Comparison of Wind Energy and Coal Energy in the UK - Case Study Example

Title: Comparison of Wind Energy and Coal energy in the UK Name: Student No.: Institution: Tutor: Due date: 1. Introduction Wind energy and coal energy are examples of the major sources of energy for both domestic and industrial applications. There are certain characteristics of wind energy that distinguishes it from characteristics of coal energy. This paper provides an investigation of these characteristics in terms of cost, convenience, efficiency and environmental impact. This assists, in arriving at a conclusion regarding a comparison between these characteristics. 2. Comparison of Cost The cost of wind energy is slightly higher than the cost of coal energy. For instance, the cost of coal energy is estimated to be £1.6/GJ which is slightly lower than the value cost of wind energy. There are also high low costs involved in commissioning plants and expertise involved in extraction of coal compared to the facilities required for generation of wind energy (Rydén, Lars, Pawel, and Magnus 452). The expertise provided in generation of coal energy has to be compensated while additional costs are incurred during drilling of wells into the earth’s surface before the deposits can be reached. Despite these costs, it has been found that the cost of generation of coal energy is between 33% and 40% lower than the cost of generation of wind energy. On the other hand, there are high costs involved in generation of wind energy as a result low output of power in relation to the costs of facilities such as the windmill, electrical system and the supporting mast. When wind power is implemented, full costs involved in generation of other sources of energy such as coal can be reduced considerably. For instance, the cost of generating variable coal power is estimated to be 0.3-0.4£ per kWh of wind power generated. This is lower in comparison with the variable cost of generating wind power which is estimated to be between 0.8-1.7£ per kWh of wind power generated. When sensitivity of coal as a result of changes in cost of oil fuel is compared with the sensitivity of wind power as a result of changes in oil prices, it is found that coal prices is likely to increase by 50% which is a significant increase. On the other hand, there is little sensitivity of wind power and the wind generated power becomes only 10% more expensive than coal power. On coastal locations, it is possible to generate wind power at the cheapest cost in comparison to coal energy. Costs per kWh resulting from wind power is usually constant over time once the turbine is installed and provides a hedge against unexpected rises in prices of fossil fuels such as coal. Estimates of costs of generation of coal shows that an increase in carbon price by £10 results into 1c£/kWh increase in the cost of generation of energy from coal and 0.5c£/kWh of the total costs of generated electricity. As a result of consistency of wind power costs, it is associated with relatively higher costs in comparison with uncertain future costs of other sources of power such as fuel costs. 3. Comparison of convenience When convenience of use of wind energy and coal energy are compared, it is found that wind energy is more convenient to use compared with coal energy. For instance, wind energy can be transmitted over distance through electric cables and can be used to produce electricity for a variety of functions such as lighting of lamps, heaters and motors (Schneider et al 92). On the other hand, coal energy requires additional modification in its generation before it can be transmitted over distances and its functions is limited to large scale activities such as industrial operation of machinery. Another distinction between coal energy and wind energy is that wind energy cannot be used for functions such as operating vehicles or heavy machinery due because it can only be used in the form of electricity through the grid system. On the other hand, coal energy can be used conveniently to power vehicles, trains and steam engines. Another distinction is that wind energy is clean to use compared with coal energy. On the other hand, coal is usually dense and it has to be transported to the point of use. Generation of coal has been undertaken by the use of centralized utility generation systems. In addition to low costs of inputs for the use of coal, users of this form of energy can import the fuel when it is not available in their location compared with the use of wind power. It can be used to fuel cars and facilitate transport of other means of transport but the use of wind energy cannot be implemented in this case due to the fact that the energy cannot be transported. The miracle of convenience that almost every individual in the first world countries has become familiar to is likely to be less miraculous due to the possibility that depletion of fossil fuels can impact on availability of energy such as energy from coal. As a result of this, renewable energy such as wind energy is most likely to be popular and attractive in comparison to coal energy. The downside is that wind energy is and still remains far less convenient compared to other alternatives such as coal energy. 4. Comparison of Efficiency Studies conducted in the UK on energy efficiency shows that the use of thermal sources of energy such as coal and gas results into massive loss of energy in form of heat in comparison to renewable sources of energy such as wind energy where loss of has been as low as 0%. Use of gas composes 48% of electricity generated in the UK where 372 Terra-Watt hours of electricity produced each year where 54% is lost in the form of heat (The Energy Challenge 52). The use of coal results into 28% of the losses producing 297 TWH. When compared to these figures, renewable sources of energy such as wind energy account for 4% of the supply of electricity in the UK accounting for 14TWh. This is less than 1% loss. This results into the conclusion that wind energy is almost 1005 efficient. The efficiency in the use of wind and coal energy is affected by the fact that both cannot be operated throughout a day or continuously. For instance, wind farms have turbines that operate at speeds less than 4m/s and they are not operated throughout the day so that strong winds that move at 25m/s and above do not damage them. In a similar manner, coal power generations do not take place throughout because of breakdowns and maintenance periods. As a result of these shutdowns, both wind energy and coal energy do not operate at the maximum efficiency. Comparison of the outputs of either sources of energy shows that coal power stations produce power at a level closer to their theoretical maximum in comparison to the use of wind energy. It is found that the capacity factor of wind energy is 30% onshore and 40% offshore, but there has been an increase in this value as a result of increase in technology in use of wind energy. Studies conducted by German Association of Energy and Water Industries show that capacity factor of fossil fuels such as coal are as low as 50% in winter. According to Renewable UK, a body in the energy sector in the UK, it is suggested that wind energy is one of the best regimes in the world and capacities of wind energy are higher than in a number of European countries where wind energy is a contributing factor for the electricity supply in the country. This shows that despite the availability of coal in relation to wind energy, wind energy is still more efficient compared with coal energy. 5. Comparison of Environmental Impact Wind energy does not contribute too much impact on environment compared to other sources of energy such as gas and coal. As a result of carbon dioxide produced from combustion of coal and other gases, great impact results in the form of air pollution and environmental terrain as a result of waste materials from mining activities (Rydén, Lars, Pawel and Magnus 65). During use, wind energy is used in the form of electricity which does not produce any gases that can affect the lifestyles of users. Its use does not result into depletion of resources nor does it result into damage to the environment through extraction of resources, transport and management of waste. On the other hand, fossil fuels such as coal results into pollution of the air and environment that can cause harm to flora and fauna. The use of wind turbines in farms take up less than 15 of the land area. When the turbines are in operation, other activities such as agriculture and walking can take place around them. It does not result into disturbance to farm animals such as cows and sheep. On the other hand, the use of fossil fuels results into procurement of facilities which result into the use of a sizeable amount of land which also restricts the movement of people and animals around the area of its use. This affects agriculture such as the process of keeping farm animals. Furthermore, wind energy results into production of clean energy because the operation does not result into elimination of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. It does not produce harmful gases or toxic products. Contrastingly, generation of power from fossil fuels such as coal results in a quarter of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, it is renewable because it comes from wind which is renewable. 6. Conclusion This paper shows that the cost of using wind energy is lower than that of use of coal energy. It is found that the efficiency of wind energy is also higher compared with coal energy. Another finding is that wind energy is clean to use and does not result into dirt on the person using it while coal energy results into dirt as a result of emissions in form of smoke during its use. Another finding is that wind energy does not result into great disadvantage to the environment. This implies that despite the capability of wind energy to be used for large power generation and use in automobiles, it has a number of advantages which makes its use equally competitive as coal energy. 7. References Rydén, Lars, Pawel Migula, and Magnus Andersson. Environmental Science: Understanding, Protecting, and Managing the Environment in the Baltic Sea Region. Uppsala: Baltic Univ. Press, 2003. Print. Schneider, Stephen H, Armin Rosencranz, Michael D. Mastrandrea, and Kristin Kuntz-Duriseti. Climate Change Science and Policy. Washington [DC: Island Press, 2010. Internet resource. The Energy Challenge, Energy review Report 2006, Cm 6887, Department of Trade and Industry. Read More