OTHERPOWER UK
Bringing Energy Home
Conventional sources of energy:
Conventional sources of energy are sources of energy that are non renewable and have finite reserves, the list has four main players outlined below:
Natural gas:
Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but including significant quantities of ethane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulphide.
Natural gas production for the UK in
2005 was 87.6 million tones of oil equivalent (DTI 2006)
Total consumption of natural gas in 2005 by all sectors was equivalent to 1,074.5 TWh (DTI 2006)
In 2005 natural gas produced 39% of the UKs electrical energy (DTI 2006)
Natural gas is very popular for electrical production as gas power stations are available of the shelf and can be up and running in under 5 years from planning to first production of electricity. Gas is easy to transport, is much safer then liquid fuels and gas power stations are cheap and easy to decommission. In 2005 natural gas imports were equivalent to 77,147 GWh, since 2004 the UK has become a net importer of natural gas this is set to continue as north sea reserves decline.
Coal:
Coal is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
Coal consumption in 2005 was a total of 61.8 million tones (DTI 2006)
Coal fired power stations in 2005 consumed 52.1 million tones of coal (DTI 2006) producing 34% of the UKs electrical energy
Coal has the largest reserves of any fossil fuel and continues to play a huge role in producing electrical power within the UK.
Crude Oil:
crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found in formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons (mostly alkanes) of various lengths. The approximate length range is C5H12 to C18H38. Any shorter hydrocarbons are considered natural gas or natural gas liquids, while longer hydrocarbon chains are more solid, and the longest chains are coal.
Oil fired power stations supplied 4.7 TWh of electrical power to the UK grid in 2005 (DTI 2006)
In 2005 Petroleum consumption in the UK was as follows: transport fuels - 66%, other energy uses - 17%, non-energy uses - 13%, fuel oils - 4%
Crude oil based fuels will remain highly valuable as there easy of transport, high energy density and use within internal combustion engines (ICE) are properties that very few alternative fuels (such as methane) have. Crude oil is used to produce a verity of plastics using distillation, almost every consumer item in the UK is totally made from plastic or has a high amount of plastic forming it.
Nuclear:
Nuclear powered electrical generation uses a process called fission in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, and usually some by-product particles.
Nuclear power in the UK produced 75 TWh in 2005 (DTI 2006)
Nuclear power produces almost a fifth of UK electrical power
Nuclear power is a base line supply of electricity, this is the amount of electricity available within the national grid at any given time
Nuclear power contributed 25% more electricity in 2005 compared to 1990
Nuclear power is a very low carbon dioxide producing electrical supply that is able to produce huge amounts of power from very energy dense fuel. Nuclear power stations are very expensive economically to decommission and the demand on society to deal with the bi products is also large. Nuclear is a very safe means of producing electricity, but when it goes wrong it can be catastrophic resulting in very high death counts.