Upload
daniel-ring
View
39
Download
3
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Essex County MA Energy Report
Danny RingECS 101Dr. Plumlee
34 Webb Street, Middleton MAORFlint hall Room 322 2 Mount Olympus drive, Syracuse NY
Due Thursday, November 12th 2015
Table of Contents
ContentsPhysical Geography____________________________________________________________________1
Human Geography____________________________________________________________________3
Principal Energy Resources______________________________________________________________4
Total Energy Expended_________________________________________________________________5
Capacity for Renewable Energy Resources_________________________________________________7
Transportation________________________________________________________________________7
Residential___________________________________________________________________________9
Commercial and Industial______________________________________________________________10
Work Cited__________________________________________________________________________13
i
Pg. 1 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Physical GeographyThe county of Essex is located in the north east region of Massachusetts. It makes up all
of Cape Anne, The north shore, and lower portions of the Merrimack valley. It borders Suffolk
County to the south, Middlesex County to the east,
Rockingham County New Hampshire to the north, and to
the west is the Atlantic Ocean in the form of the Gulf of
Maine and the Massachusetts Bay.
Essex was originally settled in 1628 and incorporated by
the court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1643, 372
years ago, and is named after Essex, England. Originally,
the county was comprised of only nine towns: Salem, Lynn,
Enon (now Wenham), Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury,
Chochicawick (now Andover), Lawrence, and Gloucester,
but it has
since been subdivided into thirty two cities and
towns. Since it was settled, there has been two
seats in the Essex County government, Salem
with the southern seat and Lawrence with the
northern seat, until 1999 when the county
government was disbanded. (Essex County
Historical Society via Essexcountyma.net, 13
November 2011)
According to the United States census, Essex contains 493 square miles of land and 336
square miles of water, making a total area of 828 square miles, or 2140 square kilometers. The
country is made up of twenty three suburban towns and eleven urban cities. Essex has a greater
1
Topographical map courtesy of www.msp.umb.edu
Photo courtesy of familysearch.org
Pg. 2 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
number of urban areas than suburban areas, however the majority of the population of Essex
comes from its cities. (quickfacts.census.gov , November 2015)
2
Pg. 3 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Human Geography
In total, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau and
quickfacts.census.gov there are
769,091 people living in Essex
County, making it about eleven
percent of the 6,745,408 people
living in Massachusetts. As of
2010, the population density of
Essex County is about 1,500
people per square mile, making it
a fairly dense region.
People have been living in
the county since the area was
settled in the seventeenth century,
and people continue to move there
to this day. The population of the county has been steadily increasing for as long as the
population has been recorded, besides a few exceptions in 1940 and 1980.Essex continues to
attract new people because of its relatively close proximity to Boston, its history, and its
economic opportunities. It is also very close to the Atlantic Ocean, making for nice beaches in
places like Gloucester, Nahant, Ipswich, and Lynn, and also commercial fishing opportunities in
areas off the coast of Cape Anne. The median household income for the county was $51,576, and
the average family income was $63,746, both slightly above the national average.
3
Census Year Population % change density (people/mile^2)1790 57,879 1181800 61,196 5.7 1241810 71,888 17.5 1461820 74,655 3.8 1521830 82,859 11.0 1681840 94,987 14.6 1931850 131,300 38.2 2671860 165,611 26.1 3361870 200,843 21.3 4081880 244,535 21.8 4961890 299,995 22.7 6091900 357,030 19.0 7251910 436,477 22.3 8861920 482,156 10.5 9791930 498,040 3.3 10111940 496,313 -0.3 10081950 522,384 5.3 10611960 568,831 8.9 11551970 637,887 12.1 12951980 633,632 -0.7 12861990 670,080 5.8 13602000 723,419 8.0 14692010 743,159 2.7 1509
Essex County, MA populations
All population statistics provided by the U.S. Census Bereau and WWW.quickfacts.census.gov
Pg. 4 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
The largest cities in Essex County are Lawrence and Lynn. They have a combined
population of 165,767, about 22% of the county’s total population.
4
Pg. 5 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Principal Energy ResourcesIn total, Essex County has five major natural gas power plants, five major solar power
plants, three major biomass
power plants, two major
wind power plants, and one
major hydroelectric power
plant. Even with the
abundance of these
alternative energy
resources, the majority of
the energy produced and
consumed in Massachusetts
come from nonrenewable
energy sources. The data
shown to the left represents
the amount of energy
generated by each source
and consumed by what
means in all of
Massachusetts, so to get an
approximation of what
portion of that is Essex
County’s one should divide
the numbers by 9. (eia.gov, 18 June 2015)
5
These charts provided by www.eia.gov
Pg. 6 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Total Energy ExpendedIn Massachusetts, the total energy expended can be divided into four main categories:
residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation. Yearly, 456.2 trillion btu (133,700 GWh)
is expended on
transportation, 452.6
trillion btu (132,643
GWH) is expended in
residential use, 290.9
trillion btu (85,254
GWh) is expended
commercially, and
242.8 trillion btu
(71,158 GWh) is
expended in industry.
To turn these
numbers into useful ones for Essex County, we must take into
consideration population, and divide these numbers by the number of people in Massachusetts
and multiply them by the number of people in the county to get an estimate as to how the energy
is consumed in the county. This results in a total of 51.9 trillion btu expended in transportation,
51.5 trillion btu expended in residential use, 33.1 trillion btu expended commercially, and 27.6
trillion btu expended in industry. This comes to a total of 164.1 trillion btu used every year in
Essex county.
9.1% of the energy produced in this area is made by renewable energy sources. That
means 149.2 trillion btu of the total is attributed to non-renewable resources. If we could remove
all of this and replace it with completely renewable energy, it would be the equivalent of:
Removing 37 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. Eliminating 3.8 billion gallons of gasoline.
6
Chart provided by www.eia.gov
Pg. 7 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Remove emissions equivalent to 7.1 million cars in bumper to bumper traffic. Power every refrigerator in the United States for 262 days. Offset as much CO2 as a 2,554 square mile forest for 17 years.
(eia.gov, 18 June 2015)
7
Pg. 8 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesIn order to make Essex County completely rely on renewable resources for power, we
need to add renewable power sources that would in total be able to produce 149.2 trillion btu of
energy per year (164.1 trillion btu total minus 9.1% already renewable energy). 149.2 trillion btu
per year is equivalent to: 43.7 billion kWh or 43,726 GWh. Below is a chart of how much
energy per year is needed in order to make each area of energy used completely renewable.
Transportation
Transportation, the largest consumer of energy in the county, poses the largest problem
for completely renewable energy resources. It would not be possible or ethical to tell people what
kind of car they have to drive, so we will only be able to eliminate energy used from public
transport like busses and trains. This will be an obstacle, however it is advantageous we already
have a head start: The MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; the public transport
of Mass.) currently purchases 20% of its energy from renewable energy resources, and has
decreased the energy consumption per-passenger trip by 12.9% from 2009 to 2012. The MBTA
is the largest consumer of electricity in New England, the fifth largest transportation system in
the country (behind New York’s MTA, Chicago’s CTA, Washington DC’s WMATA, and San
Francisco’s BART), and it is leading by example in alternative energy use at the state
transportation level. (UNC.edu, 18 August 2014) (MBTA.com, 2015)
8
Consuming the energy % of total Energy Consumed (Btu) kWh GWhCommercial 20.2% 30,138,400,000,000 8,832,691,026 8,833 Residential 31.4% 46,848,800,000,000 13,730,024,665 13,730 Transportation 31.6% 47,147,200,000,000 13,817,477,051 13,817 Industrial 16.8% 25,065,600,000,000 7,346,000,458 7,346 Total 100% 149,200,000,000,000 43,726,193,200 43,726
Pg. 9 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
So if we can only replace the energy used in public transportation, and the MBTA already
gets 20% of its energy from alternative resources, assuming public transportation accounts for
half of the county’s total energy used in
transportation that means we need to add enough
alternative energy resources to replace “only” 18.9
trillion btu, 5.5 billion kWh, or 5,527 GWh per year.
To do this, there is an array of options.
However, what makes the most sense would be wind
farms. Most of the MBTA in Essex is in the
commuter rail, and Most of the commuter rail in
Essex are in cities that have bays (Beverly,
Gloucester, Salem, Lynn, Etc.).Therefore, wind
farms seem to make the most sense, as they work
best off the coast and they would have the shortest
distance to transport electricity to and from. With the strong east wind that Massachusetts is
known for and the abundance of coast line, wind power is the ideal solution.
According to Capewind.org, and Mass.gov, Massachusetts has the potential for 2,500 mw
in on shore wind turbines, and 6,000 mw in offshore turbines. The former governor of
Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, also created a plan to
have 2,000 megawatts of wind farms in
Massachusetts by 2020. If this goal is reached, that it
would produce 17.53 billion kWh per year, 319% of what is needed to supply the public
transportation. This means only 627.42 megawatts in wind is needed to supply the transportation
for Massachusetts, or about 10.5% of the offshore wind energy potential.
9
The MBTA train lines. In purple is the commuter rail, which is most of the trains that go through Essex. The northern and Eastern portions of the map are Essex, with Boston in the Middle. Photo courtesy of MBTA.com
Pg. 10 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
According to
ewea.org,, a 50 mw
wind farm can be
built in around 6
months. If it would
take 6 months to build
every 50 mw of wind
energy, it would take
6 years and 3 months
to complete.
According to the
same web site, every
50 mw wind farm
creates about 910 jobs, which equates to around 11,317 permanent jobs being created directly
from wind farms.
Residential
The next largest consumer of energy in the Essex County is residential, consuming 13.73
billion kWh per year. For residential,
there are also plenty of options.
However, solar power seems like the
best option, as the majority of homes
in Massachusetts are not close
10
A wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod and Nantucket. This wind far, has created jobs, attracted tourists, and has made it so three quarters of the energy in Nantucket and other islands are renewable. Photo courtesy of Windpowerninja..com
Pg. 11 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
enough to the coast for wind power, and there is an abundance of empty farm land that would be
perfect for putting solar panels in.
Massachusetts has a plan to have a cumulative total of 1600 mw of solar panels installed
by 2020, and in 2015, the mark is already more than halfway there with 876 mw. According to
Seia.org, this is enough to power
140,000 homes. Assuming the
homes powered by solar to population ration can be used to determine how many homes are
powered by solar in Essex County, that would mean about 17,000 homes in Essex county are
already powered by solar and in total they are generating 106.4 mw. Out of the 284,940 homes
in Essex County, that equates to about 6% of the homes in Essex County being powered by solar,
and 267,790 without it..
If 6% of all the households in Massachusetts already run on solar, then it would take 12.9
billion kWh per year in solar power to power the rest of the homes in Massachusetts. According
to www.solarpowerrocks.com, to calculate the amount of kWh a solar system can save you in
MA, you must multiply the size of your system in kW by 1,248. So let’s say everyone in Essex
County without a solar panel system installs a 25 kW system. A 30 kW system multiplied by
1,248 means a savings of 37,440 kW h per year per household (and save $4,118.40, assuming
$0.11/kWh), and a total savings of 10,026,057,600 kWh per year. The remaining 2.8 billion kWh
needed to power the residents of Essex can be created by using farm land in the more rural areas
like Middleton, Rowley, and other areas Cape Anne. These solar projects would create thousands
of permanent jobs in the area, more expertise in the field of solar energy, and if the rate of solar
panels being installed in Massachusetts continues to climb the way it has in recent years, then
this project has the ability to be done within the next 10 years. Also, in the summer, when the
solar panels produce an excess amount of energy, this energy can be sold to other regions,
creating revenue for the county.
Commercial and Industrial
11
Beverly High School, Beverly, MA. Which is ran completely of solar and provides the majority of the power for the city of Beverly. Photo courtesy of Savebeverlyschools.org
Pg. 12 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Out of the four major sectors, commercial and industrial consume the lowest amount of
energy, consuming only 20.2% and 16.8% respectively. This is equal to a combined sum of 37%
of the total energy consumed in Essex County, or 16.2 billion kWh per year. This will take the
rest of the available energy in wind power, along with some other resources.
As I mentioned earlier, to replace the energy consumed by public transportation, it would
take a 627.42 megawatt wind system. This leaves us an excess of 1,372.58 megawatts of wind
energy that can be used to power the commercial systems and industrial sectors of Massachusetts
if the governors 2,000megawatts by 2020 is to be followed, and 7,872.58excess megawatts
compared to Massachusetts’s potential for on and off shore wind power potential.
If the governor’s plan is reached by 2020, after the 627.42 mw system is used for public
transportation, the excess 1372.58 mw could be used to power the commercial and industrial
sectors. In total, this would eliminate 12 billion kWh per year, leaving 4.2 billion kWh left in
nonrenewable energy. According to www.windustry.org , the cost of an industrial wind turbine
costs about $1.3 million to $2.2 million to make, so if on average they take $1.75 million to
make per kilowatt and it would take 1372.58 megawatts in wind turbines to complete the goal of
2,000 mw by 2020, it would cost around $2.4 billion to move that much closer to completely
renewable energy systems.
As for the remaining 4.2 billion kWh
per year, it would make sense to use the
largest river in Massachusetts, which also
happens to be located mostly in Essex
County, the Merrimack River.
According to www.altenergy.org ,
Hydropower is relatively inexpensive and
efficient compared to other renewables (it runs at about 90% efficiency, and costs about a third
of fossil and nuclear power and a sixth of natural gas, at 0.8 cents/kwh), however it has the
12
This photo courtesy of Alternativeenergy.org
Pg. 13 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
potential to destroy some fish habitats, so that will have to be dealt with while constructing them.
At an average rate of 0.8 cents/kWh, it would cost Essex County $33,600,000 annually to make
enough hydroelectric plants along the Merrimack River to fill the remaining 4.2 Billion kWh,
along with the cost of installation.
Nearly $34 million dollars may seem
like a lot, but it is less than that costing $100
million if it was produced by fossil fuels or
nuclear power, or $201 million if it was
produced by natural gas. The installation of
these plants will be the majority of the cost,
however this money will be pumped right back
into the economy with the jobs created and the
money saved on electricity by the citizens.
13
This photo of the Merrimack River is courtesy of www.weather.gov.
Pg. 14 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Work Cited
Cape Wind. (2014). Project Benefits. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.capewind.org/what/benefits
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2015). Wind Energy: Facts. Retrieved November 12, 2015,
from http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/renewable-energy/wind/wind-energy-
facts.html#g
Davison, A. (2014). Hydroelectric Power. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.altenergy.org/renewables/hydroelectric.html
Essex County Historical Society. (2011, November 13). What's New. Retrieved November 12,
2015, from http://essexcountyma.net/whats_new.htm
European Wind Energy Association. (2015). Wind energy frequently asked questions (FAQ)|
EWEA. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://www.ewea.org/wind-energy-basics/faq/
14
Pg. 15 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Familysearch.org. (2012, November 25). Category:Essex County, MassachusettsEdit This Page.
Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Category:Essex_County,_Massachusetts
Hahn, D. (2012, January 13). How to calculate the amount of kilowatt hours (kWh) your solar
panel system will produce - Solar Power Rocks. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/buying-solar/how-to-calculate-the-amount-of-kilowatt-hours-
kwh-your-solar-panel-system-will-produce/
MPA at UNC staff. (2014, August 18). Let's Take A Ride: 5 Largest US Public Transit Systems
[Infographic]. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from https://onlinempa.unc.edu/5-largest-us-
public-transit-systems-inforgraphic/
Massachusetts Bay Transportation autority. (2015). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/environment/
Massachusetts study project. (2002). MSP Maps. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.msp.umb.edu/maps.html
National Weather Service. (2013). Merrimack River Basin Photos. Retrieved November 12,
2015, from http://www.weather.gov/nerfc/mer_photos
Save Beverly Schools. (2010, November 30). Save Beverly Schools. Retrieved November 12,
2015, from http://www.savebeverlyschools.org/
15
Pg. 16 Capacity for Renewable Energy ResourcesCapacity for Renewable Energy
Solar Energy Industries Association. (2015). Massachusetts Solar. Retrieved November 12,
2015, from http://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/massachusetts
US Census Bureau. (2015, October 14). Essex County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.
Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/25009.html
US energy information administration. (2015, June 18). U.S. Energy Information Administration
- EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=ma
Wind Power News Powered By Solar Wind Ninja. (2015). All posts tagged "Wind Farm"
Retrieved November 12, 2015, from http://www.windpowerninja.com/wind-tags/wind-farm/
Windustry. (2015). How much do wind turbines cost? Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.windustry.org/how_much_do_wind_turbines_cost
16