Lecture Notes Sustainable Energy Supply
By Arianna van Beek
Lecture 1: Introduction
Energy Supply in 2022 – an Annus Horribilis
➢ The war and the closing of the Nord Stream channel is terrible for the energy supply in
Europe. Russia has been closing of the gas supply to Europe and this negatively affects the
price of gas (which goes up) and negatively affects Europe’s economy.
➢ Russia rather burned the gas than delivering it to Europe.
➢ The price of gas has increased tremendously over the past few months, endangering people’s
livelihood, even in western countries.
➢ This has generated a faster shift towards countries, communities and individuals to try to
save energy and reduce use.
Natural gas is still a backbone of Dutch energy supply
But change is underway…
In the Netherlands, almost half of all energy comes from renewable sources. There has been steered
towards achieving this during the past decades due to the country’s proper location for offshore
wind energy.
➢ “We can still increase the pace of change, but there are limitations to what we can do.”
1
,Capital investment
All renewables start with a relatively large capital investment: it costs a lot to build wind turbines and
install solar panels. Furthermore, the global economy and state of e.g. steel prices to build wind
turbines also affects the achievability of a more energy neutral society. E.g. due to uncertain
conditions, prices of steel increase which in turn endangers the achievability of increasing the
existing amount of wind turbines, thus, making it harder for a country to shift to renewable energy
sources.
Sustainable energy is an unwieldy topic
➢ Sustainable - what do we mean with “sustainable”?
➢ Energy – we will look at all of it!
➢ Supply – but we’ll also look at demand; we’ll take a systems approach
A picture that tells a story
Sustainable Energy Supply - Three lenses
1. Resources
2. Technological change
3. Societal change
➔ Before, it was not possible to sustain (proper) life for over a million people. However, with the
increase of energy sources this has become possible.
2
,Peake book: Chapter 1 – Introduction
➢ Force, energy and power.
➢ Newton (N) for force
o Force is mass times acceleration, so Newton is … N = kg m/s^2
➢ Joule (J) for energy exerted over distance, so Joule is Newton times meter (J = Nm)
o Energy is force
➢ Watt (W) for power
o Power is energy per unit of time; the rate at which energy is converted so Watt is
Joule per second (W = J/s) or Newton-meter per second (W = Nm/s)
➢ Watt-hour (as in kWh) is energy
o Energy is power exerted during a unit of time, so a Watt-hour is Wh = Jh/s = 3600 J
and a kWh = 3,600,000 J = 3,6 MJ
Quantifying Energy – orders of magnitude
Four forms of energy
1. Nuclear energy
a. Nuclear energy is the energy contained in the bonding of protons and neutrons in
the nucleus of atoms. Nuclear fusion is the source of the energy of the sun, i.e. all the
earthly ‘renewable energy’ comes from solar fusion.
2. Gravitational energy
a. The energy resulting from the weak force by which mass attracts mass; potential
energy m.g.h; newton’s apple; the force that holds the sun together and that makes
the earth circle around the sun.
3. Electric energy
a. The energy stemming from the electromagnetic force that works on charged
particles; chemical energy, i.e. the energy in chemical bonds; combustion is the
release of chemical energy from the rearrangement of chemical bonds
4. Kinetic energy
a. The energy embodied in moving objects: ½ x m x v^2 ; macroscopic: kinetic energy of
a car; microscopic: kinetic energy of atoms and molecules k.T; heat
3
, “Producing” 1MWh from different sources
That is, resources that contain 1MWh energy.
Energy use today – ca. 600 EJ/year Primary Energy
or ca. 300 million barrel of oil equivalent (300Mmboe) per day; that is an oil drum of 600 m high and
with a diameter of 400 m!!
(Renewable) Energy use today
4
By Arianna van Beek
Lecture 1: Introduction
Energy Supply in 2022 – an Annus Horribilis
➢ The war and the closing of the Nord Stream channel is terrible for the energy supply in
Europe. Russia has been closing of the gas supply to Europe and this negatively affects the
price of gas (which goes up) and negatively affects Europe’s economy.
➢ Russia rather burned the gas than delivering it to Europe.
➢ The price of gas has increased tremendously over the past few months, endangering people’s
livelihood, even in western countries.
➢ This has generated a faster shift towards countries, communities and individuals to try to
save energy and reduce use.
Natural gas is still a backbone of Dutch energy supply
But change is underway…
In the Netherlands, almost half of all energy comes from renewable sources. There has been steered
towards achieving this during the past decades due to the country’s proper location for offshore
wind energy.
➢ “We can still increase the pace of change, but there are limitations to what we can do.”
1
,Capital investment
All renewables start with a relatively large capital investment: it costs a lot to build wind turbines and
install solar panels. Furthermore, the global economy and state of e.g. steel prices to build wind
turbines also affects the achievability of a more energy neutral society. E.g. due to uncertain
conditions, prices of steel increase which in turn endangers the achievability of increasing the
existing amount of wind turbines, thus, making it harder for a country to shift to renewable energy
sources.
Sustainable energy is an unwieldy topic
➢ Sustainable - what do we mean with “sustainable”?
➢ Energy – we will look at all of it!
➢ Supply – but we’ll also look at demand; we’ll take a systems approach
A picture that tells a story
Sustainable Energy Supply - Three lenses
1. Resources
2. Technological change
3. Societal change
➔ Before, it was not possible to sustain (proper) life for over a million people. However, with the
increase of energy sources this has become possible.
2
,Peake book: Chapter 1 – Introduction
➢ Force, energy and power.
➢ Newton (N) for force
o Force is mass times acceleration, so Newton is … N = kg m/s^2
➢ Joule (J) for energy exerted over distance, so Joule is Newton times meter (J = Nm)
o Energy is force
➢ Watt (W) for power
o Power is energy per unit of time; the rate at which energy is converted so Watt is
Joule per second (W = J/s) or Newton-meter per second (W = Nm/s)
➢ Watt-hour (as in kWh) is energy
o Energy is power exerted during a unit of time, so a Watt-hour is Wh = Jh/s = 3600 J
and a kWh = 3,600,000 J = 3,6 MJ
Quantifying Energy – orders of magnitude
Four forms of energy
1. Nuclear energy
a. Nuclear energy is the energy contained in the bonding of protons and neutrons in
the nucleus of atoms. Nuclear fusion is the source of the energy of the sun, i.e. all the
earthly ‘renewable energy’ comes from solar fusion.
2. Gravitational energy
a. The energy resulting from the weak force by which mass attracts mass; potential
energy m.g.h; newton’s apple; the force that holds the sun together and that makes
the earth circle around the sun.
3. Electric energy
a. The energy stemming from the electromagnetic force that works on charged
particles; chemical energy, i.e. the energy in chemical bonds; combustion is the
release of chemical energy from the rearrangement of chemical bonds
4. Kinetic energy
a. The energy embodied in moving objects: ½ x m x v^2 ; macroscopic: kinetic energy of
a car; microscopic: kinetic energy of atoms and molecules k.T; heat
3
, “Producing” 1MWh from different sources
That is, resources that contain 1MWh energy.
Energy use today – ca. 600 EJ/year Primary Energy
or ca. 300 million barrel of oil equivalent (300Mmboe) per day; that is an oil drum of 600 m high and
with a diameter of 400 m!!
(Renewable) Energy use today
4
