were many concerns about the expansion of a wind farm, the environment manager for the wind farm stated in an interview that "we are a little afraid of ruining the image that Lindesnes lighthouse and the area have, by overloading it with too many turbines. This has been the main objection against having more [turbines]; it is related to tourism." (Rygg, Energy Policy, 2012).

Wind turbines are not restricted to rural environments. A particularly embarrassing example of poor project planning and management is the Strata Tower in London. The tower (also called the razor) makes a distinctive impression on the skyline with three turbines in the top. They were meant to generate 8% of the buildings electricity but after complaints from residents about the noise and vibration produced by the turbines they have been switched off since 2010.

The Strata Tower, London  - image courtesy of The Guardian
A failed renewable energy project

In conclusion, wind farm still has a long way to go in regards to winning over public opinion. Offshore wind farms have the biggest potential for energy generation and a reduced impact on wildlife or communities. The disadvantage is the high start costs which require big investors. For now it seems that small, community based projects will lead the way until we can train birds not to fly into turbines.

Technology Idea of the Week

Digging Deeper - The Deep Sea Gold Rush

Okay so this post was meant to go out two weeks ago but I have been defeated by blogger! So this is the tech idea for a couple of weeks ago and I will do another post this week with a new energy idea.

Hydrothermal vents located at ridges on the deep ocean floor were discovered in 1977 and our understanding of them is still fairly limited. They are home to a completely unique ecosystems: the microbes at the base of the food chain make energy by oxidising hydrogen sulphide which is produced by the vents (Lutz et al, Nature, 1994). This is fundamentally different to the production of energy by photosynthesis using carbon dioxide which sustains the vast majority of life. The vents sustain a variety of life including many organisms which cannot be found anywhere else on earth including giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila) and the yeti crab (Kiwa hirsuta) - NewScientist, June 2011.

Riftia pachyptila - 2m long tube worms on the East Pacific Rise
Image Courtesy of NOAA Blogs

Kiwa hirsuta - the hairy legged yeti crab! Costa Rica.
Image Courtesy of MarineBiologene Blog

Shortly after the initial discovery of the vents, researchers began to investigate the mineral deposits located around them. There are significant concentrations of gold, silver, copper, zinc and manganese: all highly profitable minerals which many mining companies would be keen to exploit. 

There are many concerns from the scientific community about the effects on the endemic speices if exploration goes ahead. Many different articles have been published since the discovery of the mineral deposits about this issue. Halfur and Fujita, Science, 2011 argue that the disturbances to the ocean floor could release plumes of toxic chemicals that would damage the vent ecosystem and could have a widespread effect on ocean geochemistry. An editorial in Nature, 2011 also raises the issue about the direct impact on endemic species due to destruction of habitat and disturbance from mining operations. This is of particular concern because we know very little about the ecosystem and therefore cannot predict the impact we may have on it. Finally, there is huge concern about effecting the ecosystem because it has been suggested that these vents could be the location of the earliest life on Earth (Sousa et al, Royal Society, 2013). The environmental conditions around the vents could act as a proxy for the environment of the early earth therefore organisms around the vents could help us investigate the origins of life. If mining has a detrimental impact on these ecosystems it could damage biodiversity and scientific research. 

Bluewater Metals and Nautilus Minerals are two mining companies that are leading the way in mineral exploration in the Pacific Ocean. In 2011, Nautilus Minerals was granted a 20 year lease by the Papua New Guinea government to mine the Solwara 1 region in the Manus Basin (Dover, Nature, 2011). They are currently still investigating the area and predict that commercial production of minerals could begin as early as 2016 (BBC, 2013). The UN has just began to put together a framework for managing mineral extraction and licensing mining companies. This is managed by the UN International Seabed Authority. This map shows the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the eastern Pacific which is currently being managed by the UNISA. There is estimated to be a total of 27 billion tonnes of mineral nodules (BBC, 2013). It is a little hard to see - here is the link to the full size image http://www.isa.org.jm/files/images/maps/CCZ-Sep2012-Official.jpg

The regions of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone
UNISA 2013

The key take away messages from the map are that the green striped areas represent the protected zones and the other colours all represent the licensed areas of different mining companies. It shows just how complicated the licensing in international waters and how close the environmental zones are to exploration areas. Very careful management is needed to preserve the ecosystem, maintain biodiversity and help continue scientific research into the origins of life. Mining of hydrothermal vents seems inevitable and I am more than a little concerned about its impacts on these extraordinary environments.

An interesting campagin group if you want to investigate further - Out of Our Depth

Merry Christmas!

A very merry Christmas to everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends. We have been suffering from power cuts and I am incredibly relieved to have the electricity back on at the moment. Fingers crossed it says that way!

As a little bit of entertainment for Christmas evening, how about some modern alchemy? Here is one of the Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution in 2012. What happens when you burn a diamond...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Introducing Renewables

The next focus section for my blog is going to be on renewable energy, this will include a variety of different energy sources which have essentially unlimited supply To start off, just how much does renewable energy contribute to the global energy market?

Renewable Energy Share of Global Energy Consumption 2010

Figure 1 source: Renewables 2012 Status Report, page 20

Figure 1 Summary

• Fossil fuels (80.6%) - coal, oil, gas
• Traditional biomass (8.5%) - burning of wood primarily for cooking and heating
• Modern renewables (8.2%) - divided into hydropower, biofuels, heating and power generating, currently the 'heating' sector is significantly larger than power generation. 

Average Annual Growth Rates of Renewable Energy Production 2006-2011

Figure 2 Source: Renewables 2012 Status Report, page 21

Figure 2 Summary

• Over the five year period between 2006 and 2011, production of all energy types has increased. 
• Growth of the Solar PV cells is significantly higher than any other category in 2011 (74%) and over the five year period (54%).
• The main increases over the past five years have been in: solar PV, solar thermal power, biodiesel, ethanol production and wind power (total = 144% increase)
• Hydropower has seen a very minor increase over five years (3%) but it is one of the biggest contributors to the renewable market.

Oil - Final Thoughts

To summarise this focus section on oil I am just going to do a quick recap of the information I have looked at and make draw some conclusions about what part oil will play in supplying energy over the next few decades.

Opportunities for oil production 

• Increasing population growth and wealth means that the demand for energy is continuing to grow. Data from Allianz predicts that the global population will reach 9 billion by 2050. Furthermore, research by Stanford University predicts that global energy demand will continue to rise from 80 billion barrels of oil in 2020 to 100 billion barrels of oil in 2050 (Changing the World's Energy Systems, Stanford, 2012).  
• Developments in drilling technology allow oil companies to explore previously inaccessible reservoirs of oil. This includes deepwater locations such as in Asia and Arctic environments (Oil Developments, 2013 Summary). In addition, advancement in ground imaging are also really vital in locating previously unknown deposits (CGG, Seismic Overview). 

Threats to oil production

• Growth of other energy industries such as coal and development of new energy industries such as hydraulic fracking and renewables have increased competition for oil producers. A lot of research suggests that for many locations, outside of the OPEC countries, peak oil production occurred between 2000 and 2005. This is mainly because the price of an oil barrel tripled from $35 to over $100 making it less competitive (Kerr, Science, 2013).
• Increasing regulation of oil production also increases the price per barrel, further reducing the competitiveness of oil. Disasters such as the DeepWater Horizon and increasing public awareness of the threat to the environment in areas such as the Arctic mean that governments are looking to invest in other energy sources where possible (Huber, Economic Geography 2013). Emphasis on the "where possible"!

Conclusions...

Oil will continue to play a significant part in our energy supply over the next century, despite growing adverse public opinion and enthronement impacts. Improvements in drilling and seismic imaging will allow companies to tap previously inaccessible resources and governments will continue to support oil companies while the price remains competitive. I agree with the wealth of data that suggests that we have already reached peak oil production and that the increasing cost per barrel will be the sole determining factor in the demise of oil production.