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Around the world renewable energy accounts for 18 percent of electricity - that figure could double by 2030
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Renewable Energy Information
European Law
Europe has a rule called 2020 which means that all nations within the european Union must be generating 20% of all power from renewable sources and have cut carbon emission by 20% by the year 2020.
Certain countries such as Germany and England are well on target while other such as Italy are falling behind and although they have tried fighting the ruling have now conclusively lost their case. This makes Italy a strong country to target. New entrants to the european Union are working hard to achieve the necessary criteria and we are seeing a lot of work in former eastern bloc countries.
It will be interesting to see what Turkey does as one of the next round of likely admissions to the european Union.
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American Initiatives
Government Initiatives Heighten Focus on renewable energyThe North American renewable energy market is currently in its growth stage, driven largely by Government incentives and initiatives to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. In January 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Clean energy Act, which rolls back subsidies and tax breaks for large oil companies and when enforced, this legislation is expected to shift more than $14 billion from certain subsidies to investments in clean energy, such as energy-efficient technologies and renewable power. Likewise, the Canadian Government, in January 2007, launched three new eco energy initiatives for boosting renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promising considerable investments in these initiatives over a period of four years. Going forward, these initiatives and many others are likely to significantly aid the growth of the North American renewable energy markets.
However, increasing raw material costs, high initial capital outlay, and procedural delays pose notable challenges for market participants and could hamper market growth. "For example, the solar energy market is currently facing shortage of silicon, which is the key raw material for solar energy generation," notes the analyst of this research service. "Similarly, wind turbines, which are currently expanding rapidly, could be impacted by the short-term price increases caused by high steel costs and shifting currency valuations."
European Laws
- Germany
- The largest producer and user of renewable energy in the world, Germany has had the most progressive rules for the longest. Germany has 35% of the worlds total PhotoVoltaic systems installed
- Italy
- Staunchly resisting against the european Unions 2020 rule Italy has been in court for many years and now conclusively lost. This means they have a lot of catching up to do and will be on of the most aggressive players in the market over the next 5-10 years. Southern Italy is almost as well irradiated as Spain.
- Spain
- The best solar irradiance in Europe has made Spain the home of the solar power movement. With new theories and alternate systems distributed all over the Iberian peninsula Spain is at the fore of solar innovation. Spain has set an overall target for 29.4% of its electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2010. By then, it predicts that some 500 megawatts (MW) will be provided by Concentrated solar Thermal power (CSP).
- UK
- The UK produces 2,824.30Mw onshore and 565.80Mw offshore for a total of 3,390.10Mw from 211 wind farms. 2,881.35Mw is under construction, 6,023.21Mw have planning consent and a further 8,440.58Mw is in planning at the present time. If this all comes to fruition within the next 5-10 years the UK should have 34,251Mw generated from wind energy alone
A recently published study by the energy Watch Group reveals – as one out of four described scenarios – that by the year 2025 it is even likely to have 7'500’000 MW installed worldwide producing 16’400 TWh. All renewable energies together would exceed 50 % of the global electricity supply. As a result, wind energy, along with solar, would conquer a 50 % market share of new power plant installations worldwide by 2019. Global non-renewable power generation would peak in 2018 and could be phased out completely by 2037
Greenpeace/ESTIA/solarPACES scenarios published in 2005, predict that solar thermal technology is destined to move from being a relatively modest renewable energy source to a significant contributor in 2040 (meeting 5% of the world’s demand and avoiding some 50 million tonnes of CO2 a year), alongside current market leaders like hydro and wind power.
Solar PhotoVoltaic
PhotoVoltaic solar Cells are the most common form of harnessing the suns energy.Only 2% of the suns rays if harnessed could power the whole world for generations to come. However the earths atmosphere is a natural defense and harnessing the rays to date has proved to be highly inefficient at around 25%.
Production of PV units has doubled every year since 2002 and significant silicon shortages (the most abundant substance on planet earth) have led to increases in price.
6Gw of power are generated each year with Germany, Japan and the USA accounting for 90% of that production.
Australia, Mexico and Israel are among the most irradiated countries in the world and it is calculated that the Gobi desert alone could single handedly accommodate all the worlds energy generation needs.
Bio Gas/ Mass/ Fuel
If you ever built a log fire you have used BioMassThe oldest of all forms of power the cave dwellers utilized biological material to heat dwellings and cook food. Biological substances produce 20%+ less CO2 when burned as opposed to fossil fuels which have far higher and denser Carbon levels.
This is a large growth area in Germany and several other european countries but not a route we are willing to explore as we believe it to be inefficient and still contributes to pollution and we believe that wind and solar are far less harmful long term.
Wind Necels
A modern 2.5MW turbine at a reasonable site will generate 6.5 million units of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 1,400 households, make 230 million cups of tea or run a computer for 2,250 years.Over 120Gw of wind generated power is produced each year far outstripping PV
Denmark produces 19% of all electricity from wind power, including a new series of Mega offshore farms. Spain, Portugal, Germany and the Republic of Ireland have between 7-11% of all their electricity requirements met by wind power as well.
We have been harnessing wind power for at least 5000 years to propel boats and approximately 2500 to power blast furness.
With over 15Tw of power potentially available It is not unreasonable to assume that within 10-15 years 25% of the worlds electricity needs could be entirely met utilizing wind power. Long term this is our focus and target.
winds biggest draw back is that it isn't consistent and the grid can see huge bursts of power in very short spaces of time and then periods of relatively low production. This constitutes one of the largest issues with wind farms and will ultimately lead to the collaboration in building Super Grids across major continents.
Explanation of Diagram
Piles (1) are driven into the seabed once a suitable place for the wind farm is found. Erosion protection, similar to sea defenses, are placed at the base to prevent damage to the sea floor. The top of the foundation is painted a bright color to make it visible to ships and has an access platform to allow maintenance teams to dock.
Once the turbine is assembled, sensors on the turbine detect the wind direction and turn the head, known as the nacelle , to face into the wind, so that the blades can collect the maximum amount of energy. The movement of the wind over the aerodynamically shaped blades (2) makes them rotate around a horizontal hub, which is connected to a shaft inside the nacelle (3). This shaft, via a gearbox, powers a generator to convert the energy into electricity. Sub sea cables (4) take the power to an offshore transformer (5) which converts the electricity to a high voltage (33kV) before running it back 5 -10 miles to connect to the grid at a substation on land (6)