Students:Day Three - sustainable campus and renewable energy: Difference between revisions
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Began the day at 9am at Leuphana University with a presentation by Dr. Alexa Lutzenberger on renewable energies, which began with a description of the bottom-up movement in Germany to create renewables sources of energy following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown 30 years ago. Over those years it's been found that production of electricity from renewables is relatively easy in comparison to production of heating from renewables. Something like 65% of the housing stock in Germany is 80-100 years old or older and so is very inefficient in terms of heating insulation. One percent of the housing stock is being refitted each year with the goal of refitting all buildings by 2060. | Began the day at 9am at Leuphana University with a presentation by Dr. Alexa Lutzenberger on renewable energies, which began with a description of the bottom-up movement in Germany to create renewables sources of energy following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown 30 years ago. Over those years it's been found that production of electricity from renewables is relatively easy in comparison to production of heating from renewables. Something like 65% of the housing stock in Germany is 80-100 years old or older and so is very inefficient in terms of heating insulation. One percent of the housing stock is being refitted each year with the goal of refitting all buildings by 2060. All nuclear power plants are to be phased out by 2022, which if the process up to 2011 is anything to go by, shouldn't be a problem as all phased-out nuclear production to that date had been replaced by energy from renewable sources. Currently, the share of renewables as a proportion of overall energy production stands at 12.6%, including biomass at 8.2%, wind energy 1.8%, and photovoltaics 1.1%. | ||
In 1991, the German energy grid had been made to integrate renewables, and in 2000 the new Renewable Energy Act provide for a feed-in tariff that guaranteed a return on investment for 20 years, leading to a big upturn in renewable energy sources with a guarantee return on investment of 5-8% paid by all customers and not only via government subsidy. Returns on PV can be up to 20%. | |||
In terms of wind energy, turbines installed in 2004 are now being upgraded to include new technology, while the German lander have set aside 1% of their total area for wind turbines. | |||
In the case of biomass, 60% is still imported. Fuel crops are taking precedence over food crops for stock, so there is a need to bring down the ROI for biomass. Once oil reaches $170 a barrel, biomass as a fuel source becomes cheaper to use in the chemical industry. | |||
Counter-intuitively, the 2008 financial crisis led to more investment in renewables and a big increase in the renewables employment sector. | |||
Overall, renewable energy production is not the main problem, rather it is storage of electricity that poses the greatest challenge. | |||
Revision as of 17:31, 18 June 2013
Began the day at 9am at Leuphana University with a presentation by Dr. Alexa Lutzenberger on renewable energies, which began with a description of the bottom-up movement in Germany to create renewables sources of energy following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown 30 years ago. Over those years it's been found that production of electricity from renewables is relatively easy in comparison to production of heating from renewables. Something like 65% of the housing stock in Germany is 80-100 years old or older and so is very inefficient in terms of heating insulation. One percent of the housing stock is being refitted each year with the goal of refitting all buildings by 2060. All nuclear power plants are to be phased out by 2022, which if the process up to 2011 is anything to go by, shouldn't be a problem as all phased-out nuclear production to that date had been replaced by energy from renewable sources. Currently, the share of renewables as a proportion of overall energy production stands at 12.6%, including biomass at 8.2%, wind energy 1.8%, and photovoltaics 1.1%. In 1991, the German energy grid had been made to integrate renewables, and in 2000 the new Renewable Energy Act provide for a feed-in tariff that guaranteed a return on investment for 20 years, leading to a big upturn in renewable energy sources with a guarantee return on investment of 5-8% paid by all customers and not only via government subsidy. Returns on PV can be up to 20%. In terms of wind energy, turbines installed in 2004 are now being upgraded to include new technology, while the German lander have set aside 1% of their total area for wind turbines. In the case of biomass, 60% is still imported. Fuel crops are taking precedence over food crops for stock, so there is a need to bring down the ROI for biomass. Once oil reaches $170 a barrel, biomass as a fuel source becomes cheaper to use in the chemical industry. Counter-intuitively, the 2008 financial crisis led to more investment in renewables and a big increase in the renewables employment sector. Overall, renewable energy production is not the main problem, rather it is storage of electricity that poses the greatest challenge.