Apr 06, 2023 16:08:00

Tesla unveils third 'master plan' showing path to prosperous sustainable energy supply

Tesla has released its Master Plan Part 3, which outlines a proposed pathway to reach a sustainable global energy economy through electrification and sustainable power generation and storage. Following

Part 1 in 2006 and Part 2 in 2016, this is the third installment, and describes the departure from fossil fuels and increased production of electric vehicles.

Master Plan Part 3 | Tesla
https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-3

At the beginning of the report, Tesla stated that ``a sustainable energy economy is technically feasible and requires less investment and fewer resources than continuing the current unsustainable energy economy,'' and details how to do so. I am writing down.

The International Energy Agency reports that the world's primary energy supply is 165 PWh per year, of which 134 PWh is supplied annually by fossil fuels. According to Tesla, 37% of this fossil fuel energy will be consumed by the time it reaches the final consumer after self-consumption due to mining and refining and loss due to transformation during power generation. A further 27% is lost to 'inefficient' uses such as internal combustion engine vehicles and natural gas furnaces, Tesla claims, adding, 'In total, only 36% (59 PWh) of primary energy supply is needed for the economy. You're not producing any useful work or heat.'

Tesla, who claims that 'the world's energy economy is wasteful,' first proposes a plan to eliminate fossil fuels, and by taking six steps, fully electrifies energy and leads to the ideal power curve. says it can.

◆1: Reinforcing the existing power grid with renewable energy
Supporting the power grid with sustainable generation and storage, taking into account the availability of renewable resources, weather and regional differences in the grid.

◆ 2: Switch to electric vehicles
Electric vehicles are said to be about four times more efficient than engine vehicles in terms of powertrain efficiency and regenerative braking function. As a specific example, the Toyota Corolla has a fuel efficiency of 34

MPG (miles per gallon), while the Tesla Model 3 has a fuel efficiency of 131 MPGe (gasoline equivalent), which is 3.9 times more efficient.

◆3: Switching to heat pumps in housing, business, and industry
A heat pump transfers heat from one heat source to another through the process of compression and expansion by an intermediate refrigerant, and consumes much less energy than a system that burns gas to generate heat. However, as the temperature difference between the heat sources increases, the efficiency decreases, so the introduction to the industrial field is a challenge.

◆4: Electrification of high-temperature heat supply and hydrogen production, electrification of high-temperature industrial processes
Tesla is seeking to transform this process, as processes that require high temperatures of 200 degrees or more, such as steel, chemicals, fertilizers and cement industries, account for about half of fossil fuel consumption. Specifically, methods using electrical resistance heating and

arc furnaces are being considered. There is also a demand for the development of sustainable hydrogen production methods.

◆ 5: Sustainable fuel procurement for planes and boats
For long-distance boat routes, it is possible to electrify maritime transport by optimizing ship designs and routes and using alternative means of installing smaller batteries and increasing the number of charging times. The same is true for short flight routes, and batteries with high energy density can electrify even longer routes.

◆6: Manufacturing a sustainable energy economy
It refers to the generation and storage facilities such as solar panels, wind turbines and batteries required for a sustainable energy economy, as well as the additional power required to manufacture them.

The investments required to meet the above targets mainly include mining nickel, lithium, graphite, copper, refining nickel, lithium, graphite, cobalt, copper, iron and manganese. In addition to the initial investment, considering maintenance costs for the next 20 years, it will cost a total of 10 trillion dollars (about 1,300 trillion yen) over 20 years. Considering that fossil fuels will continue to be used for 20 years in the same manner, the cost will rise to 14 trillion dollars (about 1800 trillion yen).