Kessides, Ioannis N.Wade, David C.2012-03-192012-03-192011-01-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3311This paper complements previous work on the economics of different energy resources by examining the growth potential of alternative electricity supply infrastructures as constrained by innate physical limits. Coal-fired generation meets the criteria of longevity (abundance of energy source) and scalability (effective capability to expand to the multi-terawatt level) which are critical for a sustainable energy supply chain, but it carries a very heavy carbon footprint. Renewables and nuclear power meet both the longevity and climate friendliness criteria. However, they vary in terms of their ability to deliver net energy at a scale needed for meeting a huge global energy demand. The low density of renewable resources for electricity generation and the current intermittency of many renewables limit their ability to achieve high rates of growth. And a significant global increase in nuclear power deployment could engender serious risks related to proliferation, safety, and waste disposal. Unlike renewable sources of energy, nuclear power is an unforgiving technology because human lapses and errors can have ecological and social impacts that are catastrophic and irreversible. The transition to a low carbon economy is likely to prove much more challenging than some optimists have claimed.CC BY 3.0 IGOAIRALTERNATIVE ENERGYALTERNATIVE FUELSALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIESALTITUDEANTHROPOGENIC GREENHOUSEANTHROPOGENIC GREENHOUSE WARMINGATMOSPHEREATMOSPHERIC PRESSUREAVAILABILITYCALCULATIONCAPACITY FACTORCAPACITY FACTORSCARBONCARBON CAPTURECARBON DIOXIDECARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONSCARBON ECONOMYCARBON EMISSIONCARBON FOOTPRINTCARBON INTENSITYCARBON SUPPLYCLEAN COALCLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIESCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECLIMATE CHANGE POLICYCLIMATE POLICYCLOUD COVERCOCO2COALCOAL RESERVESCOAL TECHNOLOGIESCOMBUSTIONCONVENTIONAL FOSSIL FUELSCONVENTIONAL FUELSCONVENTIONAL OILCONVERGENCECONVERSION PROCESSCOST OF ENERGYELECTRICITYELECTRICITY GENERATIONELECTRICITY GENERATION CAPACITYELECTRICITY GENERATION TECHNOLOGIESELECTRICITY PRODUCTIONELECTRICITY SUPPLYEMISSIONEMISSIONS FROM COALEND USEEND USERENERGY ANALYSISENERGY CARRIERENERGY CARRIERSENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY COSTSENERGY ECONOMICSENERGY EXTRACTIONENERGY INFRASTRUCTUREENERGY INPUTENERGY INVESTMENTSENERGY MARKETSENERGY MIXENERGY OUTLOOKENERGY OUTPUTENERGY PERFORMANCEENERGY POLICYENERGY PROBLEMENERGY PRODUCTIONENERGY REQUIREMENTSENERGY RESOURCESENERGY SOURCEENERGY SOURCESENERGY SYSTEMSENERGY USEENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMSEVAPORATIONEXCESS CAPACITYFOSSILFOSSIL FUELFOSSIL FUEL POLLUTANTSFOSSIL FUEL RESOURCESFOSSIL FUELSFOSSIL-FUELFUELFUEL EXTRACTIONFUEL USEGAS PLANTSGAS RESERVESGAS TURBINEGASESGENERATING CAPACITYGENERATIONGENERATION SYSTEMSGHGGLOBAL ELECTRICITY GENERATIONGLOBAL ENERGY DEMANDGLOBAL ENERGY MIXGLOBAL ENERGY SUPPLYGOLDGREENHOUSEGREENHOUSE GASGREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSGREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATIONGROWTH IN ENERGY DEMANDHEATHEAVY METALSHIGH ENERGY DENSITYHIGHER ENERGY DENSITYHOT WATERHYDROELECTRIC ENERGYHYDROELECTRIC POWERHYDROPOWERINSOLATIONINTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCYIRONKINETIC ENERGYLARGE WIND FARMSLIQUID FUELSLIVING STANDARDSLNGLOAD FACTORLOW-CARBONMERCURYMITIGATION TECHNOLOGIESNATIONAL ENERGY DEMANDNATURAL GASNET ENERGY BALANCENEW PLANTNEW PLANTSNITROGENNITROGEN OXIDESNUCLEAR ENERGYNUCLEAR PLANTSNUCLEAR POWERNUCLEAR POWER PLANTNUCLEAR POWER PLANTSNUCLEAR POWER STATIONSNUCLEAR REACTORSNUCLEAR SAFETYOILOIL EQUIVALENTOIL GAS COALOIL SANDSPARTICULATEPARTICULATE MATTERPETROLEUMPHOTOVOLTAIC CELLSPHOTOVOLTAICSPHYSICSPLANT PERFORMANCEPOLLUTANTSPOWER GENERATIONPOWER GENERATION CAPACITYPOWER PLANTSPOWER PRODUCTIONPOWER RATINGPOWER STATIONPOWER SYSTEMSPRECIPITATIONPRICE VOLATILITYPRIMARY ENERGYPRIMARY ENERGY DEMANDPRIMARY ENERGY SOURCERAINRAINFALLRAINWATERRENEWABLE ELECTRICITYRENEWABLE ENERGYRENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCESRENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMRENEWABLE GENERATIONRENEWABLE RESOURCESRENEWABLE SOURCESRENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGYRENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIESSILICONSINKSOLAR ENERGYSOLAR ENERGY CONVERSIONSOLAR PANELSSOLAR POWERSOLAR RADIATIONSOLAR RESOURCESOLAR RESOURCESSOURCE OF ENERGYSULFURSULFUR DIOXIDESUNLIGHTSUNSHINESURPLUS ENERGYSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTSUSTAINABLE ENERGYTHERMODYNAMICSTRANSPORT SECTORURANIUMURANIUM RESOURCESWASTEWASTE DISPOSALWINDWIND ENERGYWIND FARMWIND FARMSWIND PENETRATIONWIND POWERWIND POWER SYSTEMSWIND SPEEDWIND TURBINEWIND TURBINESWINDMILLWINDMILLSWORLD ENERGYWORLD ENERGY COUNCILWORLD ENERGY MARKETSWORLD ENERGY OUTLOOKWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5539