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Comparison of Czech and Austrian approaches to the production of electricity from renewable resources: Difference between revisions
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Comparison of Czech and Austrian approaches to the production of electricity from renewable resources (view source)
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The possibility to use energy from renewable resources is highly influenced by geography. The hydro potential in Austria is huge, more than 60 % of electric energy is made out of hydroelectric power plants. On the other hand, in the Czech Republic only 3 % of electricity is made in hydroelectric power plants. The potential of Czech rivers in almost fulfilled. Further expansion is very limited due to unfavourable conditions. If the Czech Republic started to build new hydroelectric power plants, it would be feasible only with huge investments and even then the amount of electricity generated by those power plants would be very small. | The possibility to use energy from renewable resources is highly influenced by geography. The hydro potential in Austria is huge, more than 60 % of electric energy is made out of hydroelectric power plants. On the other hand, in the Czech Republic only 3 % of electricity is made in hydroelectric power plants. The potential of Czech rivers in almost fulfilled. Further expansion is very limited due to unfavourable conditions. If the Czech Republic started to build new hydroelectric power plants, it would be feasible only with huge investments and even then the amount of electricity generated by those power plants would be very small. | ||
As for other renewable resources, solar and photovoltaic panels can be used for electricity production only during period of sufficient sun light, which is mainly from October to March. Those energy resources can be used as side resources for households or small networks of consumers, not for big cities, industry or even whole country. As we could hear during our excursion in solar factory, the energy also cannot be used for the whole year without a storage system. Disadvantages of the chargers are that they are very expensive and have quite short lifespan. On the other hand, very positive from the sustainability point of view is that 100 % of parts of certain types of PV panels are recyclable. Moreover, average lifespan of panels is 25 years, but they could work even longer with reduced efficiency. | As for other renewable resources, solar and photovoltaic panels can be used for electricity production only during period of sufficient sun light, which is mainly from October to March. Those energy resources can be used as side resources for households or small networks of consumers, not for big cities, industry or even whole country. As we could hear during our excursion in solar factory, the energy also cannot be used for the whole year without a storage system. Disadvantages of the chargers are that they are very expensive and have quite short lifespan. On the other hand, very positive from the sustainability point of view is that 100 % of parts of certain types of PV panels are recyclable. Moreover, average lifespan of panels is 25 years, but they could work even longer with reduced efficiency. On top of that, the development is moving forward rapidly and solar energy is becoming more profitable and cheaper. | ||
In conclusion, it is not a solution to install solar panels or wind mills everywhere just to have energy, especially given the current technologies. Even in Austria, solar power is only supplemental source of energy and only in local scale. It is impossible to meet the growing energy demand only with solar and wind power as they are not stable and available all the time. In addition to energy savings, it is important to concern specific climatic and other conditions and to combine the most suitable types of energy resources. Applied to Austrian and Czech context, this means that in Austria energy production will be more or less based on renewable resources, whereas in the Czech Republic will | In conclusion, it is not a solution to install solar panels or wind mills everywhere just to have energy, especially given the current technologies. Even in Austria, solar power is only supplemental source of energy and only in local scale. It is impossible to meet the growing energy demand only with solar and wind power as they are not stable and available all the time. In addition to energy savings, it is important to concern specific climatic and other conditions and to combine the most suitable types of energy resources. Applied to Austrian and Czech context, this means that in Austria energy production will be more or less based on renewable resources, whereas in the Czech Republic we will depend on nuclear energy. | ||