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A mathematical analysis of full fuel cycle energy use

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  • Coughlin, Katie

Abstract

Given concerns about the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use, there is a keen interest in developing a broad range of new energy sources and technologies. This in turn creates a need for metrics that can reliably quantify the costs, benefits, and potential trade-offs of different alternatives. In this paper, we present a definition of a full fuel-cycle metric that is flexibile enough to describe a wide variety of energy production chains, and has sufficient mathematical rigor to allow meaningful comparisons between them. The term FFC (full fuel cycle) refers to the complete fuel production chain including extraction, processing, conveyance to the retail distribution center and delivery to final consumers. For ease of use in applications, the metric is defined as an FFC multiplier which, when applied to the point-of-use energy consumption, gives an estimate of the FFC energy use. We also show that the FFC multiplier can be used to provide precise and intuitively reasonable definitions of other energy production metrics such as EROI (energy return on energy invested). The multiplier is a non-linear function of a set of energy–intensity parameters that depend only on directly observable physical data.

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  • Coughlin, Katie, 2012. "A mathematical analysis of full fuel cycle energy use," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 698-708.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:37:y:2012:i:1:p:698-708
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.10.021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nathan Gagnon & Charles A.S. Hall & Lysle Brinker, 2009. "A Preliminary Investigation of Energy Return on Energy Investment for Global Oil and Gas Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-14, July.
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    2. Walmsley, Timothy G. & Walmsley, Michael R.W. & Varbanov, Petar S. & Klemeš, Jiří J., 2018. "Energy Ratio analysis and accounting for renewable and non-renewable electricity generation: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 328-345.
    3. Jingxuan Feng & Lianyong Feng & Jianliang Wang, 2018. "Analysis of Point-of-Use Energy Return on Investment and Net Energy Yields from China’s Conventional Fossil Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, February.
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    5. Hu, Yan & Hall, Charles A.S. & Wang, Jianliang & Feng, Lianyong & Poisson, Alexandre, 2013. "Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of China's conventional fossil fuels: Historical and future trends," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 352-364.

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