Friday, May 10, 2013

The “Black Age” of Crude Oil, Now Entering Hospice Care.




It’s over, It’s done, It’s dying….thanks for the polluted memories.  

Much is made about the superior energy density of gasoline and gas cars, where one gallon holds the energy equivalent of 34kwhs of electricity.

Let me begin this writing by ripping that argument to shreds.

From free crude oil to the wheels of your car.

Nature provides crude oil, the raw material of gasoline, for free.  Throughout it’s conveyance chain (see above graph) on the way to the wheels of your car,  only 10% of the energy contained in the crude oil makes it to the wheels. The greatest losses on the way to the wheel occur with the gasoline engine.  A modern gasoline engine has maximum thermal efficiency of about 25% to 30%. Even when the engine is operating at its point of maximum thermal efficiency, of the total energy released by the gasoline consumed,  70-75% is rejected as heat without being turned into useful work such as turning the crankshaft.  The refining of gasoline consumes 6 to 8 kwhs of energy per gallon of gasoline produced thus a loss of 20% of the energy in a gallon of crude at the refinery.  Smaller losses of energy occur from the energy used by the fuel tanker truck that delivers to the gas station,  the fuel tanker ship that crosses the oceans, the energy required to pump heavy crude through a long thin straw or pipeline, extraction and so on. 

10% of the energy contained in crude oil makes it to the wheels of your car. Stated another way, less than 4kwh of energy per gallon of crude oil turns the wheels of your car.  90% of the energy or 30kwhs, per gallon of crude oil is wasted by the conveyance chain including the engine, to get to the wheels of your car.

From free sunshine  to the wheels of your car.

Nature provides sunshine for free.   Throughout it’s conveyance chain (see above graph) on the way to the wheels of your car, 70% of the energy harvested makes it to the wheels.  The losses occur at the Solar PV inverter, the EVSE to battery, Battery to motor, and loss at the motor and other smaller losses. The electric motor is over 90% efficient.   

70% of the sunshine harvested electricity makes it to the wheels of your car. 30% is wasted by the conveyance chain to get to the wheels of your car.

Now you know why the cost of solar fuel is 1/10th  the cost of gasoline.

The world is now irreversibly in a fast pace transition to electric motive power with an ever increasing percentage of that electric power being created by zero emission sources such as wind, hydro and sunshine.

For the automobile industry, energy storage via battery and energy generation via sunshine are game changers of tectonic technological advancements. They create a new energy world where the individual car owner can also produce their own “fuel” in a space no greater than the rooftop of the carport that shelters their cars. They can do so at a cost that is 10% the cost of gasoline.

It’s not political fantasy, it’s technological advancement as solar gets more efficient and cheaper, and batteries get more energy dense, have longer cycle life and are reducing in cost per kwh of storage.  Elected officials from all parties would be wise to memorize and support this simple sentence.

In the “Black Age”  a few held and fiercely defended at great cost, the ownership of power made from crude oil that the earth provided for free.  The “Black Age” of energy trespasses  greatly against the “Commons” of the air that we collectively breathe with each breath drawn.

In the “Energy Equity Age” energy is equal access, all nations and individuals  have the opportunity of ownership of their own energy and zero emission transportation.   We’re not there yet, but we are rapidly getting there.

As my good friend, and fellow solar powered BMW Mini-E & BMW Active E driver Tom Moloughney so able and brilliantly expresses, EFOPEC.



Crude oil, May you rest in peace.

Cheers
Peder
80,000 miles of solar powered driving.

http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/

2 comments:

  1. Peder
    Great article
    It is just too funny to talk to friends about my mini EV Chevy volt
    They get excited then you can see they get scared, are outside the comfort zone .
    They fall back to the
    "TINA" argument.


    Danny Kennedy of Sungevity talks about.
    There Is No Alternative, TINA.
    People love to fall back on Dino juice cars and coal,plants and oil burners for heat.
    But but I just told you about solar powered EV!!

    People really need to wake up and get a clue
    The cost savings with Solar EV are astounding yet no one acknowledges this.
    They all think its a hippy acid trip !

    Sorry for the rant...
    Keep writin eloquent blogs like this and you will awaken them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The engine in the 2016 Prius is at 40% thermal efficiency they say.

    ReplyDelete