Sustainable Community Energy Analysis

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ENERGY ANALYSIS

conducted for the

WALDEN THREE FOUNDATION

prepared by

Thermal Conversion Corp

A subsidiary of Nuvotec, Inc.

2345 Stevens Drive

Richland, WA 99352

May 2004

Andreas S. Blutke J. Mark Henderson

President President & COO

Thermal Conversion Corp Nuvotec, Inc.

509-375-1940 office 509-375-1940 office

509-375-0401 fax 509-375-0401 fax

Table of Contents

0.0 Disclaimer 3

1.0 Description and Use of Model 3

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 Inputs / Outputs 5

1.3 Instructions for Users 5

1.4 Recycling Management 7

1.5 Waste Management 8

1.5.1 Biogas Plant / Digester 8

1.5.2 Plasma Gasification 9

1.5.3 Plasma Melter System 10

1.6 Energy Management 10

1.6.1 Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) and Combined Heat and Power 12

1.6.2 High-Temperature Fuel Cell (HTFC) System 13

1.6.3 Solar Energy Systems 13

1.7 Transportation Systems 14

1.8 Imports / Exports 15

2.0 Description of Subsystems 17

2.1 Domiciles & Small Businesses 17

2.2 Solar Installations 17

2.3 Farming 18

2.4 Forestry 19

2.5 Industry 19

2.5.1 Food Processing 19

2.5.2 Wood Processing 19

2.5.3 Steel Production & Canning 20

2.5.4 Glass Production & Bottling 21

2.5.5 Aluminum Production 21

2.5.6 Cement Plant 23

2.5.7 Lime Plant & Construction 24

2.5.8 Manufacturing & Assembly 24

2.5.9 Textile Industry 24

2.5.10 Solar System Manufacturing 25

2.5.11 Wind Energy System Manufacturing 26

3.0 References 27

4.0 Block Diagrams 30

4.1 Figure 1: First Level Overview 30

4.2 Figure 2: Second Level Overview 30

4.3 Figure 3: Detailed Overview 30

4.4 Figure 4: Model Housing Unit 30

4.5 Figure 5: Waste / Energy Management Concept 30

0.0 Disclaimer

The information presented in this document is non-proprietary and based on publicly accessible data. Where public datawas notavailable, assumptions were made to provide functionality to the developed computer model. Such assumptions are indicated in the model by color code.

The model developed in this study is hypothetical in nature. Although an incorporation of improvements is planned as more data becomes available, the accuracy of the content is limited and is not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate, or up to date. To the full extent permissible by law, the developer of this information disclaims any liability for damages or losses arising from the use of the information.

1.0 Description and Use of Model

1.1 Introduction

Sustainable living entails that human civilizations value, preserve, and protect their natural resources on the planet. Sustainable development is frequently described as “the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Natural resources of clean air, clean water, fertile land, fossil fuels, metals and minerals may seem abundant, but in reality, world population growth and increased resource usage and consumption is leading to a depletion of many crucial resources for life as known today. For example, the extraction, conversion, and use of energy are the single largest cause of air and water pollution, as well as of emissions that may lead to global climate change [46].

Reviewing energy production in detail shows that most developed countries use primarily fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and nuclear fuels for heating, cooling, manufacturing, and transportation. As the developing countries gradually grow their economies and improve their living conditions, they add to the rapidly growing world energy consumption. It is apparent that the high use and dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear power are hardly sustainable at today’s consumption rates and will be less so with further increases in demands of the coming years.

Sustainability and sustainable urban existence equally include environmental, economic, and social aspects, also referred to as the “triple-bottom-line”. Environmental objectives include to maximize energy efficiency, to conserve resources, to minimize pollution/damage to the environment, and to conserve wildlife habitats. Economic objectives address the support of local economies and to provide dignifying employment opportunities, while social objectives include to improve the quality of life and to promote social fairness and equality for all people.

Based on the vision by The Walden Three Foundation, Thermal Conversion Corp was contracted to generate a computer-based model that aims the simulation of sustainable living in communities without reducing the living standards typical in developed countries today. Such a sustainable community is designed with the most energy-efficient methods of production and living available to-date, maximum use of renewable energies, minimization of materials usage combined with maximum materials and energy (heat) recycle, and highly integrated waste and energy concepts for energy production from organic waste materials. The city is simulated as “solar city”, utilizing a maximum of building surfaces for photovoltaic and hot water production and to minimize energy and time consumed in transportation. The emphasis on energy producing systems based on renewable energies, waste minimization, and maximum re-usage of wastes for energy and secondary usage provides a vision to minimize the use of and dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear power. The model is aimed to assist communities in developed and developing countries with information and assessment capabilities to gradually achieve higher levels of sustainability. The model described in this document focuses primarily on the technical aspects of sustainable living. However, social and economical sustainability aspects are equal motivators for the concepts proposed in this development.

The model includes multi-family residences, businesses, industries, and an infrastructure typical for a selectable size of population; the model in its presented form is built for a community of 100,000 people. The sustainable community with its surrounding farm and forest land is self-sustained in terms of basic food supply and energy production, but it interacts with other communities and the environment in its mass and energy flows. Products and services are exported/ exchanged with imports of raw and processed materials and manufactured goods from other communities (see Figure 1).

An emphasis is placed on balancing a selection of industries in the community typical and necessary for a developed society with energy consumption by those industries. Residential living is modeled as multi-family dwellings to maximize energy efficiency. Renewable energy sources such as solar heating and electric power generation (photovoltaic), recycle of organic wastes for energy production, and use of waste heat are included for residences and businesses. The waste-to-energy concepts are based on technologies available today that maximize recycle and minimize the use of landfills. The energy analysis considers solar heating and power, total electric power, natural gas, coal and other fuels, and steam/heat.

The model is intended for education, stimulation of discussions, and to become a tool in the efforts of further developments towards sustainable living. The model is gradually improved and developed to higher levels of accuracy and feasibility with the support of numerous individuals. We encourage persons who review and use the model to pass on any comments and critique so that corrections or missing inputs can be implemented. Ultimately, the model shall provide the information basis required for planning of new and upgrades of existing communities with higher levels of sustainability.

The model can be downloaded and used for free by individuals. The user can review the information contained in the models current revision. Further, the model can be used by any person to study for example the impact of changes on demands or production rates, complex interrelations and effects on import/export of materials, fuels, and goods, the energy mix in the sustainable community, and many more aspects.

A conscious effort was undertaken to select technologies and/or systems that could be economically competitive. However, this model does not provide the information of economical effects nor does it claim to be a most economical constellation at cost structures of to-date. A limited amount of data was available to expose a detailed listing on heat/steam demands and generation, staffing and skills requirements, and actual hours of labor.

1.2 Inputs / Outputs

The sustainable community is modeled in a MS Windows Excel program. A series of figures provide an overview of the community model. Figures 1 thru 3 provide progressively more details to materials, energy, and emission flows within the subsystems. Inputs and outputs to subsystems are categorized as follows:

Inputs to a subsystem may include:

q  Water (from aquifer or water treatment plant),

q  Steam/heat (from industry)

q  Electric power (from power plant or solar systems)

q  Natural gas and other fuels (imports)

q  Raw materials (imports),

q  Manufactured goods (imports),

q  Products (imports or from community).

Outputs from subsystems may include:

q  Waste water,

q  Sewage/manure

q  Fuel Waste,

q  Non-Fuel Waste,

q  Steam/Heat,

q  Fuel Gas (syngas or CH4),

q  Electric power,

q  Recyclable materials (glass, metal/aluminum, paper, etc.),

q  Products (for internal use or export),

q  Air emissions.

The emphasis in the study was to capture significant materials and energy flows and to provide transparency for these streams. Hence, data was gathered and analyzed to provide input values based on references or (where needed) to make reasonable assumptions.

1.3 Instructions for Users

Individual Excel sheets have been generated for subsystems and summaries to provide a structured approach and overview to the collective data set included in the model.

Subsystems include:

q  Domiciles & small businesses,

q  Farming (animals (including fish), vegetable, corn, and fruit),

q  Forestry (tree farms),

q  Food processing including meat processing, poultry dressing, dairy product, and vegetable & fruit processing plants,

q  Wood processing including wood mills, pulp and paper production, and furniture manufacturing,

q  Aluminum production,

q  Steel production,

q  Canning plant,

q  Cement production

q  Construction business,

q  Glass production,

q  Bottling plant,

q  Solar systems manufacturing, and

q  General manufacturing and assembly.

q  Waste water treatment plant,

q  Digester (biogas) plant (for manure and sewage),

q  Gasification plant (for fuel waste),

q  Plasma melter system (for non-fuel waste), and

q  Electric power generation (CCGT) plant.

Summaries and Overviews are provided for:

q  Fossil fuel usage (NG, gasoline and diesel fuel),

q  Steam/heat (generation and usage),

q  Import & export (materials and goods),

q  Materials and Recycle,

q  Energy power demand, and

q  Energy balance.

Subsystem sheets allow the user to study the material and energy inputs and outputs, assumptions made, calculations, and data sources.

Input and output streams are not specified for individual small businesses. However, general model assumptions were made for energy requirements for small businesses and service infrastructure operations. Small businesses include (at a minimum): bakeries, banking, grocery stores, drugstores, restaurants, retail stores, hardware stores, insurances, arts and crafts business, entertaining businesses, beauty stores, travel agencies, coffee shops, tailoring, wood carving, etc. Service infrastructure operations include: heating/cooling, postal, water systems, transportation, delivery, receiving/storage, recycling, maintenance and repair (see Figure 4).

A user of the model can change the inputs (e.g. the number of people in the community, the amount of wood products, individual quantities for food consumption assumptions, etc.) on individual sheets and review the effects on the overview sheets. For example, if the population changes the diet to current U.S. consumption rates, this will increase the demand for food, etc., which then will require more food production. This in turn requires more materials, energy demand, emissions, etc., but it also will lead to more waste, which in turn can be used for energy production, etc.

Input fields have light blue or green background to signify various levels of confidence in the data used and/or for the referenced source of the information. Input fields with a light blue color indicate data inputs chosen as placeholders, data with lower certainty of accuracy, or a free selection of values without background source needed. Input fields with green color indicate that inputs chosen are backed up by a source and/or have a high level of accuracy. It should be noted that by making changes to fields other than input fields, the model may become partially impaired.

Input with high certainty

Additionally, numbers with a clear background indicate a display of information or calculated values using data only from the given Excel sheet. A separate color scheme is used to denote cells using imported data from other sheets. Such imported data is indicated in a field with a yellow background.

An important note for users is that some calculations are iterative and will require the user to enter recalculated values to bring the overall calculations to a higher level of accuracy. Instructions are provided in such sheets. The following sheets demand manual inputs: “CCGT System”, “Plasma Melter”, and “Waste Water Treatment Plant”.

1.4 Recycling Management

Sheet “Materials & Recycle Overview” provides a summary for materials included or not included in the recycling/re-use concepts accounted for in the model.

Recycle and re-use of materials has a significant effect on reducing the demand for materials and energy consumption and reduction of secondary emissions (to environment and landfill). The percentage of recycle versus production of virgin materials can be adjusted in the individual subsystems (e.g., pulp & paper production, steel production, etc.). Obviously, there are limitations to the amount of recycling due to materials degradation (paper fiber), availability of recycle materials (versus demands), and product quality (e.g., due to impurities in the recycle materials). The concept of recycle demands education, motivation, and efforts (e.g., separation) by all individuals in the community. Recycling is assumed for domiciles as well as for any type of business (e.g., manufacturing). The materials modeled for recycling include:

q  Paper and cardboard,

q  Aluminum (containers, sheets, etc.),

q  Steel (containers, sheets, construction materials, etc.),

q  Wood products, and

q  Glass (containers, etc.).

Note: The use of glass bottles was chosen over plastic due to the following reasons: The energy consumption associated with primary production of plastic containers is about 10% below the amount needed to glass containments of the same container volume. No functional recycle system for plastic bottles is in place yet to offer the re-use of plastic without complete re-processing. In contrast, multi-use of glass bottles for high-demand beverages (e.g., water, soda, etc.) has been implemented for over 25 years in Germany and other Western European countries with great success. Multi-use of glass containers (up to more than 25 times prior to re-melting) reduces the energy used for a calculated one-time usage to a fraction of the original primary energy spent. Hence, the use of plastic bottles was not selected as a viable recycling path and plastics (e.g. imported from other communities) are assumed to be a fuel source in the gasification system or to be exported for recycling outside of this community.