Energy Transition in Metropolises, Rural Areas and Deserts
Louis Boisgibault Fahad Al Kabbani
First published 2020 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019951913
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-499-5
2.2.3.
2.2.4.
2.3.
2.3.1.
2.3.2.
2.3.3.
2.3.4.
2.4. Lessons learned from the energy transition in metropolises
2.4.1. Priority to controlling energy consumption in metropolises
2.4.2. Microproduction of energy in metropolises
2.4.3. Peripheral power generation units and networks
Chapter 3.
3.1. The characteristics of energy in rural areas
3.2. The example of Pays de Fayence in France
3.2.1. Presentation of Pays de Fayence
3.2.2. Development of the Pays de Fayence
3.2.3. Transport in the Pays de Fayence
3.2.4. Challenges of the Pays de Fayence for the energy transition
3.3. The example of Bokhol in Senegal
3.3.1. Presentation of Bokhol
3.3.2. Development of the Bokhol site
3.3.3. Bokhol’s
3.4. Lessons learned from the energy transition in rural
3.4.1. Dynamics of positive
3.4.2.
3.4.3.
Chapter 4. The Energy Transition in the Desert
4.1. The characteristics of energy in
4.2. The example of Ouarzazate in Morocco
4.2.1.
4.2.2. Spatial planning in Ouarzazate
4.2.3. Ouarzazate’s challenges for the energy transition
4.3. The example of Neom in Saudi Arabia
4.3.1. Neom’s presentation
4.3.2. Development of the Neom project
4.3.3. Neom’s challenges for the energy transition
4.4. Lessons learned from the energy transition in the desert
Foreword
“Think global, act local” for an ecological transition in the service of man and therefore of the planet, such was the major challenge of the 20th Century which, to paraphrase André Malraux, French novelist and Minister of Cultural Affairs, was “to be of ecology or not to be”.
The global dimension is widely recognized in practice. After the warning issued by the Club of Rome in 1960, the Stockholm Conference in 1972 inaugurated the various earth summits, which have been held every 10 years since then (Nairobi in 1982, Rio in 1992, Johannesburg in 2002, Rio in 2012). Since 1995, the “Conferences of the Parties” have brought together diplomats and experts on climate change every year. Thus, COP21 in Paris in 2015 reached an agreement to fight global warming.
The many international meetings over more than half a century have enabled experts from all over the world to reflect and propose further growth that is more respectful of the environment and the dignity of human beings, but also, through a wealth of literature, for academics from all continents to exchange, discuss and debate on sustainable development.
On the other hand, the local dimension is less studied. More than ideas, it is the actions that must be observed, analyzed and evaluated. From this point of view, the book written by my two former PhD students is very timely. The approach, far from being dogmatic, is first and foremost practical and empirical. This work is the result of many months of investigation by the authors on the different fields they studied. However, the choice of these territories allows them to have a fairly universal view of the issue: developed countries (France), developing countries (Senegal and Morocco), emerging
countries (Saudi Arabia), metropolises (Lille and Riyadh) and rural areas (Pays de Fayence), temperate zones and deserts. All the cases encountered at the local level were perceived by the two authors who complement each other admirably in their research. Moreover, the cultural dimension has not been forgotten, even if it is reduced to well-chosen examples.
It is with great satisfaction that I write this foreword, as, having been a thesis supervisor, it is comforting to see that two of my most brilliant students have joined forces to tackle this vast subject essential for the future of the world, the ecological transition. I hope that this book will meet with the success it deserves, because it provides an innovative and precise insight into “local action”, without which the ecological transition cannot be achieved.
Jean GIRARDON Professor Emeritus Sorbonne Université
Preface
This book analyzes how the energy transition can be carried out in three types of areas: metropolitan areas, rural areas and deserts. It is based on research carried out in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Lille (France) for metropolitan areas; in the Pays de Fayence (France) and Bokhol (Senegal) for rural areas; in the deserts of the Sahara (Ouarzazate) and Arabia. The challenges of the energy transition are studied taking into account the constraints of each type of space, the projects carried out and technological innovations. How best to combine large connected power plants, production systems for self-consumption, and energy efficiency with energy transmission and distribution networks that must become intelligent? Should spatial planning be organized on the basis of objectives and decisions taken at supranational level (COP21, major directives) or should local initiative be encouraged, depending on the resources instantly available? Lessons are drawn from the fields studied to provide objectives and solutions for Europe, the Middle East and the African region in order to move from carbonaceous energy resources (oil, natural gas and coal) and nuclear to renewable energies without opposing the energy sectors. This book is illustrated with photos and color maps.
The two co-authors, of French and Saudi origin, met in mid-2010 in the Geography and Planning Research Laboratory of the Université ParisSorbonne (Paris IV). The Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) became Sorbonne Université on January 1, 2018 through its merger with the Université Pierre et Marie Curie. This laboratory was known as the Spaces, Nature and Culture (ENEC), Joint Research Unit Sorbonne Université / French centre for scientific research and has itself evolved as part of this merger. The co-authors conducted their doctoral research with the same
x Energy Transition in Metropolises, Rural Areas and Deserts
thesis supervisor, Jean Girardon, Professor Emeritus at Sorbonne Université. Jean Girardon is known for his academic work on spatial planning, for his local action as mayor of the rural community of 333 inhabitants of MontSaint-Vincent, in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region and as elected board member to the Association of Mayors of France. The co-authors’ research theses on the energy transition were defended and validated, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. As the research fields are very complementary, it was decided to pool the work here.
This interdisciplinary four-chapter book is therefore not simply a compilation of scientific articles, as is most often the case in the academic world. It aims to have a certain unity of style and form to increase its impact and simply explain, in a pedagogical way, complex transitions. It gathers a wider audience than a thesis jury to address students, elected officials, professionals and an informed general public and involves citizens in debates on the energy transition, in an educational way, in the broadest possible geography.
Louis BOISGIBAULT
Fahad AL KABBANI
October 2019
Acknowledgments
The initial research results and figures have been updated for this book. The dialog was resumed with the key players of the fields studied in Riyadh, Lille, Fayence and Ouarzazate. For Bokhol and the Arabian Desert, as the projects accelerated considerably from 2016 onwards, it was necessary to conduct a press review and contact stakeholders to request additional information and photos. This information was cross-referenced to obtain the most accurate information possible, analyze the issues, make relevant comparisons of local actions and find appropriate solutions. Warm thanks are first addressed to all the key players in these six fields, who were asked right up to the last minute, for the documents they have authorized us to publish here.
The co-authors are now on postdoctoral trips together to get to know the colleague’s fields and to continue to promote their research. All this would not have been possible without the support of the professors of Sorbonne Université and in particular Dr. Jean Girardon, who agreed to write the foreword to the book, teachers from other institutions, university and municipal libraries and families.
Sincere thanks are addressed to all those relatives who cannot be named individually for fear of forgetting them.
List of Acronyms
ADA Arriyadh Development Authority
AEME Agence pour l’économie et la maîtrise de l’énergie du Sénégal [National Energy Efficiency Agency of Senegal]
AFD Agence Française de Développement [French development agency]
AMEE Agence marocaine pour l’efficacité énergétique [Moroccan Agency for Energy Efficiency]
ANER Agence nationale pour les énergies renouvelables du Sénégal [Sengalese National Agency for Renewable Energies]
ARAMCO Arabian American Oil Company
BOAD Banque Ouest Africaine de Dévelopment [West African Development Bank]
BTP Bâtiments et travaux publics [Buildings and public works]
CH4 Methane (four hydrogen atoms and one carbon atom)
CIGS Copper indium gallium selenium
CNGV Compressed natural gas vehicle
xiv Energy Transition in Metropolises, Rural Areas and Deserts
COP Conference of the Parties
CO2 Carbon dioxide
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States (15 countries)
ECRA Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (Saudi Arabia)
EEC European Economic Community
EMEA Europe, Middle East, Africa
ENEDIS Réseau public de distribution d’électricité (France) [Public electricity distribution network (France)]
EPCI Établissement public de coopération intercommunale (France) [Public institution for intermunicipal cooperation (France)]
EPD Energy performance diagnostics
FDI Foreign direct investment
GACA General Authority of Civil Aviation
GCC Gulf Cooperation Council
GDP Gross domestic product
GEF Global Environment Facility
GHG Greenhouse gases
GNP Gross national product
GT Gigaton
GW Gigawatt (1,000 MW)
HDI Human development index
HP Heat pump
HT/MT High voltage/medium voltage
IEA International Energy Agency
INDC Intended Nationally Determined Contribution
INSEE Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (France) [French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies]
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency
KACARE King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy
kV Kilovolt
kW Kilowatt (1,000 watts)
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LNG Liquefied natural gas
LPG Liquefied petroleum gas
MASEN Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy
MEL Métropole européenne de Lille [European metropolis of Lille]
MW Megawatt (1,000 KW)
NBIC Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information technology, Cognitive science
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
xvi Energy Transition in Metropolises, Rural Areas and Deserts
PACA Region Sud, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (France)
PETS Pumped Energy Transfer Stations
PIF Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia)
PLU Plan local d’urbanisme [Local urban planning]
PLUI Plan local d’urbanisme intercommunal [Local intermunicipal urban planning]
PPP Purchasing power parity
PPP Public–private partnership
PPM Part per million
PVD Pays en voie de développement [Developing countries]
REPDO Renewable Energy Project Development Office (Saudi Arabia)
RNEs Renewable energies
SAMA Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
SAR Saudi Railway Company
SCOT Schéma de cohérence territoriale [French Territorial Coherence Scheme]
SEC Saudi Electricity Company
SMB Small and medium businesses
SME Small and medium-sized enterprises
SPA Saudi Press Agency
SPPA Saudi Public Pension Agency
SRADDET Schéma régional d’aménagement, de développement durable et d’égalité des territoires [Regional Plan for Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development and Equality of Territories]
SRO Saudi Railway Organization
TOE Ton of oil equivalent
TWh Terawatt hour
UAE United Arab Emirates
UEMOA West African Economic and Monetary Union (eight countries)
WTI West Texas Intermediate
WTO World Trade Organization
Three Types of Space for Analyzing Energy Transition
1.1. From energy-to-energy transition
The word energy comes from the ancient Greek, energia, the force in action. The dictionary characterizes it as a physical system, keeping the same value during all internal transformations of the system (conservation law) and expressing its ability to modify the state of other systems with which it interacts. The units used in the international energy system are the joule (J), the Watt-hour (Wh) and the ton of oil equivalent (TOE) due to the economic and political significance of oil.
Energy sources can come from raw materials (Vidal 2017) such as hydrocarbons (crude oil, natural gas and coal), uranium or natural phenomena such as wind, sun, hot springs, organic matter fermentation, tides and marine currents. These sources can be primary, i.e. directly from nature such as wood, hydrocarbons, uranium, organic waste or secondary, i.e. from human transformation such as electricity and gasoline. The energies used by mankind have evolved over the centuries in different transitions due to the discovery of new raw materials, the domestication of natural phenomena and technological progress. The final energy is that which is delivered to and consumed and paid for by the inhabitant.
Why are these definitions already an issue? Because it is necessary to count energy to see the evolution of production and consumption in metropolitan areas, rural areas and deserts. Energy metering is always tedious, but it is essential to establish a diagnosis that then makes it possible
to prepare an action plan, with more or less significant investments. We are confronted with the difficulty of knowing whether we are thinking in terms of primary energy or final energy and how to compare 1 liter of fuel oil with 1 kWh of wind energy. Statistics have been compiled in TOE since 1972. In France, for electricity, 1 MWh was equivalent to 0.222 TOE, which corresponded to an average efficiency of 38.7% for a thermal power plant (43.7% 5% loss during distribution). This affects a primary energy conversion factor of 2.58 (1/0.387) per kWh in the energy balances.
The first problem is that thermal power plants have lost market share to nuclear and renewable energies since 1972 and that the nuclear power plant has a better load factor than the photovoltaic plant. The load factor is the operating factor of a power plant. It is the ratio between the electrical energy actually produced over a given period and the energy it would have produced if it had operated at its maximum power during the same period. However, the photovoltaic plant does not produce at night. The International Energy Agency standardized the conversion by specifying that nuclear MWh was equivalent to 0.2606 TOE and renewable MWh was equivalent to 0.086 TOE in primary energy balances.
The second problem is that fossil fuels do not undergo any increase in coefficient. If a thermal regulation requires each new dwelling built to consume less than 50 kWh of primary energy per square meter per year, this implies that the electrical dwelling will be penalized by this coefficient compared to the fossil dwelling, whereas it emits less than CO2/m2/year.
The question today is whether primary energy is an appropriate criterion for regulating energy use and which primary energy conversion coefficient to use. The final energy makes it possible to link regulation with bills the consumer receives.
The energy transition is not new in itself. It is considered to reflect the gradual abandonment of some energies in conjunction with the development of others. One might think that this is due to the arrival of new energies driven by innovation. In fact, wind, water and sun energies have always existed. Humanity has experienced various energy transitions. First, the domestication of fire by prehistoric man, 70,000 years ago in Africa, made it possible to control heat. The creation of tools, in the Bronze Age, may have been facilitated by this heat, which is a transition. Since the Middle Ages, Europeans have built windmills, river water mills and tidal mills
(Woessner 2014) along the Atlantic coast, the English Channel and the North Sea. There are examples of these mills, which use the tides to operate, on Île de Bréhat, Île Arz, Arzon, Trégastel and Pont-Aven in France but also in Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
For hydrocarbons, coal mining took on an industrial dimension in the 18th Century. The invention of the steam engine by the Scotsman James Watt, before the French Revolution, was a major event since an external combustion engine transformed the thermal energy of the water vapor produced by a boiler into mechanical energy. This allowed a revolution with the arrival of the steam locomotive and a new energy transition. In 1859, when Colonel Edwin Drake first operated an oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and 20 years later Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, one of the most important energy transitions occurred as oil and electricity replaced existing fuels. At the beginning of the 20th Century, electricity and city gas arrived in homes, which was another important energy transition, replacing the kerosene lamp, coal stove and wood fire.
Coal mining was the driving force behind the industrial revolution of the 19th Century. Its extraction, through underground or open-air galleries, is an essential economic activity that has marked the history of the research field in the north of France chosen for this project, but also the European Union and the world in general. Several techniques are used. The room and pillar method consists of manually digging, consolidating the coal vein and its ceiling by installing pillars that form underground chambers and galleries. The long method consists of drilling the coal vein with a cutting machine and recovering the ore by letting the ceiling collapse. The coal is then brought to the surface, once by humans or animals, then by conveyors and wagons, to be treated by immersing it in an appropriate liquid. Opencast mining is more profitable and is carried out using giant excavators. The treated coal is then transported to the consumption sites by road or ship.
Oil and gas exploration and production were later carried out in the 20th Century. The discovery and exploitation of deposits has created a value chain from upstream to downstream. The crude oil and natural gas extracted only make sense if they are properly processed and transported to consumption areas. A disconnection took place between production areas (desert areas, rural areas in emerging countries, offshore) and consumer areas (metropolitan areas and rurality in developed countries) and major battles have been fought for access to springs (Chevalier 2004). The research
sites in Saudi Arabia selected for this project have been disrupted by this industry.
The downstream oil sector includes oil refining, i.e. the transformation of crude oil from offshore fields into finished products (such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and bitumen) and distribution. Distribution consists of storing finished products, transporting them and organizing marketing to the end customer. Generally speaking, crude oil is transported by ship or pipeline from the production sites to the refineries. The pipeline requires significant infrastructure investment. Its destination cannot be changed once the construction is completed.
For natural gas, the logic is similar to the processing of extracted natural gas and its transport. Its transport is more difficult than oil. It is carried out in gaseous form by gas pipelines and in liquid form by LNG carriers. The majors were less interested in natural gas fields because molecules were less profitable to transport, especially when the field was small. The plants, located near the extraction sites, were built to liquefy natural gas at 160°C so that it would lose 600 times its volume. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is loaded onto the LNG carriers and transported to other plants, which regasify and odorize it so that it can be injected into the transmission and distribution networks.
The civil nuclear sector has developed well since the 1970s. Its value chain extends from uranium mining and transportation, particularly from Niger, to the construction of nuclear power plants, the manufacture and reprocessing of fuel and the conditioning of radioactive waste. The European and Saudi Arabian research sites selected for the book are heavily impacted by this sector, with the commissioning of reactors in northern France in the 1980s and the construction of new reactors in Saudi Arabia, i.e. with a 40-year delay.
Everyone is aware of the crucial importance of innovation in the energy sector and in the energy transition. How do new technologies, including nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC), affect the energy transition? How can we preserve the planet’s non-renewable stocks of hydrocarbons and uranium by better exploiting the flows of sun, wind, rivers, tides, currents and waste?
Nanotechnologies focus on objects at the molecular and atomic scale. They affect the energy sector in many ways, for example, in the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells. They are based on monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, thin films and organic substances. For crystalline silicon, the silicon is melted and then gently cooled to obtain a single homogeneous crystal (monocrystalline) or more quickly to obtain multiple crystals (polycrystalline).
The crystal is cut into ingots to work at a scale of 200 µm and form photovoltaic cells. For thin films, silicon is fixed in thin layers of only a few micrometers on a glass or plastic support.
Other rare materials such as copper, indium, gallium, selenium and cadmium telluride can be used. For organic photovoltaic cells, an active layer is made up of organic molecules. Nanotechnologies miniaturize equipment and increase its performance at a lower cost.
Biotechnology is defined by the OECD as “the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as its components, products and modeling, to modify living or non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services”. They make it possible, for example, to produce biofuels, organic products alternative to oil and gas from raw materials, plant sugars and algae, which are transformed into finished products and biogas using microorganisms. They also allow the treatment and elimination of pollution.
New generation computing impacts data processing capacity, production systems, microelectronics, energy system components, smart grids, data transmission and blockchain.
Finally, the cognitive sciences aim to describe, explain and simulate the mechanisms of animal and human thought. They model complex information processing systems capable of acquiring, storing, using and transmitting knowledge. This artificial intelligence helps to consume less energy, to better appreciate local consumption to adjust production and to preserve the planet’s limited and non-renewable hydrocarbon resources.
These NBICs are currently transforming the exploitation of stock energy (hydrocarbon and nuclear), with their associated networks, and will allow
flow energy to become more competitive for the production of electricity, heat, fuel and fuel.
Table 1.1. Properties of renewable energies
Biofuel is an agrofuel produced from non-fossil organic materials, vegetable oil (rapeseed, algae) or alcohol (sugar, starch). It is important for metropolises and rural areas to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Biomass comes from organic matter of plant or animal origin in solid/liquid form that can be used as an energy source. Its direct combustion produces heat which, through cogeneration, can also produce electricity. The fermentation of organic matter can produce biogas or biomethane (CH4). Its chemical transformation by pyrolysis can produce fuel and biofuel. Wood fire, which is the combustion of solid biomass, is the traditional means of heating in all spaces. In metropolitan areas and rural areas, the challenge of collecting, sorting, incinerating and recycling household waste is important for producing recovered heat and electricity. A collective heating system can be powered by organic waste and pallets, shreds and wood pellets, i.e. biomass fuel of various kinds. Methanization units require more space and in rural areas allow the use of manure and agricultural waste by fermentation to produce biogas.
Marine energies are made up of six sectors, namely tidal energy, wave energy, current energy, ocean thermal energy, osmotic energy and wind
