Did you know ? Questions answers ecology and energy.

[Christophe]

I intend to make a page "Did you know?" on the site.

To start it will be a single page but if, thanks to your help and suggestions, it takes a lot of scale it could turn into a section.

This page would answer questions related to econology that visitors might ask. By responding with arguments and images "general public".

When there is enough question-answer of this type (a dozen) I will write a page on the site.

What do you think ?

Obviously any suggestion of question or answer is more than welcome (especially to refine or correct some answers )

Here is a first example:

1) The amount of energy contained in a liter of fuel (gasoline or diesel) is about 10 kWh.

This corresponds to the thermal power restored by a microwave 1400 W which would run at full power during ...10 hours !

It is also the electrical energy consumed by a 350 W halloween spotlight during ... 28h 34 min and 17 second.

This is a lot of energy but it only allows a few km with your car, a little over 16,6 km if your car consumes 6L / 100 km.

[Christophe]

An 2 other examples in stride:

2) The efficiency of a nuclear plant is, at best, 30%.

This means that 70% of the atomic energy resulting from the fission of uranium is "wasted" in heat in the cooling towers.

For an 2 1,3 GW electric power plant, this corresponds to a thermal loss of the order of 6 GW and an atomic power of 8,6 GW.

These 6 GW are "evacuated" in the cooling towers of the French power stations, there is one tower per reactor (so you can easily know the number of reactors of a power station by counting the number of turns).

The heating requirements of a modern home are roughly (smoothed over the year) 60 W by m2. Either for a house of 100 m2, 6 kW. The "lost" thermal energy of a single plant at 2 reactors therefore corresponds heating a million homes! Assuming (which is not the case but it is for the image) that this energy was recoverable in the form of cogeneration, 14 to 16 nuclear reactors would be enough to heat the entire France without any heating or electricity consumption neither oil nor gas !!

3) The electrical power of a nuclear reactor is 0,85 GW or 1,3 GW.

A GigaWatt is a Billion Watts or 1 000 000 kW. Your pc consumes about 0,3 KW. A GW can therefore supply 3 Million computers. And a 1,3 GW reactor near 4 Million computers.

The largest wind turbine ever built is 5 MW, which is 5000 kW, enough to power 16 667 computers. These wind turbines should be 260 to get the power of a single nuclear reactor. French plants make 2 at 4 reactors.

[nonoLeRobot]

interesting, especially the first example, but we remain on his hunger, (style for the last how many wind turbines (I think it's ~ 5000).

There should be links every time: to find out more.

A micro wave of 1400 W to really 400 W of losses ??? or is it rounding? And then a microwave often does little more than 1000 W.

In short it's a good idea but need to put links (also to be able to check when it looks suspicious ;-)).

[Christophe]

1) On the cardboard of our microwave (mid-low range) there are marked: 1100 (1200?) W for 850 W restored.
After that it must vary a little according to the quality (see the age?) Of the microwave.

Besides, there is usually no power under these forms 2 ... I guess it is the only power "electric consummate" that is noted. Anyway the best is to test with an Energiemeter;) - but shh I say no more - (Nono will understand)

Hence the interest of having a discussion before publishing this on the site

2) Ok to support with links (pfff ladle yourself !!) but I can not do everything alone .... I think that Wikipedia or Ademe ca could not be bad?

3) Of head, a wind turbine of 5 MW has approximately (the specialists correct me please) a rotor of 60 m of diameter and a height of 120 m with the nacelle. It is 100% in offshore these models ...

A "good" conventional terrestrial wind turbine makes 1 MW ... so you have to apply a coef. 5

[zac]

Hello
Check but 5mw I think it's 100 and a few meters of rotor! (102 if my brain is not too full of bubbles)
@+

[Christophe]

Highly possible but this subject is made for a pooling of verification too;)

It may be 60 m of blade then so 120 of diam!

And 100 to 120 m foot

[Logan]

For the calculation of the performance of a nuclear power plant, it would also be necessary to include losses due to the distribution network which are quite considerable, it seems to me.
Sorry, I have no figures (lazy to look for info)

[Christophe]

No, do not include them in this question because it concerns the plant itself and not the econological cost of the current arrived at the individual.

The losses online is about 20% it seems to me.
But I never managed to find any official figures.

[zac]

The losses online is about 20% it seems to me.
But I never managed to find any official figures.

Hello
you're not ready to find them EDF does not know them any more than you or me
@+

[Christophe]

Hello
you're not ready to find them EDF does not know them any more than you or me
@+

Ben they must have an idea all the same ... since they know what they produce and they know what they charge .... the differential = the losses (not necessarily that online there is the transformer also ) ...