Role of HTS devices in greenhouse gas emission reduction

Abstract

By applying high temperature superconductors (HTS) in generators, transformers and synchronous motors it is possible to improve their efficiency. Higher efficiency saves electrical energy and thus reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well. The reduction of GHG emissions is becoming a topical issue due to the Kyoto Protocol which requires the European Union (EU) to reduce its emissions by 8% from the 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. This environmental viewpoint can accelerate the commercialization of HTS applications if certain efficiency and sufficiently large power range are reached. In this paper, a detailed study about the replacement of existing devices by HTS ones is made in order to find the efficiency level and the power range where HTS becomes competitive. Finland is taken, as an example of an EU country, to present accurate figures of saved electricity. The structure of energy production and consumption was investigated and the emission data from different types of power plants were screened. The potential savings were allocated to the reduced usage of coal. Finally, an expanded view towards the possible emissions reduction gained by superconducting technology in the whole EU is presented. A market penetration model was introduced to investigate the time-scale in which conventional devices can be replaced with HTS devices.

Superconductivity and the environment: a Roadmap

“…Survey and remediation of these sites is a high-priority environmental objective in the United States. We get an idea of the sheer scale of the problem when we consider that on the continental US alone, the total land area, including marine environments, of sites identified as being contaminated with UXO is estimated to be well in excess of 40 000 km 2 spanning over approximately 1500 different sites. Figure 22 shows some typical modern ordnance ranging in size from ∼40 to 105 mm.…”

A Study on the Sustainability Aspects of High Temperature Superconductivity

“…Higher efficiency saves electrical energy and thus reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well. Hartikainen et al performed a detailed study on the replacement of existing devices by HTS applications and investigated at what efficiency level and power range HTS becomes competitive [10]. Their research is based on Finish data, however, the results obtained can also be directly applicable to the any other developed or developing country.…”

Environmental advantages of superconducting devices in distributed electricity-generation

“…The first values are direct emissions from combustion, while the second values indicate indirect emissions during the life cycle. The exact number depends on the state of the technology [6].…”

“…Selection between these systems affects the depth-of-discharge (DOD) in lead-acid batteries and the number of flywheels in operation. That in turn leads to varying endurances of the stack membranes in batteries and changes in refrigeration requirements in Table 1 GHG-emissions from electricity production in grams of CO 2 -equivalent per kWh [6] Energy flywheels. Therefore, two different cases are studied, and a range between the results is given in Table 2.…”

“…In a previous study, we showed that when used in a full-scale network, HTS-devices could reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from electricity generation by 3-6% [6]. HTS-based generators, motors, and transformers were found to have break-even powers (P be ) of 100, 1, and 20 MVA, respectively, and they reduced losses by 50% compared with their conventional counterparts.…”