Why Don’t We Use Renewable Energy All The Time

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So the fight against climate change is not going smoothly. But there’s reason for optimism, right? Money is flowing into cheap solar energy, China is leading the world in investment in the green economy and Tesla has released a new good electric car. Already, more than a fifth of the world’s electricity comes from renewable energy sources, and according to current trends, according to current trends, this percentage should increase to 29 percent by 2040. Are we starting to move in the right direction, which maybe in time will save the whole world? THAT IS?!

Why Don’t We Use Renewable Energy All The Time

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but these rising renewable energy production statistics aren’t all they seem. Actually:

Renewable Energy, Facts And Information

Solar energy and wind energy together make up almost a fifth of electricity production that is defined as renewable. More than 70 percent comes from hydropower.

This is according to the International Energy Agency for 2015, the latest data available. Hydropower is not the only amazing source of energy that dominates renewable energy statistics: in the US, Canada, the EU and China, in addition to the world average, more energy is produced from biofuels (eg burning wood pellets in power plants or burning landfills). gas) than from solar panels.

So when we talk about renewable energy, the media may need to change their images from turbines and panels to hydroelectric plants and burning wood. And what? Renewable energy sources are renewable, right?

This trade-off could be improvements in burning coal, while investments in hydropower or biomass can come from solar and wind power.

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Well, maybe not. And in the case of hydropower and bioelectricity, the scientific community doesn’t always say that these energy sources are absolutely clean. Through the anaerobic decomposition of algae and other plant material in water bodies, hydroelectric plants can be a major source of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than CO2, says Amy Townsend-Small, director of the Environmental Research Program. McMicken University. Arts and Sciences, studying methane emissions from lakes. There is a remarkable lack of knowledge about how much greenhouse gases reservoirs can release: “We don’t have long-term monitoring,” says Townsend-Small, and instead scientists rely on global models extrapolated to a small number of reservoirs. However, hydropower is “better in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels,” she says, although environmentalist Gary Waukner, who describes hydropower as “dirty energy,” argues that some dams, including the Hoover Dam, emit more greenhouse gases than a. coal-fired power plant.

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And when it comes to burning biomass, with the huge variety of fuels and methods of obtaining it, it’s impossible to make a comprehensive statement about its effectiveness, says Kevin Fingerman, a professor of energy and climate at Humboldt State University who studies its effects. biofuel. Combustion of agricultural waste gases can produce energy and also convert methane into less reactive CO2, creating a network.

Carbon footprint (even better than wind or solar); however, clearing a forest without replanting it for power generation fuel can be even more polluting than burning coal.

It’s important to note that this trade-off depends on what we’re actually trading – it can be improvements to burning coal, but in places with strict renewable energy quotas, investments in hydropower or biomass can come from energy sources like solar and wind . safer as close to carbon neutral as possible. However, unlike other renewable energy sources, we can control when hydro and biomass power plants produce electricity, so it may be better compared to baseload sources such as natural gas or nuclear power. These various comparisons mean that “anyone with arguments on both sides of this [debate] can tell whatever story they want” while still using credible scientific analysis, Fingerman says.

Apple, Google, And How Not To Go 100% Renewable

Key point: “renewable” is not necessarily synonymous with “carbon neutral”. (Carrie Annand, executive director of the trade association Biomass Power Association, says biomass is both—while forests are constantly growing, as in the U.S., the National Hydropower Association did not respond to requests for comment.) So. let’s get the facts straight before we celebrate the coming renewable energy revolution.

Thank you for contacting! We have received your letter and will contact you as soon as possible. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the outlook for renewable energy did not look bright. Factory closings in China disrupted the global supply chain for wind turbines and solar panels, delayed the construction of US clean energy projects around the world and led to job losses. Fears have spread that the economic downturn will spur investment in renewable energy.

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But it turns out that renewables didn’t just survive COVID-19 — they thrived. A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the world added 280 gigawatts of wind, solar, hydro and other renewables to its electricity grid last year. By comparison, this is about a quarter of all electricity generation capacity in the United States. In addition, since 2019, the number of new plants powered by renewable energy has increased by 45%, the largest annual increase since 1999.

Finally, the supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic has affected some countries more than others. India has been hit particularly hard by construction delays and problems connecting new projects to the grid, leading to a 50 percent drop in new capacity. Brazil and Ukraine also saw slower growth. But in the United States, China and Vietnam, where developers rushed to complete projects to meet government subsidy deadlines, there has been unprecedented growth.

Renewable Energy Will Not Replace Fossil Fuels And Nuclear

China, which has developed renewable energy faster than the rest of the world for years, was responsible for half of the new installations in 2020. in Europe will reduce the reserve, leading to a similar growth rate of renewable capacity worldwide in the next two years.

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Fears that the recession will drive interest away from investments in renewable energy have also proved unfounded. The IEA found that governments awarded nearly 75 gigawatts of new renewable energy contracts in competitive auctions last year, a 20 percent increase from 2019. Business purchases of renewable energy also increased by 25 percent.

Last year, solar energy grew more than any other renewable energy, accounting for almost 50% of new energy. The IEA reports that solar energy has become the cheapest form of energy in many countries and will continue to grow faster than other technologies.

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Solar power in the US is expected to continue to grow over the next two years, but onshore wind development is expected to slow down in the near term. That’s because the main tax credit offered to investors was originally set to expire in 2020. Congress extended the loan in December, but the IEA doesn’t expect that to significantly change projections for 2021 and 2022.

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However, progress in the United States could accelerate if Congress approves policies proposed under President Biden’s infrastructure plan. The plan includes a 10-year extension of clean energy tax credits, which will give developers more confidence in net costs. It also proposes a “direct payments” system for these tax credits, which would allow renewable energy producers to receive full tax refunds for projects regardless of their tax liability. A similar provision, included in then-President Barack Obama’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provided a major boost in the following years.

The world needs rapid and sustainable growth in renewable energy to meet global goals to reduce emissions and slow climate change. But the growing trend towards renewable energy should not be confused with reducing emissions. Renewable energy sources meet the new demand for energy but do not necessarily lead to a phase-out of fossil fuels, at least not everywhere. The IEA expects 270 new gigawatts of renewable energy by 2021, but also predicts a historic increase in global carbon emissions due to an expected 4.5% increase in coal demand.

“This is a dire warning that the economic recovery after the Covid crisis is by no means sustainable for our climate,” IEA Director General Fatih Birol said last month in a statement on the emissions project.

Renewable’ Does Not Mean ‘carbon Free’ Despite What Companies May Imply • Earth.com

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The only news agency focused on finding solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Your support keeps our neutral, non-commercial news free. Renewable energy is a form of sustainable energy derived from resources that are naturally produced on Earth itself. Forms of energy that come from energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass are examples of renewable energy.

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