Renewable energy commercialization Totally Explained

Everything about Renewable Energy Commercialization totally explained

Renewable energy commercialization involves the diffusion of three generations of technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, and geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, solar thermal power stations, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy.
While there are many non-technical barriers to the widespread use of renewables, Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices are driving increasing growth in the renewable energy industries. Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006. Leading renewable energy companies include: Enercon, Gamesa, GE Energy, Q-Cells, Sharp Solar, SunOpta, and Vestas.

Overview

Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to the energy supply portfolio, as they contribute to world energy security, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and provide opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases. Hydroelectric power is now more difficult to site in developed nations because most major sites within these nations are either already being exploited or may be unavailable for these environmental reasons. The areas of greatest hydroelectric growth are the growing economies of Asia. China is the development leader; however, other Asian nations are also expanding hydropower.
There is a strong consensus now that countries should adopt an integrated approach towards managing water resources, which would involve planning hydropower development in co-operation with other water-using sectors. In many warmer climates, a solar heating system can provide a very high percentage (50 to 75%) of domestic hot water energy. An early solar heating boom took place during the 1940s in the United States, during which period institutional support for solar research and energy conservation measures imposed during World War II fueled significant advances in solar technology, which went as far as the development of a prototype prefabricated solar-heated home. A few proponents of this technology saw it as a clean alternative to polluting fuels, but the great majority of advocates, researchers, and investors saw it as a solution to high energy costs during the war; when those conditions changed and the 1950s ushered in a period of record low energy prices, interest rapidly waned, and the commercial development of solar heating systems was postponed to a later decade.

Photovoltaics

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, also called solar cells, convert light into electricity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most photovoltaic modules were used to provide Remote Area Power Supply, but from around 1995, industry efforts have focused increasingly on developing building integrated photovoltaics and photovoltaic power stations for grid connected applications. Currently the largest photovoltaic power plant in North America is the Nellis Solar Power Plant (15 MW). There is a proposal to build a Solar power station in Victoria, Australia, which would be the world's largest PV power station, at 154 MW. Other large photovoltaic power stations, which are under construction, include the Girassol solar power plant (62 MW), and the Waldpolenz Solar Park (40 MW).
Annual production of photovoltaics reached 3,800 megawatts worldwide in 2007, an increase of 50 percent over 2006. At the end of 2007, according to preliminary data, cumulative global production was 12,400 megawatts. Photovoltaic production has been doubling every two years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology. The top five photovoltaic producing countries are Japan, China, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA.

Wind power

]
   Some of the second-generation renewables, such as wind power, have high potential and have already realised relatively low production costs. As of April 2008, worldwide wind farm capacity was 100,000 megawatts (MW), and wind power produced some 1.3% of global electricity consumption, accounting for approximately 18% of electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain, and 7% in Germany. However, it may be difficult to site wind turbines in some areas for aesthetic or environmental reasons, and it may be difficult to integrate wind power into electricity grids in some cases. Some of the largest wind farms operating in the U.S. are: Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, TX (736 MW); Maple Ridge Wind Farm, NY (322 MW); Stateline Wind Project, OR & WA (300 MW); King Mountain Wind Farm, TX (281 MW); and Sweetwater Wind Farm, TX (264 MW).
   Production and use of ethanol has been stimulated through: (1) low-interest loans for the construction of ethanol distilleries; (2) guaranteed purchase of ethanol by the state-owned oil company at a reasonable price; (3) retail pricing of neat ethanol so it's competitive if not slightly favorable to the gasoline-ethanol blend; and (4) tax incentives provided during the 1980s to stimulate the purchase of neat ethanol vehicles. Guaranteed purchase and price regulation were ended some years ago, with relatively positive results. In addition to these other policies, ethanol producers in the state of São Paulo established a research and technology transfer center that has been effective in improving sugar cane and ethanol yields.
   Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM are among the automobile companies that sell “flexible-fuel” cars, trucks, and minivans that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads. The challenge is to expand the market for biofuels beyond the farm states where they've been most popular to date. Flex-fuel vehicles are assisting in this transition because they allow drivers to choose different fuels based on price and availability. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels to be used annually by 2012, will also help to expand the market. Cellulosic ethanol can be made from plant matter composed primarily of inedible cellulose fibers that form the stems and branches of most plants. Crop residues (such as corn stalks, wheat straw and rice straw), wood waste, and municipal solid waste are potential sources of cellulosic biomass. Dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass, are also promising cellulose sources that can be sustainably produced in many regions of the United States.

Solar thermal power stations

Solar thermal power stations have been successfully operating in California commercially since the late 1980s, including the largest solar power plant of any kind, the 350 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems. Nevada Solar One is another 64 MW plant which has recently opened. Other parabolic trough power plants being proposed are two 50 MW plants in Spain, and a 100 MW plant in Israel.

Ocean energy

In terms of ocean energy, another third-generation technology, Portugal has the world's first commercial wave farm, the Aguçadora Wave Park, under construction in 2007. The farm will initially use three Pelamis P-750 machines generating 2.25 MW and costs are put at 8.5 million euro. Subject to successful operation, a further 70 million euro is likely to be invested before 2009 on a further 28 machines to generate 525 MW. Funding for a wave farm in Scotland was announced in February 2007 by the Scottish Executive, at a cost of over 4 million pounds, as part of a £13 million funding packages for ocean power in Scotland. The farm will be the world's largest with a capacity of 3 MW generated by four Pelamis machines.
In 2007, the world's first commercial tidal power station is to be installed in the narrows of Strangford Lough in Ireland. The 1.2 megawatt underwater tidal electricity generator, part of Northern Ireland's Environment & Renewable Energy Fund scheme, will take advantage of the fast tidal flow (up to 4 metres per second) in the lough. Although the generator is expected to be powerful enough to power a thousand homes, the turbine will have minimal environmental impact, as it'll be almost entirely submerged, and the rotors pose no danger to wildlife as they turn quite slowly.

Enhanced geothermal systems

Enhanced geothermal systems, also known as hot dry rock geothermal, utilise new techniques to exploit resources that would have been uneconomical in the past. These systems are still in the research phase, and require additional RD&D for new and improved approaches, as well as to develop smaller modular units that will allow economies of scale at the manufacturing level. Further government-funded research and close collaboration with industry will help to make exploitation of geothermal resources more economically attractive for investors.

Wind power companies

wind turbine sales come from only four turbine manufacturing companies: Vestas, Gamesa, Enercon, and GE Energy. Vestas, the market leader, after Vestas, and it's also a major builder of wind farms. Gamesa’s main markets are within Europe, the US and China. In 2006, Europe accounted for 65 percent of Gamesa’s sales, of which 40 percent were within Spain. GE Energy bought out Enron Wind in 2002 and also has nuclear energy operations in its portfolio.

Photovoltaic companies

Sharp Solar produces both single and multi-crystalline solar cells and for some years has been the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic modules. Sharp's solar modules are used for many applications, from satellites to lighthouses, and from industrial applications to residential use. Sharp manufactures PV modules near Wrexham and production capacity amounted to 324 MW in 2004. Today, Sharp manufactures more than a quarter of global solar PV output, with annual revenues of more than $1 billion from that business. The company’s president, Katsuhiko Machida, predicts that the cost of generating power from photovoltaics could fall by half between 2006 and 2010. Q-cells is based in Thalheim, Germany, and employs more than 1,000 people. Kyocera has announced a plan to increase its solar cell production to 500 MW per year in 2010. 500 MW is about three times the 2007 production output, and the company will strengthen production bases in Japan, the US, Europe and China, investing a total of about ¥30 billion through to 2010.

Other companies

SunOpta is located in Canada and was founded in 1973. Its operations are divided between SunOpta Food (organics), Opta Minerals, and SunOpta BioProcess (bioethanol). SunOpta's fastest growing business segment is the BioProcess Group, which is a leading developer of technology in the cellulosic ethanol market. SunOpta's BioProcess Group specializes in the design, construction and optimization of biomass conversion equipment and facilities. They have over 30 years experience delivering biomass solutions worldwide and use innovative technologies to produce cellulosic ethanol and cellulosic butanol. Raw materials include wheat straw, corn stover, grasses, oat hulls and wood chips.

Non-technical barriers to acceptance

There have been several recent reports which have identified a range of "non-technical barriers" to renewable energy use. These barriers are impediments which put renewable energy at a marketing, institutional, or policy disadvantage relative to other forms of energy. Key barriers include:

Inadequate financing options for renewable energy projects, including insufficient access to affordable financing for project developers, entrepreneurs and consumers.

Imperfect capital markets, which includes failure to internalize all costs of conventional energy (for example, effects of air pollution, risk of supply disruption) and failure to internalize all benefits of renewable energy (for example, cleaner air, energy security).

Inadequate workforce skills and training, which includes lack of adequate scientific, technical, and manufacturing skills required for renewable energy production; lack of reliable installation, maintenance, and inspection services; and failure of the educational system to provide adequate training in new technologies.

Lack of adequate codes, standards, utility interconnection, and net-metering guidelines.

Poor public perception of renewable energy system aesthetics.

Lack of stakeholder/community participation and co-operation in energy choices and renewable energy projects. With such a wide range of non-technical barriers, there's no "silver bullet" solution to drive the transition to renewable energy. So ideally there's a need for several different types of policy instruments to complement each other and overcome different types of barriers.
A policy framework must be created that will level the playing field and redress the imbalance of traditional approaches associated with fossil fuels. The policy landscape must keep pace with broad trends within the energy sector, as well as reflecting specific social, economic and environmental priorities.

Public policy landscape

Stern Review points out:

In a liberalised energy market, investors, operators and consumers should face the full cost of their decisions. But this isn't the case in many economies or energy sectors. Many policies distort the market in favour of existing fossil fuel technologies. Tax and subsidy shifting can help overcome these problems.
Shifting taxes
Tax shifting involves lowering income taxes while raising levies on environmentally destructive activities, in order to create a more responsive market. It has been widely discussed and endorsed by economists. For example, a tax on coal that included the increased health care costs associated with breathing polluted air, the costs of acid rain damage, and the costs of climate disruption would encourage investment in renewable technologies. Several Western European countries are already shifting taxes in a process known there as environmental tax reform, to achieve environmental goals. In terms of specific examples, the Internet was the result of publicly funded links among computers in government laboratories and research institutes. And the combination of the federal tax deduction and a robust state tax deduction in California helped to create the modern wind power industry.
   National targets are also an important component of renewable energy strategies in some developing countries. Developing countries with renewable energy targets include China, India, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, Israel, Egypt, Mali, and South Africa. The targets set by many developing countries are quite modest when compared with those in some industrialized countries. According to a trend analysis from the United Nations Environment Programme, climate change concerns
   The UNEP report says investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006. In 2007, the upward trend is continuing, with capital investments occurring in sectors and regions previously considered too risky and too illiquid to merit the attention of the institutional investment community. The OECD still dominates, but there's now increasing activity from companies in China, India and Brazil. Chinese companies were the second largest recipient of venture capital in 2006 after the United States. In the same year, India was the largest net buyer of companies abroad, mainly in the more established European markets. A recent report from Helmut Kaiser Consultancy of Zurich states that the generation and storage of renewable energy will be the fastest growing sector in energy market over the next 20 years. The international law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP has launched a Climate Change and Renewable Energy Practice Group, consisting of 26 attorneys. The Ernst & Young "Country Attractiveness Indices" provide scores (out of 100) for national renewable energy markets, renewable energy infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies.
Sustainable energy
Moving towards energy sustainability will require changes not only in the way energy is supplied, but in the way it's used, and reducing the amount of energy required to deliver various goods or services is essential. Opportunities for improvement on the demand side of the energy equation are as rich and diverse as those on the supply side, and often offer significant economic benefits.
   Renewable energy and energy efficiency are said to be the “twin pillars” of sustainable energy policy. Any serious vision of a sustainable energy economy requires commitments to both renewables and efficiency. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has explained that both resources must be developed in order to stabilize and reduce carbon dioxide emissions:

Efficiency is essential to slowing the energy demand growth so that rising clean energy supplies can make deep cuts in fossil fuel use. If energy use grows too fast, renewable energy development will chase a receding target. Likewise, unless clean energy supplies come online rapidly, slowing demand growth will only begin to reduce total emissions; reducing the carbon content of energy sources is also needed.

Further Information
Get more info on 'Renewable Energy Commercialization'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://renewable_energy_commercialization.totallyexplained.com">Renewable energy commercialization Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
   As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.