Several news agencies, including the BBC, are currently reporting on the electricity power generation industry’s “dirty secret” ~ leaks of Sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6. SF6, a synthetic combination of one sulfur atom and six fluorine atoms, is commonly known as “deep voice” gas because of the effect that it has on the human voice. Its other properties are that it is inert, colourless, odourless, a lot heavier than air and does not conduct electricity. Because of the latter, it is used in the electricity power generation industry as an insulating medium to prevent electrical short circuits that can lead to fires and power outages.
Why is SF6 in the news at present? Well, it seems that as the world moves to smaller power generation plants – e.g. those associated with green (renewable) energy sources, the number of connections to the power grid increases. With that increase comes an increase in the number of locations where short circuits are possible, and hence a greater need for SF6. Why is that a problem? Well possibly as much as 15% of the SF6 used to prevent accidents in the power generation industry leaks out into the environment, where it is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Just one kg of SF6 is equivalent to about 23,500 kg of CO2, and because SF6 is synthetic and inert it degrades very slowly, so emissions today are likely to be around for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Recently published research in the journal Energies (see journal article linked to this blog post) highlights the increased use of SF6 in the UK’s power generation industry, and the increased leaks as a result. Replicated across Europe, a similar rate of leaks equates to around 6.73 million tonnes of CO2 per year, or the emissions from 1.3 million extra cars on the road for a year. The use of SF6 is regulated in developed countries, but developing countries are under no pressure to regulate its use.
The generation of energy from renewable sources is an obvious improvement on relying on fossil and nuclear sources of power, but it also has its problems. Clearly the answer lies in finding ways of using renewable energy that are less wasteful of resources such as SF6 (how much energy does the synthesis of SF6 use?) in combination with reductions in the total amount of energy we use to live our daily lives (and therefore has to be generated). Another argument for economic degrowth as opposed to the current mindless fixation with ever-increasing, potentially planet-trashing GDP?
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