Re: Denmark and wind generation

[Rick Tarara <rbtarara@SPRYNET.COM>]

Dan,

I did use the wrong figure--accidentally used electrical production number
rather than electrical use--Denmark must export considerable electricity.

 From the 2001 Encyclopedia Annual (massaged to get all units in kWh):

Denmark:

Total Energy Use:  254,444 x 10^6 kWh

Total Electrical Production:  54,981 x 10^6 kWh

Total Electrical Use:  39,582 x 10^5 kWh

Fossil fuel use for electricity:  43,325 x 10^6 kWh

I take 2/3 of the 43,325 from the total:  254,444-.67*43,325 = 225,416 to
roughly account for the thermal efficiency problem.  Then 39582/225416 would
give 17.6% electrical.  Sorry about the mistake, but my main point is still
that replacing _electrical_ generation with renewables only addresses a very
small part of the overall problem of fossil fuel dependence|global warming
concerns|finite fuel supplies.  All discussions of renewables for the future
need to talk about the TOTAL energy use.

Rick

**************************************************
Richard W. Tarara
Associate Professor of Physics
Department of Chemistry & Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
219-284-4664
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Schroeder" <DSCHROEDER@CC.WEBER.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 6:40 PM
Subject: Re: Denmark and wind generation


> > Just one more note on this to emphasize what I keep harping about--total
> > energy versus electrical energy.  Looks like Denmark is a heavily
electrical
> > country--about 23%, but that still means that at their current 13% use of
> > wind generation for electricity, wind only provides 3% of Denmark's total
> > energy needs.  Even at the 50% goal, it will be less than 12% of the
total.
> > By the way, does anyone know how their planned system accounts for a day
> > with little or no wind--or is that not a likelihood due to the locations
of
> > the generators?
> >
> > Rick
>
> Rick, are you saying that electricity *consumption* is 23% of Denmark's
> total energy consumption, or are you saying that the fuel used to
> generate electricity is 23% of Denmark's energy consumption?  I'd
> appreciate it if you'd clarify this and then recalculate your percentages
> using the same methods as EIA, in order to compare renewables more
> fairly to thermal generation of electricity.
>
> Dan