Post on 20-Oct-2021
The Global Energy SuperGrid
Powering the Thousand Year Old ManChauncey Starr
Founder & President Emeritus
Paul M. GrantScience Fellow
Electric Power Research Institute
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Chauncey Starr
"If scientists and engineers think they can build something, they will invariably do it…
without much thought to the consequences!"
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
I. Any discussion of the application of energy technology must involve, from the very start, an explicit social and political scenario
II. The unique aspect of energy as a life-sustaining necessity separates it from the jurisdiction of many of the usual “laws” of economics
The Energy Lemmas
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Challenge
•Design a global energy economy to meet the needs of a densely populated industrialized world of 1010 souls in 2050 (1012 by 3000?)
•Accomplish this within the highest levels of environmental, esthetic, safe, reliable, efficient and secure engineering practice possible.
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
A Symbiosis of Nuclear/Hydrogen/SuperconductivityTechnologies supplying Carbon-free,
Non-Intrusive Energy for all Inhabitants of Planet Earth
The Solution
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
“The Magic Words”
• Safe Nuclear Power• Superconductivity• Hydrogen• Energy Storage• Environmentally Friendly• No Greenhouse Gases• Non-Eco-Invasive• Global in Scope
(fission and fusion)
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Past & Future Energy Supply
Year (Modern Era)
Rel
ativ
e U
nits
Fission
Hydrogen
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Diablo Canyon
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
California Coast Power
Diablo Canyon2200 MWPower Plant
Wind FarmEquivalent
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Particle/Pebble Nuclear Fuel
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Eskom Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
• Helium gas cooled (Brayton Cycle)– Won’t melt down– Direct turbine drive
• “Baseball” packaged fuel– Continuous fuel replenishment and removal– Theoretical 100% availability
• Modular Design– Scalable: 100 – 500 MW units– High safety and security factor
• Economical– 1.2 cents/kWh … cheaper than coal
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Hindenburg Hysteria
The Hindenburg did not crashBecause of a hydrogen leak!
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Hydrogen Economy
• You have to make it, just like electricity• Electricity can make H2, and H2 can make
electricity (2H2O 2H2 + O2)• You have to make a lot of it• You can make it cold, - 419 F (21 K)
P. M. Grant, “Hydrogen Lifts Off,” Nature, 10 July 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Fathers of Cryogenics
Dewar Kammerlingh-Onnes
CH4 112 KO 90N2 77Ne 27H2 20He 4.2
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Thus the mercury at 4.2 K has entered a new state, which, owing to its particular electrical properties, can be called the state of superconductivity
H. Kamerlingh-Onnes (1911)
1911: A Big Surprise!
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
1986: Another Big Surprise!
Bednorz and MuellerIBM Zuerich, 1986
1980 2000
Hig
h-T C
164 K
La-214
Hg-1223
V3Si
1900 1920 1940 19600
50
100
150
200
Tem
pera
ture
, TC
(K)
Year
Low-TCHg
Onset TC = 40 K !
La-Ba-Cu-O
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
1987: “The Prize!”
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Future2028
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
HTSC Wire Can Now Be Made!
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
SuperCables
+v I-v
I
H2 H2
Circuit #1 +v I-v
I
H2 H2
Circuit #2
Multiple circuitscan be laid in single trench
SC-LVDC+
LH2
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
LH2 SuperCable
HV Insulation
“Super-Insulation”
Superconductor
Hydrogen
DO
DH2
tsc
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
SuperGrid
C. S. Starr, “Continential SuperGrid,” Nuclear News, Spring Issue, 2002
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Standard Model
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
~ 150 m
Next American Big-Bang-atron
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Low-Field VLHC
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Battery Powered TBM
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Little Bites
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
LOVAT TBM
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Big Bites
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Tunnels Have Multiple Uses
• Energy Transport• Communication• People• Material
…and, with minimal maintenance, once constructed, they’re there for millenia! (unless they carry water!)New Yorker, 9/1/03. “City of Water”
Tunnels are an enabling technologyfor the SuperGrid
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Rock Group
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
H2
e–
H2e–
H2
e–H2
e–
Commercial
Residential
BMW Z9
Heavy Industry
Energy Storage
Solar Roofs
Urban BiomassHTGCR
Nuclear Plant
The US Energy SuperGrid
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
North America
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
China: Present
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
China: 2005
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
China: 2010
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
China: 2015 - 2020
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
“Fuel-Head” and/orNuclear Generation
Pan-Asia
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Future Power Lines:Southeast Asia
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Middle East
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
South America
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Back to the Moon
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The 1000 Year Slide Rule
2001 2010 2100 3000
Cryo-Si GPS-LaserGuided TBM
Fusion
HTGCR RT-SC
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Mega-Cities
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
DiscoverersDiscoverers
PractitionersPractitioners
Fathers of Electricity
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Diablo Canyon
TwoDiabloNukes
6.3 miles
Wind Farmequal toONE
Diablo Unit
11001 MW
Towers,1000 ftapart
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Diablo Canyon
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
1967: SC Cable Proposed!
100 GW dc, 1000 km !
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Distribution
10 MW CommunitySubstation
-----------dc XFMR
-----------Reversible Fuel Cell
-----------H2 Storage
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
End Use
Streetside Service-----100 A @ +/- 25 Vdc--------H2 @ 200 K, 100 psi-----PLC @ 5 MHz
H2 Heat Exchanger for AC----------------------H2 for Heat/Hot H2O----------------------Household Fuel Cell----------------------Inv/Conv for Electricity----------------------H2 Storage for Auto
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Energy Intensity Factoids
80004000Therm40002000ElectPeakAvgWatts
Grant Household Power Requirements
Peak Power for 250,000 GHE’sElectrical: 1000 MWThermal: 2000 MW
Does not include 3 automobiles!
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
Global Electrification
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
More Examples:South America
The Next 1000 Years: The Global Energy SuperGrid - Paul M. Grant, 23 September 2003
The 1000 Year Slide Rule