Using the following energy flow diagram, compare the impact of different transition engineering projects. Calculate the upstream effect on reduced demand for extraction of petroleum, the capital cost, payback period, and the EROI for each option.
Option 1 is a substitution of end-use technology and transition to an alternative fuel stream.
Option 2 is a demand management approach where the need to drive is reduced or the choice of mode is changed to cycle or walk.
Option 3 is an energy efficiency improvement approach. U.S. statistics and data: 15,000 mi average travel per vehicle, average mileage 21 mpg, average cost of driving $0.60/mi for a petrol sedan. Nissan Leaf MSRP $36,000 + home charging station $2,000, 80 kW motor. Anderson Oil Boiler MSRP $2255, average household oil use 730 gal/year. Embedded energy: electric car = 161 MBtu, bicycle = 3.5 MBtu, oil boiler = 6.1 MBtu.
Project (1): Invest in new electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations. The development goal is to replace 1 Quad of transport fuel demand with electricity.
Project (2): Invest in travel demand reduction. This will require new innovations, systems, urban developments ... that reduce miles traveled by 2% overall. You can research and brainstorm possible measures and costs.
Project (3): Identify and replace 25% of the 8.1 million domestic oil boilers with the lowest energy efficiency (pre-1970 AFUE = 60%) with new boiler with AFUE = 86%. The following figure shows the petroleum energy flow diagram for the United States in 2008 [quadrillion Btu].
