Which of the Following Can Be Reduced by the Use of Renewable Energy Sources?
The fact that oil is a "finite" material is not a trouble…Every material is finite. Life is all nearly taking the theoretically finite but practically limitless materials in nature and creatively turning them into useful resource. The fossil fuel industry does information technology, the "renewable"—actually, the "unreliable"—energy industry doesn't. End of story." Alex Epstein
Fossil Fuels (coal, oil, petroleum, and natural gas) are originally formed from plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years agone and became cached deep beneath the Earth'due south surface. These then collectively transformed into the combustible materials that nosotros use today for fuel. The earliest known fossil fuel deposits are from about 500 million years ago, when most of the major groups of animals first appeared on Earth. The after fossil fuels, such equally peat or lignite coal (soft coal), began forming from about 5 1000000 years agone.
Currently, we are (over)dependent on fossil fuels to rut our homes, run our cars, power our offices, industry and manufacturing, and respond to our clamorous desire to power all of our electrical goods. Virtually all of the free energy needed to meet our demands – lxxx percent of global free energy – comes from burning fossil fuels. At the current rate of global free energy demands, fossil fuels cannot replenish fast plenty to meet these growing needs. The (over)consumption of these not-renewable fuels has been linked to the emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants into the temper – the leading cause of global warming and climate change.
In Ireland, for example, our energy consumption from fossil fuels was 89% in 2013. Our highest demand for fossil fuel energy over the last 51 years was experienced during the period of loftier growth under the 'Celtic Tiger' (2004), where nosotros required 93.39%. The lowest energy consumption value (67.24%) was in 1960, more than one-half a century ago! Ireland is ranked 46th out of 136 countries in its fossil fuel energy consumption. That's higher than the UK (52nd) and the US (56th)!
For more background to the debate see "5 possible climate scenarios" by the Guardian.
Renewables
Renewable energy is energy that is derived from natural processes (eastward.g. sunlight and current of air). Solar, current of air, geothermal, hydropower, bioenergy and ocean power are sources of renewable free energy. Currently, renewables are utilised in the electricity, heating and cooling and transport sectors. Renewable free energy, collectively provides merely nigh 7 pct of the world'south energy needs. This means that fossil fuels, along with nuclear energy — a not-renewable energy source — are supplying 93% of the earth's energy resources. Nuclear free energy (a controversial energy source among public opinion) currently provides half dozen% of the world's energy supplies.
The issues
"Models predict that Earth will warm between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius in the next century. When global warming has happened at various times in the past two one thousand thousand years, it has taken the planet most 5,000 years to warm 5 degrees. The predicted rate of warming for the side by side century is at least 20 times faster. This rate of modify is extremely unusual." – NASA Earth observatory
Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas emitter that contributes to global warming, which hitting its height in 2012. In the concluding 30 years, temperatures accept risen to the warmest since records began. If we go on to pump greenhouse gases into our surroundings the average global temperature could increase by 1°C to 4°C by 2100. Even if we inverse today to using more renewable resources instead of fossil fuels for example, increases could be between i to two.5°C.
The 20th century saw the nigh prolific population growth and industrial development, which was and remains totally dependent on the use of fossil fuel for energy.
Estimates for fossil fuel reserves depletion range from betwixt 50-120 years. None of these projections are very appealing for a global community that is so heavily dependent on energy to meet even our basic human needs – needs that keep growing.
Predictions gauge that global free energy demand will abound by a third by 2035. Likewise disquisitional to consider is the more than than 1.2 billion people around the world who still do not have access – yet – to electricity. Every bit the global population continues to abound – predicted to be nine billion people over the next 50 years – the world'southward energy demands will increase proportionately.
Scientists maintain that the touch of global warming on the surroundings is widespread. In the Arctic and Antarctica, warmer temperatures are melting ice, which leads to increases in ocean levels and alters the composition of the surrounding bounding main water. Rising sea levels impacts on settlements, agriculture and fishing both commercially and recreationally. Air pollution is likewise a direct result of the utilise of fossil fuels, resulting in smog (come across in China and India), and the degradation of homo health and plant growth. There is the negative impact on natural ecosystems that outcome from collecting fossil fuels, peculiarly coal and oil. There is too the continuing threat of oil spills that devastate ecosystems and the bear upon of mining on country vitality.
The future
The discussions effectually climate change and energy problems today centre around the potential for technical solutions to energy demands that are price effective. And so far, the alternative to fossil fuels has been around renewable energy sources, which are expected to play an increasingly vital role in the mix of power generation over the next century. The demands on these alternative energy sources are inordinate – they will demand to not only keep up with the increasing population growth, but needs to become beyond these demands past contributing to the replacement of fossil fuel free energy product in order to meet hereafter energy needs and consider the natural surroundings.
All the same, the statement from governments, oil, coal and natural gas companies is that until renewable energy sources get more feasible every bit major energy providers, the only alternative in meeting the increasing demands for energy from a growing global population that requires more and more than energy, is to continue to extract fossil fuel reserves.
The Debate
Concur one: Switching to renewable free energy is non every bit elementary as it is being made out to be. Quite the opposite.
"It is commonly causeless that greenhouse gas and free energy problems can be solved by switching from fossil fuel sources of free energy to renewables. Still, footling attention has been given to exploring the limits to renewable energy. Unfortunately, people working on renewable energy technologies tend not to throw critical calorie-free on the difficulties and limits. They typically make enthusiastic claims regarding the potential of their specific technologies." (Alex Epstein)
The thought of drawing our energy from sources that are renewable, independent of foreign nations, and do not emit greenhouse gases has powerful appeal. Only capturing these resources is expensive, and many are intermittent, which complicates using them on a large scale. Furthermore, it takes time and money to change distribution and consumption of energy, meaning we will be dependent on fossil fuels until we can afford this switch. Finally, bringing new renewable free energy technologies to market place causes problems both in regard to cost and convenience, significant a switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy is non a elementary task.
"It would be hard to find a more taken for granted, unquestioned assumption than that it will exist possible to substitute renewable energy sources for fossil fuels, while consumer-capitalist order continues on its merry pursuit of limitless affluence and growth. There is a strong case that this assumption is seriously mistaken." (Ted Trainer)
DISAGREE 1: Leaving fossil fuels in the ground is adept for everyone
"To deliver a 50% probability (which is not exactly reassuring) of no more 2C of warming this century, the world would have to leave two-thirds of its fossil fuel reserves unexploited. I should point out that reserves are just a small fraction of resources (which ways all the minerals in the Earth's crust). The reserve is that proportion of a mineral resource which has been discovered, quantified and is viable to exploit in current conditions: in other words that'south good to become…. a third of the world'southward oil reserves, half its gas reserves and fourscore% of its coal reserves must be left untouched to avoid extremely dangerous levels of global warming. 2C is unsafe plenty; at nowadays we are on course for around 5C by the time the century ends, with no obvious end in sight beyond 2100." (George Monbiot, The Guardian, 2015)
[and]
"The major thrust of climate-alter claims is that man is destroying the planet. There is much evidence to prove that we are the greatest burden that Earth has to comport. To just rape the globe of all its fossil-fuels would be gross folly." (Dr. Peter Langdon)
Fossil fuels are not renewable, they can't be made again. Once they are gone, they're gone.
For more on this see renewable free energy vs fossil fuels past Free energy Quest (USA).
Hold 2: Renewables cannot provide the required amount of energy to supply demand (Intermittency)
Solar and wind engineering, subsequently fifty years of subsidies, produces less than 1 percentage of the globe's free energy—and, because the sun and current of air provide just intermittent energy, go along to crave fossil fuel backups.
The consequence of intermittency from solar and wind ways that is difficult to go reliable power from either as it is weather dependent – which, specially in Ireland is unpredictable. This creates a need for energy storage (which is currently not efficient enough to be price effective) or needs traditional fossil fuels or nuclear power to supplement.
"As y'all look at the jagged and woefully bereft bursts of electricity from solar and current of air, retrieve this: some reliable source of energy needed to do the heavy lifting. In the instance of Germany, much of that energy is coal. Every bit Germany has paid tens of billions of dollars to subsidize solar panels and windmills, fossil fuel capacity, especially coal, has not been shut downwards—information technology has increased. Why? Because Germans need more energy, and they cannot rely on the renewables." (Alex Epstein)
"It is concluded that although the foregoing figures are non precise or confident, their magnitudes indicate that information technology will not be possible to meet a 1000 EJ/yr energy target for 2050 from alternative energy sources, within safe greenhouse gas emission levels… . Such a goal could not be achieved without radical change in social, economic, political and cultural systems." (Ted Trainer)
Much of the argue around renewables is in reference to the 'present' energy demands, where the anticipated demand for energy in the future is expected to double by 2050. "The crucial question is can renewables see the future demand for energy in a society that is fiercely and blindly committed to limitless increases in "living standards" and economical output. The applesauce of this commitment is easily shown. If 9 billion people were to ascent to the "living standards" we in rich countries volition have in 2070 given iii% p.a. economic growth, so total globe economic output would be 60 times as great equally it is at present! It is ended that the investment cost that would be involved in deriving total world energy supply from renewable sources would exist unaffordable. Full dependence on renewable energy can only exist washed if nosotros motility to lifestyles and systems that crave only a small fraction of the present rich globe per capita energy consumption.
Renewables could provide around of 25% of energy needs in some countries, simply much of the generating capacity would accept to be duplicated in the form of fossil or nuclear plant for use when at that place is piddling dominicus or air current; and the corporeality of coal use that will keep to be required would proceed to exceed safe greenhouse gas emission limits."
For more than on this come across Ted Trainer, The Simpler Manner
As discussed above, Renewable Energies have limitations, merely these are varied based on the type of renewable energy beingness discussed. Hither are the specific limitations of each.
Solar Ability
– Photovoltaic solar electricity (or PV) is intermittent. Its potential contribution to providing widespread renewable energy is limited without the capacity for very large-scale storage. Fifty-fifty if information technology became cheaper than fossil fuels, its major limitation is that it can't power anything for about 16 hours a twenty-four hours, or in the case of sequent cloudy days. It can feed surpluses from house roofs etc., into a grid running on coal (although this is expensive), while drawing power from that grid at nighttime. But this only works when a lot of coal or nuclear power plants are running all the time to deed as a giant "battery" into which PV can send surpluses.
– Solar thermal plants – need to exist located in the Sahara region. While they can store energy every bit heat to generate and transmit electricity when it is needed, their biggest limitation is the significant transmission losses and the magnitude of the potential of this type of renewable energy is uncertain, and particularly doubtful in winter, where output is more often than not well-nigh 20% of summer output. This means that solar thermal systems will need to exist located in the world'due south hottest regions, and will need to supply major demand centres by long transmission lines, and will non be able to make a large contribution in winter.
Biomass
For very large scale biomass production, each person in the world would demand most two.6 hectares of land growing only biomass to provide for their liquid and gas consumption (in the form of ethanol net, not primary energy amount.) To provide the anticipated ix billion people on earth by 2060 we would need 24 billion hectares of biomass plantations.
The world'south total land area is xiii billion hectares, and the total woods, cropland and pasture adds to just about 8 billion hectares, only about all heavily overused already. If we vary the above assumptions there is no possibility of explaining how all people could ever accept something like the present rich world liquid fuel consumption from biomass.
For more on this point run into The climate change deniers guide to getting rich from fossil fuel divestment, The Guardian (Apr 2015)
DISAGREE 2: Renewable energy tin can run across free energy needs in a safe and reliable way
"…The key is to have a mix of sources spread over a wide surface area: solar and wind ability, biogas, biomass and geothermal sources. In the future, ocean energy can contribute. Intelligent technologies tin can rail and manage energy utilise patterns, provide flexible ability that follows demand through the day, use ameliorate storage options and group producers together to course virtual power plants. With all these solutions we can secure the renewable energy future needed. We just need smart grids to put it all together and effectively 'keep the lights on'". (Greenpeace.org 2014)
[and]
"In that location's no shortage of renewable free energy from the sun, wind and h2o and even stuff ordinarily thought of as garbage — dead copse, tree branches, thousand clippings, left-over crops, sawdust, fifty-fifty livestock manure, can produce electricity and fuels — resource collectively called 'biomass'… The sunlight … in one 24-hour interval contains more than twice the energy nosotros consume in an unabridged year. … Clean energy sources can be harnessed to produce electricity, procedure heat, fuel and valuable chemicals with less touch on the environment." (California Energy Commission 2006)
Connected research has fabricated renewable energy more affordable today than 25 years ago. The cost of air current energy has declined from 40 cents per kilowatt-hour to less than five cents. The cost of electricity from the sun, through photovoltaics (literally meaning "low-cal-electricity") has dropped from more than $i/kilowatt-hour in 1980 to nearly 20cents/kilowatt-hour today. And ethanol fuel costs have plummeted from $iv per gallon in the early 1980s to $1.twenty today.
The corporeality of energy used in Irish homes has decreased by 32 per cent since 1990 despite a 50 per cent increase in the boilerplate floor surface area of residential properties. Renewable energy last twelvemonth accounted for 21% of the amount used in the electricity sector, five.vii% of the amount used for rut and 4.9 per cent of that used in ship.
By 2050 almost all of global energy needs tin can be met with renewable energy share: 41 percent by 2030 and 82 pct by 2050. That would be the global electricity supply- free energy used in buildings and industry, would come from renewable energy sources. The transport sector, in item aviation and shipping, would be the terminal sector to get fossil fuel free.
Already many countries throughout the globe are committing to a time to come that will exist powered past renewables. For example:
– Germany, currently generates 25 percent of its electricity from renewables and is aiming for 80 percent past 2050
– Spain's meridian source of electricity in 2013 was wind ability, ahead of nuclear, coal and gas. Renewables supplied 42 percent of mainland Spain's electricity in the same twelvemonth
– In 2012 Red china'southward wind power generation increased more generation from coal
– The Philippines produces 29 pct of its electricity with renewables, targeting 40 percent by 2020
– Denmark is aiming to produce 100 percent of its heat and power with renewable energy by 2035 and all free energy by 2050.
– Emerging economies like Due south Africa, China and Brazil are setting the pace for renewable energies. Investments in renewables from these economies was US$112 billion in 2012, which is close to the The states$132 billion that developed countries invested.
Emerging economies practise non need to go down a path of relying on fossil fuels. Just as many developing countries skipped land lines and went directly to cellular telephones, these countries tin can leapfrog right to affordable clean energy. Many have already taken advantage of the benefits of renewable energy and recognised the long-term benefits. For example, in Uganda less than 15% of a full population of 38 million people, have access to electricity. The bulk of the population is dependent on kerosene or charcoal for their free energy and light, both of which are expensive and environmentally damaging. Yet, the population is embracing the potential for clean energy alternatives existence promoted within the country.
Intermittency is an outcome at the moment every bit the technology is expanding, but it can be managed by thinking about the overall energy system. Over reliance on one renewable technology could event both in massive variability in output over short fourth dimension periods and in severe risk of big gaps in generation.
The fashion round this is:
a) a dispersed portfolio of generation connected by a wide grid and
b) clean gas on standby
"Yes, backup generation ups the overall price, but it'south cheaper than having one-half the planet die of climate-induced starvation" (Quora.com)
Agree 3: Renewable energy is not cost effective
Renewable energies in their current supply are either not cost effective without heavy authorities subsidies, use tremendous amounts of state, or they impairment the environment in some way. (Quora.com)
Calculating the price of electricity from renewable energy sources is quite difficult. It depends on the fuel used, the cost of capital letter (power plants take years to build and final for decades), how much of the time a plant operates, and whether it generates power at times of peak demand. In measuring the costs economists use "levelised costs"(the net nowadays value of all costs – capital and operating – of a generating unit over its life cycle, divided by the number of megawatt-hours of electricity information technology is expected to supply). What levelised costing doesn't take into account is the issue of intermittency – wind ability isn't generated on a calm day, or solar ability at nighttime, resulting in the need for conventional power plants to be kept on standby.
Electricity demand varies during the 24-hour interval in means that the supply from wind and solar generation may not friction match, so fifty-fifty if renewable forms of energy have the aforementioned levelised price as conventional ones, the value of the power they produce may be lower.
Some other fashion to measure out the costs is through a 'cost-benefit assay' which looks at the benefits of renewable free energy including the value of the fuel that would have been used if coal or gas-fired plants had produced the aforementioned amount of electricity and the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions that they avoid. According to this calculation, wind and solar power appear to be far more expensive than if calculated on the basis of levelised costs.
To determine the overall price or benefit, the cost of the fossil-fuel plants that demand to go along to exist on stand up-by for the intermittency problem, needs to exist factored in. For example, solar farms run at only about 15% of capacity, so they can supercede fifty-fifty less. Seven solar plants or 4 wind farms would be needed to produce the same amount of electricity over time as a similar-sized coal-fired plant. And all that actress solar and wind chapters is expensive.
In Europe, rather than seeking to increase the availability of low cost electricity, governments enforce scarcity past manipulating the factors influencing electricity prices such as "regulatory structures—including taxes and other user fees, investment in renewable energy technologies, and the mix and cost of fuels."
In the European union governments interfere with electricity markets, and enforce the apply of inferior electricity sources such equally wind and solar, resulting in subsidies, taxes, feed-in tariffs, materials and labour, forcing the consumer to pay the ultimate costs. Rather than seeking to increase the availability of depression cost electricity, governments enforce scarcity past manipulating the factors influencing electricity prices such as regulatory structures—including taxes and other user fees, investment in renewable energy technologies, and the mix and cost of fuels. In Germany for example,
"taxes and levies account for almost one-half of retail electricity prices, [and] transmission system operators charge residential consumers a renewable energy levy that is used to subsidise certain renewable generation facilities." (Alex Epstein)
This is in addition to policies which penalise coal and nuclear electricity generators.
DISAGREE iii: Fossil Fuel energy costs do not factor in all the 'subconscious' costs
"Investing in make clean energy is not only good for the economical growth, it is good for people. The unfortunate reality is that those in the poorest countries are often the most vulnerable to climatic change — whether from rising seas that threaten homes and water supplies or droughts that bulldoze upwardly food prices. This is the human cost of fossil fuels that often goes unmentioned in balance sheets and gross domestic production statistics."
If the full price of fossil fuel generation (including climate impact) were included then the costs would be comparable.
"Typically, the ones who merits that wind and solar will bring problem to the grid are the onetime players, who failed to take renewable energy seriously and over-invested in fossil fuel capacities instead. Renewable energy is at present eating their profits and making their one-time business concern models out-of-date" (Greenpeace.de)
"Those who argue that wind is expensive and unnecessary are quite just incorrect. Because Ireland has such a skilful wind energy resource, we tin get cheap make clean electricity from it. Making comparisons with other countries about wind effectiveness is not always valid. Republic of ireland has a uniquely stiff resource. We take i of the lowest support regimes and wind is not raising electricity prices."(Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland 2014)
Ireland is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels – for 89 per cent of its energy, spending €6.5 billion per year on imports – only over one-half of this on transport. In the past five years renewable energy has saved over €i billion in fossil fuel imports; has reduced CO2 emissions past 12 1000000 tonnes and has not added to consumers' bills. The potential for wind and other provides the opportunity for greater energy independence, reducing carbon footprint, national competiveness leading to greater control over energy prices.
Growing our apply of renewable energy is also vital for our national competitiveness, giving u.s.a. greater control over our free energy prices.
"Less reliance on fossil fuels gives united states greater certainty on our energy prices, rather than leaving united states at the mercy of international commodity price rises. Information technology also helps attract strange investment, as more global companies seek access to clean energy every bit part of their location decisions." (SEAI 2014)
The costs of some renewable energy inputs such as Photovoltaic solar panels accept halved in toll since 2008 and the capital cost of a solar-power plant—of which panels account for slightly nether half—fell by 22 per centum between 2010 and 2013. In a few sunny places, solar power is providing electricity to the grid as cheaply every bit conventional coal- or gas-fired power plants.
As the big utilities' fossil and nuclear plants become more expensive and alternatives become cheaper, savvy consumers are looking to decrease their dependence on the utilities' ability supply. To cope, the utilities are trying to decouple their increasing costs from the amount of electricity they sell, further increasing the cost advantages of renewables and other alternatives. Renewables, with zippo-marginal-costs, helped push downward wholesale prices to 8-year lows in 2013.
Most sources of electricity, including coal, natural gas, and nuclear are and have historically been subsidized with both implicit and explicit subsidies, including the same types of tax credits afforded to wind and solar. For example:
Explicit subsidies: Nuclear receives a Product Tax Credit, similar to Wind. Natural Gas gets access to the Oil and Gas Exploration & Development Expensing subsidy.
Implicit subsidies through the tax payer for instance in the United states of america, subsidises cover the costs of catastrophic insurance for nuclear plants, because in that location is no manner their owners could beget to make clean up after a Fukushima-fashion disaster. And, of course, the ultimate implicit subsidy – the cost of environmental damage due to pollution and CO2 product, for which we all pay and will go on to pay for generations.
Likewise hidden costs such as bonus payouts to CEOs of the top 5 oil companies estimated at US$1tn (£650bn or €888bn) for fossil fuel exploration and extraction over nine years, reflecting the confidence of tiptop oil companies that need will remain high for decades to come up.
The combined 2014 upstream (Upstream operations bargain primarily with the exploration stages of the oil and gas manufacture, with upstream firms taking the showtime steps to start locate, test and drill for oil and gas. Later, once reserves are proven, upstream firms will excerpt whatever oil and gas from the reserve) capital spending bill for the big 5 is three and a half times the sum devoted to research and evolution by the world'southward five biggest-spending drug firms. It is also equivalent to more than than 14% of the combined stock market place value of Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Total and BP.
Currently, renewables are more expensive than fossil fuels. BUT, this is changing rapidly. There are various types of renewables – onshore wind is the most cost competitive and offshore wind is heading that fashion but will probable remain more expensive; the large calibration solar power costs are apace reducing, hydro power – marine, tidal stream, dams, run-of-river – are currently more expensive simply some big-scale projects such equally the Severn Barrage in the U.k. are competitive.
Given the interest in the private sector for renewable energy – information technology must be big business, with giants like Wal-Mart, Google and General Electric that have been increasing in clean energy investments. Billionaire Warrant Buffett recently spent US$5.half-dozen billion for a renewable energy company in Nevada and a United states of america$2.iv billion investment in a wind farm in California. Many oil companies are involved in the development of more reliable renewable energy technologies. Already for example, BP has go i of the earth's leading providers of solar energy through its BP Solar division. Dong Energy and EDP accept congenital up counterbalanced energy portfolios which include higher shares of renewables. Their renewable assets are making more profits than their thermal ones.
Fossil fuel companies are benefitting from global subsidies of U.s.$5.3tn (£three.4tn) a year, equivalent to The states$10m a minute every day. This subsidy estimated for 2022 is greater than the full health spending of all the globe's governments and 6.5% of global GDP. The vast sum is largely due to polluters non paying the costs imposed on governments by the burning of coal, oil and gas. These include the impairment caused to local populations by air pollution equally well as to people across the earth affected past the floods, droughts and storms being driven past climatic change.
"This very important analysis shatters the myth that fossil fuels are cheap past showing just how huge their real costs are. There is no justification for these enormous subsidies for fossil fuels, which distort markets and amercement economies, particularly in poorer countries… A more complete guess of the costs due to climate alter would prove the implicit subsidies for fossil fuels are much bigger fifty-fifty than this study suggests." (Imf 2015)
The need for subsidies for renewable energy –$120bn a yr – would disappear if fossil fuel prices reflected the full price of their impacts.
AGREE 4: Renewable energy utilises too much country, meaning problems in scalability and storage.
A problem with solar and air current free energy is the sheer scale of state that is required to obtain as much energy as even a small-scale coal fire power plant tin can produce. Storing renewable free energy more effectively and inexpensive energy from wind or solar could become much more feasible than they are currently. However correct now, no cost effective forms of free energy storage be, and are non foreseen.
The area of productive state required to provide for one Australian is over seven hectares per person. The US figure is closer to 12 hectares. However, the amount of productive land per person on the planet is virtually 1.three hectares and past the fourth dimension we achieve 9 billion it will be shut to 0.eight hectares. In other words Australians accept a footprint about 10 times greater than all could share.
"Renewables are so much less energy dense than conventional generation, meaning so much more land is required. The British economist David McKay estimated that to meet the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland's electricity needs from offshore wind would require 44,000 3MW turbines in a 4km broad band around the entire three,000km coastline of the state. And if the wind stops, well..." (Ted Trainer)
The all-time choice is to use electricity to pump h2o up into dams, then generate with this after. This works well, but the capacity is very limited. World hydro generating capacity is nigh 7 – 10% of electricity demand, so there would often be times when information technology could not come up anywhere near topping up supply. Hydroelectric power is toll effective and does not suffer from intermittency, but take been linked to impacting on the ecosystems in which they are installed and affecting settlements and livelihoods.
Very large calibration production of renewable free energy, especially via solar thermal and PV farms located at the nigh favourable regions, will involve long distance transmission. European supply from solar thermal fields volition probably have to be via several one thousand kilometre long HVDC (loftier-voltage, direct current) lines from North Africa and the Middle Due east. Expected ability losses from long altitude plus local distribution are predicted to be around fifteen pct. This makes it different than coal, natural gas, and nuclear, and in some senses worse. Information technology means that it tin't supply 100 pct of our needs, and intermittency needs to be factored into any electricity organization design. An intelligently designed energy organization using very basic "smart grid" technology could support easily up to 25 percentage production from intermittent renewables without significant strain on resources.
DISAGREE 4: Many renewable technologies are scalable, and perceived problems regarding land, racket and animal welfare can exist overcome.
Many renewable technologies are very scalable. The much hyped DeserTec project pointed to a new model for electricity generation for Europe with massive PV arrays in Northward Africa. Difficult, expensive… but practise-able.
All of the scalability problems are surmountable. Doing so requires a new, far more circuitous, energy organisation with new technologies and new policy tools.
"The really fun bit volition come when electrical vehicles and demand-side-management become a mainstream reality. Finally, we would take the beginnings of a sustainable energy system."
Land use: The country used for renewable energy projects, like wind farms, can still be used for farming and cattle grazing. International feel has shown that livestock are completely unaffected by the presence of wind farms and will often graze right up to the base of air current turbines.
Noise: Studies take shown that noise complaints, specially those related to current of air farms, are often unrelated to bodily dissonance. In almost cases it was found that people were actually opposed to the farms on aesthetic grounds – which would exist the same with coal or nuclear plants. It was also found that 'noise' complaints dropped off rapidly when local communities derived income from the renewable energy projects in question.
Birds and bats: A mutual argument confronting air current farms is that they kill birds and bats. However, if environmental impact assessments are conducted and migratory and local bird population patterns are assessed before construction, this is avoided completely. It is vital that these assessments are fabricated to ensure the rubber of birds and bats, as with whatever development project.
AGREE 5: Demand is increasing globally
The total world energy demand is for nearly 400 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) annually. One 'BTU' is about the energy and rut generated past a match. Oil, coal and natural gas supply well-nigh 350 quadrillion BTUs. Oil provides well-nigh of this, around 41 percent of the world's total energy supplies (164 quadrillion BTUs). Coal provides 24 percent (96 quadrillion BTUs), and natural gas provides the remaining 22 percent (88 quadrillion BTUs).
By the yr 2020, globe energy consumption is projected to increase past effectually fifty percent – an boosted 207 quadrillion BTUs. Every bit outlined in previous points, renewable energies would not be able to meet this increasing demand.
DISAGREE v: Need is decreasing in meaning parts of the world, for case the European union
Full and elevation electricity demand in the European union started to slow in the 1990s, and have been falling since 2007 (with the exception of in 2009). Total need in the European union-27 brutal by around 2.5% from 2007 to 2012. Demand also fell in several large national markets: by 7.5% in the UK, 4.3% in Italy, three.4% in Kingdom of spain and three.ii% in Deutschland. In the kickoff xi months of 2013, demand fell past a farther 2.6% in Spain and 3.five% in Italy (where Enel, the country's major electricity producer, reported an even larger drop in its 9-month written report); in the starting time nine months of 2013, demand in Germany fell by1.i percent.
Europe today has about twice as much installed generation capacity as peak demand would warrant.
Afterword
The Clean Air Human activity of the late 1950s ways that today a edifice stays the same colour as when new. The catalytic converter means that vehicles are cleaner than fifty-fifty idea possible 25 years agone. It prevents sulphurs entering the atmosphere and turns unburnt or half-burnt carbons into CO2. Why? Because CO2 is harmless. More than CO2 provides more plant food and is, in issue, greening the planet.
New cars require simply half the engine size to produce the same power and twice the mileage. Electric generators that 25 years ago were around xxx per cent efficient are now effectually 70 per cent efficient. Yet the 'greens' would accept us prefer wind generation, solar power or electric cars, none of which can ever arroyo the efficiency of humid water to achieve a 600 times expansion and thus ability the world as economically as is possible to engagement. Green policies cause more damage.
In decision, it is our responsibleness to advance alternative ability. However, we should remember that low-cost electricity generation is crucial to the economy. Information technology increases income and employment in all sectors, the purchasing power of the consumer, and makes exports more competitive. Renewable free energy certainly can supplement conventional power, and its use will probable continue to steadily abound. Nevertheless, realistically speaking, it can't entirely replace non-renewable fuels anytime before long.
Finally…
"Eventually, the degree to which we depend on fossil fuels volition have to lessen as the planet'due south known supplies diminish, the difficulty and cost of tapping remaining reserves increases, and the effect of their continued use on our planet grows more dire. But shifting to new energy sources will take fourth dimension which we don't take" (NowIreland)
and
"The number one way to cut emissions quickly and get back to 350ppm is to stop burning dirty coal as presently every bit possible. Without coal, we must discover a way to make cheap, renewable free energy widely available in order to ensure all communities the right to develop cleanly." (350.org, 2013)
If we contemplate the finite dimension of our world and our (over)consumption of our natural surround, the reality of extinction spreads beyond fossil fuels:
Soil quality–erosion of topsoil, depleted minerals, added table salt
Fresh water–depletion of aquifers that but furnish over thousands of years
Deforestation–cutting downwardly trees faster than they can regrow
Ore quality–depletion of high quality ores, leaving only low quality ores
Extinction of other species–equally nosotros build more than structures and disturb more land, nosotros remove habitat that other species employ, or pollute it
Pollution–many types: CO2, heavy metals, racket, smog, fine particles, radiation, etc.
Arable state per person, every bit population continues to rise. In light of these 'costs' of fossil fuels, renewable energy is a solid alternative to meet the energy demands of our earth.
- Tags Fossil fuels, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, sustainable energy
Explore the online exhibition with 100 objects providing a snapshot of Irish engagement with global cultural, political and social bug over the by 50 years.
Source: https://developmenteducation.ie/feature/the-energy-debate-renewable-energy-cannot-replace-fossil-fuels/
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