Thermodynamics II - Energy Project
Main Objective
The goal of this project is to improve our knowledge regarding renewable energies and their implementation.
Specific objectives
Around 65-70% of current energy production is based on fossil energies. The best scenarios predict that our reserves of oil and gas will not last more than 100-150 years. Developing alternative energy resources is therefore vital. Imagine, for an instant, that we are in the year 2025…
The new elected government of the USA (United States of Africa) –constituted after all African countries joined forces in the face of outside influence from economically more developed countries decided in its energy strategic plan to develop alternative energy resources with the objective, by 2075, to meet more than 80% of its energy needs with renewable sources of energy.
As a group of Engineers working for a consulting company you will have to provide the government of the United States of Africa a report in which you suggest realistic solutions in order to achieve the objective of the strategic plan.
To help you structure your work, it is suggested to organize it in the following manner:
Part 1:
For the United States of Africa, what are (a) the current rate of energy consumption, (b) the manner in which this energy is produced and (c) the projected energy needs from now until 2075? If nothing changes in the way energy is produced, how much greenhouse gas will be produced by 2075, what is the equivalent in tonnes of CO2?
Part 2:
Make a plan to cover the energy needs of the United States of Africa from now until 2075 with a target of 80% of energy production from renewable sources. This plan should (i) take into account your estimation of the projected energy needs and should (ii) be demonstrably thermodynamically feasible, i.e. you need to estimate where the energy will come from, the thermodynamic efficiency of the proposed methods, etc. How much GHG does your plan avoid? (For example, one way to measure the pollution impact is to calculate the amount of CO2 produced by a given process/cycle from basic combustion principles.)
Part 3:
Present an implementation plan that takes the United States of Africa from it’s current state to the 2075 target plan? When and how will the different components of your plan be built? What is the cost and economic impact of your project?
Notes
- You are free to select your team members (minimum 1/ maximum 6)
- You have to choose a name for the consulting company
- The solutions you will be suggesting have to take into consideration the geography of the African continent and the availability of the resources.
- You are FREE to select ANY type of renewable energy.
Report requirement
- Maximum 20 pages; excluding cover page and references.
Suggested Work Contents
There are some basic questions you need to answer. I would group these in different categories.
Socio-technological factors:
- What is the recent energy demand (total energy, total power) of the United States of Africa?
- How do you estimate the energy demand of the country in 2075? (by population? data sources? analysis?)
- What is the amount of GHG emissions now for the current energy production and estimated in 2075? What is the current fraction of energy production that comes from renewable sources?
Technology Choices and Design
- How will you meet the energy demand of 2075? What are the sources of energy?
- Depending on the selected renewable energy sources (hydroelectric, wind, solar, etc) what is the availability? Which rivers? What are the wind patterns? Where do you locate wind turbines?
- How do you calculate the efficiency of each solution?
- Can you meet some of the projected energy needs through non-production improvements (i.e. reduce demand)? Is this reasonable?
Socio-Environmental Impact
- How much GHG emissions does your solution produce?
- Where do building resources come from? What impact on the environment will that have? How much GHG will building the infrastructure itself generate?
- How much will it cost to achieve your plan? How does that compare to the GDP of the country?
- Where will the engineering expertise and workforce come from to achieve your plan?
- Will local communities be impacted, need to be displaced? Are there religious/spiritual/community aspects to consider for the location of certain infrastructures?
Deadline
- April 2nd
- Weight: 10% of the final mark.
- If the report is not submitted on time, the grade will be 0.