Comparison of Czech and Austrian approaches to the production of electricity from renewable resources: Difference between revisions

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===Energy production in the Czech Republic and Austria===
===Energy production in the Czech Republic and Austria===
In the Czech Republic more than half of electricity is generated in thermal power plants<ref>http://www.csve.cz/cz/energeticky-mix-cr-n/280 Česká společnost pro větrnou energii. 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>, whereas in Austria it is only 17 %<ref>http://www.e-control.at/portal/page/portal/medienbibliothek/oeko-energie/dokumente/pdfs/Stromkennzeichnungsbericht%202011.pdf Energie-Control Austria 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>. This huge disproportion can be explained with several factors. Firstly, in the Czech Republic, there are sufficient supplies of coal and uranium. Secondly, there are historical causes. During the communist era, there were only little concerns about the negative impacts of coal burning on the environment in Czech and the mentality of people is changing slowly. In 1990s when the solar era in Austria kickstarted, in Czech the main concern was to start nuclear power plant Temelín. The Czech energy concept for 2011-2060<ref>http://www.ospzv-aso.cz/addons/RHSD95/Statni-energeticka-koncepce-CR-2011-2060.doc ''Státní energetická koncepce ČR 2011-2060''. Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref> counts with enormous reduction share of coal in energy mix in favour of nuclear energy.
In the Czech Republic, more than half of electricity is generated in coal-fired power plants<ref>http://www.csve.cz/cz/energeticky-mix-cr-n/280 Česká společnost pro větrnou energii. 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>, whereas in Austria it is only 17 %<ref>http://www.e-control.at/portal/page/portal/medienbibliothek/oeko-energie/dokumente/pdfs/Stromkennzeichnungsbericht%202011.pdf Energie-Control Austria 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>. This huge disproportion can be explained by several factors. Firstly, in the Czech Republic, there are large supplies of coal. Secondly, there are historical causes. During the communist era, there were few concerns about the negative impacts of coal burning on the environment in Czech, and the mentality of people is changing only slowly. In the 1990s, when the solar era in Austria kick-started, the main concern in the Czech Republic was to construct the nuclear power plant at Temelín. The Czech energy concept for 2011-2060<ref>http://www.ospzv-aso.cz/addons/RHSD95/Statni-energeticka-koncepce-CR-2011-2060.doc ''Státní energetická koncepce ČR 2011-2060''. Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref> counts on an enormous reduction in the amount of coal in the energy mix in favour of nuclear energy.


In Austria majority of people disagree with using nuclear energy. There are two main reasons. The first one is the issue of unsolved nuclear waste disposal and the second one is a risk radioactive leakage. These concerns are well founded, however in the Czech Republic if we want to be energetically self-sufficient and environmentally friendly we have no other option than to use nuclear energy. We cannot burn coal, solar and wind power would not be sufficient to meet the energy needs of our country and in contrary to Austria, we have almost no opportunity to use hydro energy.
In Austria, the majority of people disagree with using nuclear energy. There are two main reasons. The first one is the issue of unsolved nuclear waste disposal, and the second is the risk of radioactive leakage. These concerns are well-founded. However, in the Czech Republic, if we want to be energetically self-sufficient and environmentally friendly we have no option other than to use nuclear energy. We cannot burn coal, and solar and wind power would not be sufficient to meet the energy needs of our country, and in contrast to Austria, we have almost no opportunity to use hydro energy.


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 produced in hydroelectric power plants<ref>http://download.mpo.cz/get/29807/50655/583501/priloha001.pdf ''Zpráva o plnění indikativního cíle výroby elektřiny z obnovitelných zdrojů za rok 2010''. Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>. 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 of using energy from renewable resources is highly influenced by geography. The hydro potential in Austria is huge: more than 60 % of electricity is produced from hydroelectric power plants. On the other hand, in the Czech Republic, only 3 % of electricity is produced in hydroelectric power plants<ref>http://download.mpo.cz/get/29807/50655/583501/priloha001.pdf ''Zpráva o plnění indikativního cíle výroby elektřiny z obnovitelných zdrojů za rok 2010''. Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.</ref>. The potential of Czech rivers is almost fully tapped. 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. On top of that, the development is moving forward rapidly and solar energy is becoming more profitable and cheaper.
As for other renewable resources, solar and photovoltaic panels can be used for electricity production only during periods of sufficient sun light, which is mainly from October to March. Those energy resources can be used as additional resources for households or small networks of consumers, not for big cities, industry or even a whole country. As we could hear during our excursion to a solar factory, the energy also cannot be used for the whole year without a storage system. The disadvantages of the battery storage units are that they are very expensive and have quite a short lifespan. On the other hand, what is very positive from the sustainability point of view is that 100 % of parts of certain types of PV panels are recyclable. Moreover, the average guarantee of panels is 25 years, but they could work even longer with reduced efficiency. On top of that, development is moving forward rapidly and solar energy is becoming more profitable and cheaper.


===Conclusion===
===Conclusion===
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