The Energy SuperGrid

A Workshop Sponsored byThe Lounsbery Foundation

&EPRI

25 – 27 October 2004

University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign

Earth at Night - 2000

Earth at Night - 2050

NYC14 August 2003

The 21st Century Energy ChallengeDesign a communal energy economy to meet the needs of a densely populated industrialized world that reaches all corners of Planet Earth.

Accomplish all this within the highest levels of environmental, esthetic, safe, reliable, efficient and secure engineering practice possible.

…without requiring any new scientific discoveries or breakthroughs

A Symbiosis of Nuclear/Hydrogen/SuperconductivityTechnologies supplying Carbon-free,

Non-Intrusive Energy for all Inhabitants of Planet Earth

Its Solution

Past & Future Energy Supply

Year (Modern Era)

Rel

ativ

e U

nits

Fission

Hydrogen

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)

Nuclear Power&

Hydrogen

Emerging Technologies for the Production of Hydrogen with

Nuclear Energy

Particle/Pebble Nuclear Fuel

Operating Temperature 850 CSource: General Atomics

High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor

Robust to > 1600 C, Passively Cooled (No Meltdown)

Principles of Operation for Electricity Generation

Co-Production of Hydrogen and Electricity

Source: INEL & General Atomics

ReactorVessel

O2

Thermocatalytic Splitting of Water Using Nuclear Reactor Heat

Source: General Atomics

Source: General Atomics

Nuclear “Hydricity” Production Farm

The SuperCable

Co-Delivery of Hydrogen and Electric Power

SuperCables

+v I-v

I

H2 H2

Combining Superconducting Wires Cooled with Cryogenic HydrogenTo Create a Dual-Energy Delivery System

SuperCable Cross-SectionHV Insulation

“Super-Insulation”

Superconductor

Hydrogen

Local Distribution

10 MW CommunitySubstation

-----------dc XFMR

-----------Reversible Fuel Cell

-----------H2 Storage

Consumer Consumption

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

Undergrounding Everything

Tunnels & Underground Construction

Tunnels Have Multiple Uses

• Energy Transport• Communication• People• Material

…and, with minimal maintenance, once constructed, they’re there for millenia!

Tunnels are an enabling technologyfor the SuperGrid

Source: LANL

Underground Nuclear/Hydrogen“The Carlsbad Concept”

~ 150 m

Next American Big-Bang-atron

Source: Fermilab

Very Large Hadron Collider

Source: Fermilab

One Meter

Battery Powered Tunnel Boring MachineFermilab’s Concept for Drilling 100 km-Scale Collider Tunnels

Source: Fermilab

Little Bites – Fermilab’s TBM

Source: Fermilab

Big Bites – State of the Art TBM

Source: LOVAT Corp.

Energy Scenario for 2050

The SuperGrid Realized

SupermarketSchool Home

Family Car

DNA-to-order.com

Nuclearplant

H2

H2

HTSC/MgB2

SuperCity

Source: The Industrial Physicist

RegionGrid Interconnection

H2 e–

H2 e–

My RTO

Your RTO

50 Miles

“Use Existing Overhead ROW”

Hydrogen Tanker Truck Fueling

Hydrogen can store electricity as wellas transport chemical energy

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

Wisdom Down the Ages- Inspiration for the SuperGrid -

Where there is no vision,the people perish…

Proverbs 29:18 (1000 BME)

“…an admirable work of science and patriotism.”

Marquis de Lafayette (1825)…on first seeing the Erie Canal

Brothers and sisters! I want to tell you this.The greatest thing on earth is to have the love of God in your heart…

and the next greatest thing is to have electricity in your house!Tennessee Lay Preacher (1941)