Intro to Sustainable Energy 2.650/10.291/22.081 & Sustainable Energy 1.818/2.65/10.391/11.371/22.811/ESD.

166
Fall 2014
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#%,+(-. /0/012"3 45(. /0"6012"37 8.22 #9

These problems are not written to be mathematically challenging. Instead the main challenge is to find
reliable information from literature and use sound reasoning. Please specify the source of any data you use.
Please upload each problem separately to the Gradebook (accessible via Stellar) as a pdf file before the due
date. Late submissions will be penalized, and no credit is given after solutions are posted.

Intro to SE Students: Pick any 2 of the 4 (separately posted) problems
SE Students: Pick any 3 of the 4 (separately posted) problems
Problem 1/4:
1. The Itaipu dam
The Itaipu dam, located between Brazil and Paraguay, is the hydroelectric facility with the largest
annual generating capacity in the World.

a) How many cities of the size of Cambridge MA could satisfy their electricity demand if
the Itaipu dam was located in Massachusetts?
b) How much coal (in mass and volume) would be needed per day to replace the energy
produced by the Itaipu dam using coal power plants?
c) During the 60s, Brazilian and Paraguayan decision makers decided to start the design
and construction of the Itaipu dam. Please list the main pros and cons of that project.
d) List some possible alternatives for delivering the same electric power. What would have
been your opinion, if you were in the decision-making team, in selecting among
alternatives?

When solving this problem, you may ignore the effect of capacity factors, and assume the
following parameter values:
Annual energy generation of the Itaipu dam 90 TWh
Population of Cambridge, MA 105,000
Power consumption per capita in Cambridge MA, annual average 1 kW
Specific energy of bituminous coal 27 MJ/kg
Density of broken bituminous coal 833 kg/m
3

Coal power plant thermal efficiency 39%
Electric transformation, transmission, and distribution losses 7%

Intro to Sustainable Energy 2.650/10.291/22.081 & Sustainable Energy 1.818/2.65/10.391/11.371/22.811/ESD.166
Fall 2014
"


#$%&'() *(+ "
#%,+(-. /0/012"3 45(. /0"6012"37 8.22 #9

These problems are not written to be mathematically challenging. Instead the main challenge is to find
reliable information from literature and use sound reasoning. Please specify the source of any data you use.
Please upload each problem separately to the Gradebook (accessible via Stellar) as a pdf file before the due
date. Late submissions will be penalized, and no credit is given after solutions are posted.

Intro to SE Students: Pick any 2 of the 4 (separately posted) problems
SE Students: Pick any 3 of the 4 (separately posted) problems
Problem 2/4:
2. Global Change
a) Why do the lecture notes express the concentration of greenhouse gases in ppm-eq
CO
2
? Explain the concept of radiative forcing, specifying its units.
b) Please write a paragraph to explain the meaning of the greenhouse gamble wheels
presented in class by Dr. Prinn.
c) What do we mean when we talk about positive feedback and negative feedback on global
warming? Describe two positive feedback effects related to methane. Provide two other
examples of positive feedback, and one of negative.
d) What are the main planetary issues that would arise if large amounts of land were to be
devoted to biofuel production? Which continent would undergo the largest transformation
and why?

Intro to Sustainable Energy 2.650/10.291/22.081 & Sustainable Energy 1.818/2.65/10.391/11.371/22.811/ESD.166
Fall 2014
1

Problems 3/4:
3. Traveling south from the USA
If you take a car from Texas and travel south, the first two countries that you will cross, after
leaving the US border, are Mexico and Guatemala.

a) If the three countries above were satisfying their electricity demand only with coal, what
mass of coal, in kg, would be burned per capita per day in the USA, in Mexico and in
Guatemala?
b) How many people from Mexico would use, on average, the same amount of coal as a
person in the USA? How many from Guatemala? Comment briefly on your results.
c) How much land would be required, per capita, for photovoltaic panels to supply all of the
electricity in each country?
d) What would be some pros and cons of replacing coal with photovoltaic? Comment
briefly in 1-2 statements (we are only asking for general concepts, since we will analyze
those technologies later in the course).

When solving this problem, you may ignore the variation in solar irradiance, and assume the
following parameter values:
USA Mexico Guatemala
Annual electric consumption [kWh]
3.87 trillion
(2008)
181.5 billion
(2009)
7.115 billion
(2007)
Population
313,232,044
(2011)
113,724,226
(2011)
13,824,463
(2011)

Specific energy of bituminous coal 27 MJ/kg
Coal power plant thermal efficiency 39%
Electric transformation, transmission, and distribution losses (assume the
same value applies for both coal and photovoltaic)
7%
Peak solar radiation (peak solar power/panel surface) 1000 W/m
2

Photovoltaic conversion efficiency (electric power/solar power) 12%
Photovoltaic capacity factor (annual average power/peak power) 20%
Photovoltaic packing factor (panel surface/required land surface) 30%

Intro to Sustainable Energy 2.650/10.291/22.081 & Sustainable Energy 1.818/2.65/10.391/11.371/22.811/ESD.166
Fall 2014
1

Problem 4/4:
4. Sustainability
A Native American proverb says:

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.

a) Please write down the famous definition of Sustainability given by the Bruntland
Commission in 1987 and another definition of your choice that you may find in literature.
Discuss and compare the proverb and the two definitions.
b) Look at the figure below, and analyze the sustainability of the US energy portfolio based
on the definitions you found in part a.
c) Find some information about a country in the world that, according to you, has a high
degree of energy sustainability. Compare that information with US information
(http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/pdf/aer.pdf). Comment on your results.
[Some of the countries that might be interesting to you in this regard are Brazil, Iceland
and Sweden.]
d) List the main difficulties that the US would have in meeting the same sustainability
standards as in the country you selected.


US primary energy consumption estimates by source, EIA Annual Energy Review 2010