Abstract
There is a strong correlation between net energy yield (NEY) and energy return on investment (EROI). Although a few studies have researched the EROI at the extraction level in China, none have calculated the EROI at the point of use (EROIPOU). EROIPOU includes the entire energy conversion chain from extraction to point of use. To more comprehensively measure changes in the EROIPOU for China’s conventional fossil fuels, a “bottom-up” model to calculate EROIPOU was improved by extending the conventional calculation boundary from the wellhead to the point of use. To predict trends in the EROIPOU of fossil fuels in China, a dynamic function of the EROI was then used to projections future EROIPOU in this study. Results of this paper show that the EROIPOU of both coal (range of value: 14:1–9.2:1), oil (range of value: 8:1–3.5:1) and natural gas (range of value: 6.5:1–3.5:1) display downward trends during the next 15 years. Based on the results, the trends in the EROIPOU of China’s conventional fossil fuels will rapidly decrease in the future indicating that it is more difficult to obtain NEY from China’s conventional fossil fuels.
Highlights
The most important role of energy systems is to provide sufficient energy to support the growth of society and the economic system
Energies 2018, 11, 313 the national energy return on investment (EROI) for the UK for the period 1997–2012, and the results showed that national EROI in the UK decreased during the period, indicating that 9.8% of the UK’s extracted/captured energy does not go into the economy or into society for productive or well-being purposes
This study aims to build a model to calculate the EROI at the point of use (EROIPOU) of conventional fossil fuels in China and to identify the mathematical relationship between net energy yields (NEY) and EROIPOU
Summary
The most important role of energy systems is to provide sufficient energy to support the growth of society and the economic system. Not all primary energy carriers can be delivered to the end user because energy-producing industries use energy during its production. If producing ten units of energy requires the use of two units of energy, only eight units of energy are delivered to users. These remaining eight units are considered the net energy yields (NEY). NEY is defined as the energy produced minus the energy required to create that output. Given net energy is real energy consumed at final end, an approach that does not consider the energy required to create net energy cannot provide a proper assessment of energy consumed. Odum [1] stated that in economic and social systems, net energy is the valued energy return on investment (EROI)
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