Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

More cities — of all sizes — taking the plunge to use 100% renewable energy

Article on US cities.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Interesting article looking at the current situation of all energy consumption and solutions.

It also considers the need for storage, and just how little might be needed

Gates & Thiel Are Wrong On Energy, But Thiel Is More Wrong

The embedded article also looks at storage types, pointing out that maintaining existing gas generation plants as peaker plants for when generation is low, is a type of storage, and acceptable at current times when grid CO2 levels are high.

What's the future of energy storage and how does it impact renewables?

Mart.

silverwhistle

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/24/edf-no-deadline-set-for-final-decision-on-hinkley-nuclear-plant

So perhaps in the meantime we can have policies that accelerate the installation of renewables? Particularly since we don't know how long the 'meantime' will be..

Martyn1981

G7 nations pledge to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025

Leaders of the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU urge all countries to join them in eliminating support for coal, oil and gas in a decade

The statement did not define precisely what the G7 consider to be a subsidy. The word “inefficient” in the G7 text indicates subsidies that distort energy markets. The OECD estimates that this type of support for fossil fuels within its member states is $160-200bn (£109-136bn) each year.

But when the cost of damage from pollution and climate change is factored in, the International Monetary Fund has estimated that support increases to a staggering $5.3tn a year, or $10m per minute. This is more than the total global spend on human health.

If FF's have to pay their way, thus creating a level playing field, then there will no longer be any need to subsidise wind and PV, thanks to all the investment so far which has brought costs down so much.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Gibraltar is experimenting with wave power. This installation is rated at 100kW but will hopefully be scaled up to 5MW and 15% of leccy demand.

Harnessing wave power has been slow. It is a source of vast amounts of energy, but that energy is so great it tends to destroy anything deployed to harness it!

Wave Power Project Set To Supply 15% Of Gibraltar’s Electricity Needs

Mart.

kevin6666

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/06/04/bbc-spin-hides-the-great-solar-energy-fiasco/

Martyn1981

And, when it came to what the world is getting for this tidal wave of spending, it used the familiar trick of talking only of “capacity”, overlooking the fact that, because sun and wind are so intermittent, their actual output is very much lower; in the case of solar panels averaging at best only 15 per cent of their theoretical “capacity”. Without massive subsidies, no one across much of the world would dream of building a solar farm.

Strange paragraph, I wonder what they meant.

If theoretical efficiency, then that's around 45%, so normal panels would be 17%/45% = 38%

If actual efficiency, then (as above) we are already well past this already with normal panels. High efficiency panels now at 22%+ and recent cell developments into the 30's.

If capacity factor/load factor, then the UK is about 11%, but parts of the world are into the mid 20's.


Regarding the rest of the article, well, that sort of thinking has been out of date for years now.

Ho hum!

Mart.

Martyn1981

Another thought, I wonder where this guy is getting his info from:-

solar still contributes only a derisory 1.2 per cent of UK electricity.

Actually, last year PV generated 7.1TWh, equal to 2.28% of UK demand, and slightly higher than UK hydro. A lot of PV was installed in 2015, and therefore not all generating, all year, which would have lifted it close to 3%.

Mart.

Martyn1981

If this comes to pass, then this is simply incredibly good news:-

Oceans 11 pledge €80/MWh : European ministers sign deal to boost offshore wind

"With the right build out and regulatory framework the industry is confident that it can achieve cost levels below €80/MWh for projects reaching final investment decision in 2025, including the costs of connecting to the grid,” they said.

"This means offshore wind will be fully competitive with new conventional power generation within a decade.”

Not sure if the €80/MWh figure is in today's money or 2025, so it could be nearer to €96/MWh by 2025 (assuming 2% inflation rate).

For context, the Hinkley contract was £92.50 in 2012, with inflationary uplifts during the build out, so it's now about £99 or €126, rising to around €150 by 2025, and perhaps €160/MWh by 2028 when it might start generating, and its 35yr inflationary linked deal starts.

For further context, the generation profile of off-shore wind isn't identical to on-shore wind, which itself is complimentary to PV. As off-shore wind has a capacity factor of nearly 50% (on-shore wind ~28%, PV ~11%) it's a very important tool in the renewables tool box.

Mart.

Cardew

kevin6666 wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/06/04/bbc-spin-hides-the-great-solar-energy-fiasco/

Excellent article!

What the BBC didn’t tell us was that REN21 – full name Renewable Energy for the 21st Century – is the world’s leading lobby group for “green” energy.

The Guru is challenging that lobby group for first position; standby for Nuclear costs to be trotted out!

Edit:
Should have read the complete thread first. Seems the only defence against the cost/subsidies of solar is to attack Nuclear. Now let be see does nuclear generate 24/7 in all weather??