Renewable energy

Renewable energy involves many different technologies, including solar photovoltaics, solar thermal power plants, solar heating and cooling systems, wind power, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, biomass, and ocean energy systems. Each is at a different stage of development, yet the market is growing for many renewables and other are mature in some places after reach grid parity with fossil fuel electricity.

As of April 2008, worldwide wind farm capacity was 100,000 megawatts (MW), and wind power produced some 1.3% of global electricity consumption, accounting for approximately 19% of electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland. Also, some days in Spain, wind generates more electricity than any other source, including nuclear and fossil fuels. The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics (PV) industry has now reached more than 2,000 MW per year, and PV power plants are particularly popular in Germany and Spain. Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.

Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's fuel for vehicles. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.

While there are many large-scale renewable energy projects, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often important for human development. Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20-100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.

Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy commercialization towards a renewable-energy economy and society, where all the energy comes from renewable sources and where foclear energy (FOssil fuel and nuCLEAR energy) is banned. Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006. Some very large companies such as BP, General Electric, Sharp Corporation, and Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.

"Green" energy in Germany cheaper than nuclear power
In July a study of the German ecological NGO "Deutsche Umwelthilfe" has been published that analysed the electricity market in Germany. The results are very interesting and provide good arguments for anti-nuclear campaigning also in other countries: In practise the offers of nuclear companies are more expensive than "green" energy of independent ecological electricity companies!

This result was surprising as the nuclear power has been much subsidized and the reactors have already been fully depreciated since a long time - so they have only the costs of running the reactors, but don't have to repay the costs of the construction any longer. In addition the nuclear fuel is tax-exempted, the nuclear companies don't have to have an insurance covering all the costs of the accidents they could cause, they don't have to pay a realistic price for the final disposal of their radioactive waste and other consequences...

But it is a fact: nuclear energy is more expensive than renewable energy - at least in Germany as the study proofs!

You find the tables (German) of this study in the internet:
 * http://www.duh.de/uploads/media/Vergleich_Preis_Stromkennzeichnung_07-2009_01.pdf

Links

 * U.S. National Council for Solar Growth
 * Saving Iceland - action against environmental destructive geothermal energy facilities in Iceland