The Future of Energy
PhDr. Tomáš Vlček, Ph.D.
International Relations and Energy Security
Department of International Relations and European Studies
Faculty of Social Studies MU
Contents
 Smartgrids
 Virtual Power Plant
 Nuclear Fusion
 Storage of Electricity
 Fuel cells and hydrogen
Smartgrids
 „A smart grid is a modernized electrical grid that uses
analogue or digital information and communications
technology to gather and act on information, such as
information about the behaviours of suppliers and
consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the
efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of
the production and distribution of electricity. “
(U.S. Department of Energy.)
Smartgrids
 Goals:
◦ More efficient use of energy
◦ Limitation of crisis situations in the network
◦ Integration of alternative sources
◦ Integration of new appliances
◦ Providing online information about the price
of electricity and the subsequent
management of the network
Smartgrids
Smartgrids
 Critique
◦ High pressure on both the supply (joining the production
units to the so-called virtual power plants) and demand
(consumers programming appliances for time or cost)
◦ Ensuring a sufficient number of actors
◦ Investment costs for operators and traders (benefits tends
to rest with customers)
◦ The modernization of the electricity grid
◦ The potential to monitor and susceptibility to abuse the
technology by thieves
◦ Privacy protection
◦ Relinquishing control over the use of electricity in favor of
the operator
Virtual Power Plant
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion
A process, during which
lighter atomic nuclei
are fused and energy
is released
The Sun:
15 M °C
1H + 1H => He + energy
Hydrogen consumption: 600 Mt/s
Nuclear Fusion
 One way of achieving fusion is by using high temperature and
pressure, which causes the nucleus collide with sufficient
energy to overcome the Coulomb barrier. In this case we are
talking about thermonuclear fusion.
 There are also many ways of performing fusion without the
use of high temperatures, but none of them will probably be
able to be used as an energy source.
 One-off nuclear fusion reaction is not difficult to recall (it can
be achieved by electrical discharge), but it is difficult to keep
it in the reactor for a longer time and ensure a positive
balance of energy obtained to energy delivered.
Nuclear Fusion
The most easy to apply reaction is a synthesis of
deuterium and tritium:
150 M°C 2H (D) + 3H (T) => He + n + energy
Nuclear Fusion
 Jamie Edwards, thirteen year old schoolboy at Priory
Academy in the British Penwortham is the youngest
person in history who was able to induce nuclear
fusion.
Nuclear Fusion
 One of the ways to achieve nuclear fusion is the
tokamak, a device that prevents contact with
the plasma with the wall of the chamber by a
magnetic field.
 тороидальная камера с магнитными катушками
 Thoroid Chamber in Magnetic Coils
 TOKAMAK
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion
 The idea of tokamak was born in the '50s by Igor Yevgenevich
Tamm and Andrei Sakharov
 At present, the international project ITER in Cadarache, France, is
the most advance
1960s: TM1-MH (since 1977 Castor; since 2007 Golem) in Prague, Czech Republic. In operation in Kurchatov Institute since early 1960s but renamed to Castor in 1977 and moved to IPP
CAS, Prague; in 2007 moved to FNSPE, Czech Technical University in Prague and renamed to Golem.
1975: T-10, in Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, Russia (formerly Soviet Union); 2 MW
1978: TEXTOR, in Jülich, Germany
1983: Joint European Torus (JET), in Culham, United Kingdom
1983: Novillo Tokamak, at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares,in Mexico City, Mexico
1985: JT-60, in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan; (Currently undergoing upgrade to Super, Advanced model)
1987: STOR-M, University of Saskatchewan; Canada; first demonstration of alternating current in a tokamak.
1988: Tore Supra, at the CEA, Cadarache, France
1989: Aditya, at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) in Gujarat, India
1980s: DIII-D, in San Diego, USA; operated by General Atomics since the late 1980s
1989: COMPASS, in Prague, Czech Republic; in operation since 2008, previously operated from 1989 to 1999 in Culham, United Kingdom
1990: FTU, in Frascati, Italy
1991: Tokamak ISTTOK, at the Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Lisbon, Portugal;
Outside view of the NSTX reactor
1991: ASDEX Upgrade, in Garching, Germany
1992: H-1NF (H-1 National Plasma Fusion Research Facility) based on the H-1 Heliac device built by Australia National University's plasma physics group and in operation since 1992
1992: Alcator C-Mod, MIT, Cambridge, USA
1992: Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV), at the EPFL, Switzerland
1994: TCABR, at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; this tokamak was transferred from Centre des Recherches en Physique des Plasmas in Switzerland
1995: HT-7, in Hefei, China
1999: MAST, in Culham, United Kingdom
1999: NSTX in Princeton, New Jersey
1999: Globus-M in Ioffe Institute
1990s: Pegasus Toroidal Experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; in operation since the late 1990s
2002: HL-2A, in Chengdu, China
2006: EAST (HT-7U), in Hefei, China (ITER member)
2008: KSTAR, in Daejon, South Korea (ITER member)
2010: JT-60SA, in Naka, Japan (ITER member); upgraded from the JT-60.
2012: SST-1, in Gandhinagar, India (ITER member); the Institute for Plasma Research reports 1000 seconds operation.
2012: IR-T1, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
2012: ST25 at Tokamak Energy at Culham, Oxfordshire, UK (now at Milton Park)
2014: ST25 (HTS) the first tokamak to have all magnetic fields formed from high temperature superconducting magnets, at Tokamak Energy based in Oxfordshire, UK
Storage of Electricity
 Options:
◦ Electromechanical (flywheels, compressed air,
pumping hydro stations…)
◦ Electrochemical (fuel cells, batteries)
◦ Chemical (hydrogen, biofuels)
◦ …
Storage of Electricity
Storage is reflected in all parts of the electric chain:
Production, nature of the system:
- optimization of production capacity (quantity, economics)
involvement of RES
- planning of transmission networks
Transmission and Distribution:
- portable storage systems (optimization of network capacity)
- dispersed systems (strengthen operational reliability)
Customers:
-reduction of price fluctuations over time
-backup in case of failure (services, industry, households)
19
Current System With Storage
Costs Costs
Capacity Capacity
Startup Speed
Capacity Variablity
Game changer?
Pumping Hydro Stations
 Dinorwig, Scotland
Electromechanical Storage
(flywheels)
Compressed Air
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
 The principle has been known since the mid-19th century,
their commercial deployment is still at the planning stage
 They are an alternative to the current small and medium
sources of fossil fuels; gas engines, dieselaggregates, gas
microturbines, small cogeneration units, it is counted with
their deployment in the automotive industry
 In the future, it should replace the larger electricity supply
units. It can be used also as a replacement for batteries and
accumulators.
 For some special applications (space projects, undersea
research) they are already widely used.
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
 A fuel cell is an electrochemical device
directly converting chemical energy of
fuel and oxidant into electrical energy.
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (Polymer Electrolyte
Membrane)
Anode Reaction: 2H2 + 2O2− → 2H2O + 4e−
Cathode Reaction: O2 + 4e– → 2O2−
Overall Cell Reaction: 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen -
advantages
 High efficiency power conversion due to direct conversion of
chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy (total efficiency in
automobiles 50-60%)
 Modular concept - the possibility to construct fuel cells in a wide
range of performances with nearly the same efficiency.
 The possibility of using a variety of gaseous fuels (after
adjustments)
 Almost silent operation due to the absence of moving parts (except
the accompanying equipment - blowers, compressors, ...).
 Low wear
 Efficiency for power plant electricity production is 40-45%
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen -
disadvantages
 High investment costs
 Still too low service life
 The effectiveness decreases with time
 The necessity of continuously removing fumes from chemical
reactions whose quantity depends on the size of the current
drawn (for H2-O2 cells pumping out of water or water vapor,
other cells oxidation products)
 Commissioning (PEM operating temperature is 70-85 C, it
may take a few minutes and the cell must be warmed up to
operating temperature, likely from an external source)
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen is produced in large thermal decomposition
of methane (natural gas) at 1000 °C.
CH4 → C + 2 H2
In the future, the production of hydrogen using nuclear
energy is likely, either thermochemically (high
temperatures) or by means of electric current
(nuclear power plants could then be used at the
times, when demand is low)
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Production
 Steam reforming
Reforming reaction: CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2
CO conversion: CO + H2O → CO2 + H2
Effectivity 80 %
 Electrolysis
2H2O → 2H2 + O2
Effectivity 80-92 %
 High-temperature electrolysis
Effectivity up to 45 %
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
Barcelona Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Sedan
Hydrogen buses 12/2014 in Japan; 8/2015 in USA; 6/2016 in EU
Fuel Cells
Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell
Hyundai ix35 FCEV
Mercedes-Benz F-Cell
Alstom Coradia iLint
In the Meantime the Clash Goes on…