News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

Tilak Doshi who is the chief economist at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore is questioning whether renewable energy can decrease carbon emission at a reasonable price.

The emergence of climate change through the use of fossil fuels is portraying clean and renewable energy as a global saver. However, money is a problem as we are still struggling out from the most cataclysmic economic recession since the Great Depression. The tight finance is a hurdle troubling policymakers in implementing a sustainable clean energy strategy.

In the field of competing policy priority investment in energy technology is still a choice. For instance, small countries like Singapore are at a disadvantageous position to expand in renewable energy. There are geographical constraints, making sources such as wind, geothermal and hydropower impossible. On the other hand, bio-fuels, solar photovoltaic and nuclear power are considered as expensive but viable technologies for the future of small islands.

Policymakers have to constantly re-evaluate the cost and benefits of various alternative sources of energy. This is done to assure that money is invested wisely.

Supporting an early change towards renewable energy can, in some sense, lead to extra collation of taxes. Some widespread examples have been seen in Spain, France, Germany and lately Britain, they have used feed-in tariffs (FITs). FITs motivate the use of renewable energy, but it does also assure that electricity price stays high.

In 2008, the generous FIT scheme implemented in Spain led to enormous investment, which led to 40 percents of the world’s solar installation. However, the fiscal burden of the strategy gradually became too heavy for the Spanish government, so they had to re-consider the subsidy. The eventual outcome was a collapse to the solar market and the solar industry in the country suffered from the debacle of losing some 20,000 jobs.

The use of solar photovoltaic power is not a competitive source of energy in terms of price. It is as much as five times more expensive in comparison to gas turbines. For instance, in Singapore solar technology is currently not an option due to its limited surface area.

Moreover, intermittent energy sources like wind & solar irradiation need to have other sources of energy as a backup. Nowadays, the power grid can allow up to 3 percent of intermittent power supply, during peak power demand. It is possible to enforce the intermittent power supply yet this would require intense investment.

The use of FITs for solar panel installation in countries like Singapore could have severe ramifications on public financing. For instance, property owners with the capacity to pay would benefit from larger feed-in tariff schemes. Yet, the majority of the population living in HDB flats would not afford to go for solar power.

Supporters for alternative energy portray a myriad of benefits from clean energy sources such as shedding carbon emissions and establishing a green industry with plenty of employment. In reality, renewable energy is not that impressive after all.

According to earlier publication by The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, in the future we will still rely on fossil fuel. They say that the demand for coal, gas and oil would only slightly fall from 81 percent (2007) to 80 percent in the year 2030. They predicted that renewable energy would only account for 2 percent of world’s energy demand (it is already above that).

The very fact that large subsidies have been slashed for both wind and solar energy may suggest that renewable energy might take a slow progress in the future.

Scientists are proposing a new and more cost effective way to decrease carbon emissions. Researches are suggesting that energy efficiency technology can help to change human behaviour related to energy utilisation. This would nurture a more energy conscious population.

Renewable energy solutions appear to be an expensive mean to abate greenhouse gases.

Tilak Doshi does not believe that government will extensively contribute to expand renewable technologies. It will rather be an outcome of market demands. Creative innovation and the emergence of commercially competitive alternative sources of energy can revolutionize the future of energy.

Source: Eco Business