Primary Power Analysis of a Global Electrification Scenario

Natanael Bolson, Maxim Yutkin and Tadeusz Patzek ()
Additional contact information
Natanael Bolson: Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center (ANPERC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Maxim Yutkin: Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center (ANPERC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Tadeusz Patzek: Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center (ANPERC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: Electrification scenarios dominate most plans to decarbonize the global economy and slow down the unfolding of climate change. In this work, we evaluate from a primary power perspective the impacts of electrifying the power, transport, residential and commercial sectors of the economy. We also investigate the electrification of industrial intense heat processes. Our analysis shows that, in terms of primary power, electrification can result in significant savings of up to 28% of final power use. However, actual savings depend on the sources of electricity used. For intense heat processes, these savings are very sensitive to the electricity sources, and losses of over 70% of primary power can occur during the conversion of heat to electricity and back to heat. Overall, this study highlights the potential benefits and limitations of electrification as a tool for reducing primary power consumption and transitioning to a more sustainable energy system.

Keywords: electrification; power sector; transportation; intense heat processes; sustainable development; energy transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14440/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14440/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14440-:d:1252823

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().