Energy for Sustainability

Randolph & Masters, 2008

Chapter 5:
Energy Analysis & Life-Cycle Assessment
 Life Cycle Assessment
 “Sustainability” Analysis: energy, economic,
environmental “Cradle-to-Grave”
Check out this video on life cycle
 http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Life Cycle Assessment:
sometimes counter-intuitive

Energy
Waste
Life-cycle Assessment
 Energy Analysis
 Economic Cost-effectiveness
 Environmental Assessment
Energy Analysis
 Various metrics
 Efficiency (η)
 Energy return on investment (EROI)
 Energy payback time (EPT)
 Fossil fuel ratio (FFR)
 Petroleum input ratio (PIR)
 Net energy value (NEV)
Energy Balance

 Eo = energy output (e.g., useful energy)

 Ed = direct energy input (e.g., fuel)
 Ei = indirect energy input
 Eic = indirect energy – continuous (e.g., energy to produce fuel)
 Eiot = indirect energy – one-time (e.g., energy to make device)
 ts = system life (used to convert Eiot to annual energy Eiot/ts)
Energy Analysis Metrics

 Eo = energy output (e.g., useful energy)

 Ed = direct energy input (e.g., fuel)
 Ei = indirect energy input
 Eic = indirect energy – continuous (e.g., energy to produce fuel)
 Eiot = indirect energy – one-time (e.g., energy to make device)
 ts = system life (used to convert Eiot to annual energy Eiot/ts)
Energy Analysis Metrics: Efficiency
Eo
Direct conversion efficiency    0  1
Ed

Eo
Overall energy efficiency  *  0  *  1
Ed  Ei

 Eo = energy output (e.g., useful energy)

 Ed = direct energy input (e.g., fuel)
 Ei = indirect energy input
 Eic = indirect energy – continuous (e.g., energy to produce fuel)
 Eiot = indirect energy – one-time (e.g., energy to make device)
 ts = system life (used to convert Eiot to annual energy Eiot/ts)
 Metrics: Net Energy
Eo
Energy return on energy investment  EROI 
Ei
E iot
Energy payback time  EPBT 
Eo
Net energy value  E o  E i
 Eo = energy output (e.g., useful energy)
 Ed = direct energy input (e.g., fuel)
 Ei = indirect energy input
 Eic = indirect energy – continuous (e.g., energy to produce fuel)
 Eiot = indirect energy – one-time (e.g., energy to make device)
 ts = system life (used to convert Eiot to annual energy Eiot/ts)
Metrics: Focus on Carbon, Petroleum
Eo
Fossil fuel ratio  FFR 
(E d  E i ) FF
(E d  E i ) Petro
Petroleum input ratio  PIR 
Eo
 Eo = energy output (e.g., useful energy)
 Ed = direct energy input (e.g., fuel)
 Ei = indirect energy input
 Eic = indirect energy – continuous (e.g., energy to produce fuel)
 Eiot = indirect energy – one-time (e.g., energy to make device)
 ts = system life (used to convert Eiot to annual energy Eiot/ts)
EROI
for
various
energy
sources
Contradictory Studies on EROI, NEV
of Corn-based Ethanol
Compare ethanol to gasoline:
EROI not as important and Net Fossil Fuel
Farrell, et al., Science, 2006
Net Energy & Petroleum Input
Energy Input and Carbon Emissions
 Getting Energy Use Data
 Billing meters
 (e.g., gasoline pumps, electric, natural gas meters)
 Monitor run-time:
 energy used = run-time (hrs) x energy/time
 Submeters, data loggers
Dataloggers
 Economic Analysis
 Economic value of energy: price
Volatility: Price of Gasoline in U.S., 1999-2007
 Time value of money

$100
 Time-value doesn’t matter much for short time
periods and low discount rates

Present value of $100 Future

dollars:
a. d=4%, n=10 years

b. d=1%, n=10 years

c. d=10%, n=0.5 years

 Simple Payback Period (SPP)
 Time to payback initial cost with energy savings

IC
Simple payback period  SPP  (years)
AES x Pr

 IC = initial cost (or cost difference when comparing

options), $
 AES = annual energy savings, energy units/year
 Pr = energy price, $/energy unit
 Cost of Conserved Energy (CCE)
 Cost per unit energy saved that can be
compared to existing rates

d(1  d) n
Capital Recovery Factor (CRF) 
(1 - d) n - 1
CRF takes one-time payment and spreads it out over the
lifetime (n) of the measure based on a discount rate (d)
 Other Economic Factors

1
Present Value Factor (PVF) 
(1  d ) n

n
(1 - d) - 1
Uniform Present Value Factor (UPVF) 
d(1  d) n
Other Economic Measures
What is Cost-effective?
 SPP < life of measure
 CCE < current energy price
 PVS > IC
 NPV > 0
 BCR > 1
SPP and Market Penetration
Conservation Supply Curve (CSC):
plots cost per unit saved v. cumulative savings
CSC for U.S. electricity, 1990:
each step is an efficiency measure
Economic Analysis Spreadsheet
 Environmental Analysis

Energy Use Impact/energy Impact

Electricity depends on location
Carbon
Footprint
Calculator
Calculating Emissions and Offsets
 Input energy use, spreadsheet calculates
carbon emissions and “green tags” and trees
to plant to offset emissions.