Posted on 10/23/2007 9:18:54 AM PDT by MainFrame65
Although these diagrams are a couple of years old, they do clarify the gross and net energy flows of the US economy, and clearly show the overall efficiency of that consumption in a way that some of you might find informative and useful.
https://eed.llnl.gov/flow/02flow.php
Most of the loss in in generation. After power leaves the generation station system loss typically run 6~7% for transmission, substations and distribution losses combined.
Supply and Disposition of Electricity, 1995 through 2006
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epates2.html
What the numbers of 27.8 reflect is the amount of BTU's contain in coal (for example) that are delivered as power. Not only is their significant losses in total heat recovery, scrubber systems and utilities at a clean coal plant can consume large amounts of the total electrical power generated at the plant.
The Need for Additional U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants
http://www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/PositionStatements/Need_Additional_US_CoalFired.cfm
Most of the U.S. coal-fired plants are 30-40 years old and have been upgraded to meet emissions regulations. However, only about 25 percent of these older plants have been retrofitted with scrubbers, and only a few plants are equipped with the most effective flue gas cleanup systems technology now available for new power plants. While the average net energy conversion efficiency of these plants is about 32 percent, the next generation of new plants can increase this net efficiency to 40 percent or higher with improved technology, thereby reducing coal consumption and emissions in proportion.
Your information was not correct. Nobody who has to pay for power or generation builds a transmission line with 50% losses. See links in post above.
No, the majority of the loss occurs at the power plant, see links above.
Neighbohood nuke plants please, in a supporting grid.
Links, source or just sarcasm?
Thank you for the info. It appears to be in the 7% range of loss during transmission, with much more occurring at the plant.
The article I read in the 70s was a Popular Science article, I believe, and they used a 50% loss for transmission, but they might have included the losses during the generation as well.
Glad to help. A transmission line with large loss like 50% would have many other problems such as voltage drop, line heating and associated drooping conductors.
Try cheniere.org and look for Deborah Chung’s Negative Resistor. Are you familiar with cooper pair electrons in superconductivity? That’s the secret of how random heat becomes coherent DC current. It’s akin to how the tiny cells of insulation with their induced vortices of warm air rises, cold air falls that naturally converts heat-noise to coherent-signal. It’s sort of a maxwell’s demon process going on in the pressed fibers.
This WONDERFUL discovery at the U of NY at Stony Brook was quickly quashed by the US gov’t/big oil...for obvious reasons...
Tom Bearden - A Critical Examination of His Claims
http://www.phact.org/e/z/BeardenReview.htm
Another perpetual motion machine held back by big oil/government/aliens...
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