Bright projections for renewable energy
PROBABILITY of having an electric grid running on renewable power in the coming decades is becoming clearer after many countries and regions are already at or close to 100 percent now. Citing a data compiled by the grid will see nearly 75 percent United States Energy Information renewable penetration, Mexico will Administration, thinkprogress. be over 80 percent, and Brazil and org says that there are seven Italy will be over 95 percent. countries already at, or very near BNEF was not looking at what 100- percent renewable power: could theoretically happen by mid- Iceland ( 100- percent), Paraguay century if countries pushed as hard ( 100), Costa Rica ( 99), Norway as required by the Paris Climate (98.5), Austria (80), Brazil (75), and Accord. Denmark (69.4). They were just looking at business
The main renewables in these as usual over the next two decades. countries are hydropower, wind, Another study f ound t hat geothermal, and solar. “Indonesia has far more than enough
A new i nternational study, pumped hydro storage sites to which debunks many myths about support a 100-percent renewable renewable energy notes that electricity grid.” many large population regions Storage i s one of the most are “at or above 100- percent” straightforward ways to integrate including Germany’s Mecklenburg- wind and solar power into the grid, to Vorpommern and Schleswig-Hostein account for the times when the wind regions, New Zealand’s South Island, doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine. and Denmark’s Samsø island. Pumped hydro is by far the most
In Canada, both Quebec and widely used electricity storage British Columbia are at nearly system in the world. 100-percent renewable power. Water is pumped from a reservoir
Lately, China’s State-run Xinhua at a lower level to one at a higher News Agency reported that “Qinghai level when there is excess electricity Province has just run for seven or when electricity can be generated straight days entirely on renewable at a low cost. energy. Then, during a period of high
It said this was part of a test by electricity demand, water in the the country’s State Grid Corporation upper reservoir is run through the to show a post-fossil-fuel future was hydroelectric plant’s turbines to practical. produce electricity for immediate sale.
On the other hand, Bloomberg In the International Energy New Energy Finance ( BNEF) Agency’s 2012 Technology Roadmap: projected that by 2040, Germany’s Hydropower, “Pumped storage hydropower capacities would be multiplied by a factor of 3 to 5,” by 2050.
The US Department of Energy projected that “domestic hydropower could grow from 101 gigawatts to nearly 150 gigawatts of combined electricity generation and storage capacity by 2050.”
In 2016, NOAA researchers concluded that just with “improvements in transmission infrastructure” using existing technology, “the United States could slash greenhouse gas emissions from power production by up to 78 percent below 1990 levels within 15 years while meeting increased demand.”
In the coming years, emerging and existing technology will work together to bring deeper and deeper penetration of carbon free power into the grid.
The only question is no longer “if” but “when.” com/ PN)
(jaypeeyap@ymail.