Renewable energy
Renewable energy commercialization 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.[1] Each is at a different stage of development, yet the market is growing for many renewables.
As of April 2008, worldwide wind farm capacity was 100,000 megawatts (MW),[2] and wind power produced some 1.3% of global electricity consumption,[3] accounting for approximately 19% of electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland.[4]
The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics (PV) industry has now reached more than 2,000 MW per year,[5] and PV power plants are particularly popular in Germany and Spain.[6] 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.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9] Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20-100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.[10]
Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy commercialization. Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006.[11] Some very large companies such as BP, General Electric, Sharp Corporation, and Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.
References
- ↑ International Energy Agency (2007). Renewables in global energy supply: An IEA facts sheet, OECD, 34 pages.
- ↑ Wind Power Continues Rapid Rise
- ↑ World Wind Energy Association (2008). Wind turbines generate more than 1 % of the global electricity
- ↑ New Report a Complete Analysis of the Global Offshore Wind Energy Industry and its Major Players
- ↑ Solar Energy: Scaling Up Manufacturing and Driving Down Costs p. 30.
- ↑ World's largest photovoltaic power plants
- ↑ Calpine Corporation - The Geysers
- ↑ America and Brazil Intersect on Ethanol
- ↑ World Energy Assessment (2001). Renewable energy technologies, p. 221.
- ↑ What Solar Power Needs Now Renewable Energy Access, 13 August 2007.
- ↑ United Nations Environment Programme and New Energy Finance Ltd. (2007). Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in OECD and Developing Countries p. 3.
