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Global renewable energy resource potential - v - demand

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  • 19-10-2009 5:41pm
    #1
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭


    The French edition of National Geographic has a feature on solar energy in the October 2009 issue. It gives an overview of worldwide electricity demand and renewable supply potential.

    Total global annual electricity production 19,015 TWh, of which 81.51% is from non-renewable sources, including nuclear.

    Production potential from renewable sources:

    PV solar 470,278 TWh

    Concentrated solar (sun focused by mirrors on water heater to operate turbine) 275,556 TWh

    Land based wind turbines 105,278 TWh

    Sea based wind turbines 6,111 TWh

    Wave and tidal 91,398 TWh

    Hydro 13,889 TWh

    Geothermal 12,500 TWh

    www.nationalgeographic.fr

    (The article does not appear in the website)

    [1 TWh = 10 raised to power of 12 Wh]


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    #2
    johnathan woss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 410 ✭✭johnathan woss


    probe wrote: »
    The French edition of National Geographic has a feature on solar energy in the October 2009 issue. It gives an overview of worldwide electricity demand and renewable supply potential.

    Total global annual electricity production 19,015 TWh, of which 81.51% is from non-renewable sources, including nuclear.

    Production potential from renewable sources:

    PV solar 470,278 TWh

    Concentrated solar (sun focused by mirrors on water heater to operate turbine) 275,556 TWh

    Land based wind turbines 105,278 TWh

    Sea based wind turbines 6,111 TWh

    Wave and tidal 91,398 TWh

    Hydro 13,889 TWh

    Geothermal 12,500 TWh

    www.nationalgeographic.fr

    (The article does not appear in the website)

    [1 TWh = 10 raised to power of 12 Wh]


    How many TWh would it take to produce enough PV cells to harness that energy ?

    Stats like this are useless.


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    #3
    lostinsuperfunk
    Registered Users Posts: 697 ✭✭✭lostinsuperfunk


    The energy payback time for photovoltaics is quite low. Even in Ireland it's only 2-4 years. The panels themselves should last at least 20 years, although some of the associated systems, particularly batteries will need replacing more often.

    Energy payback times of wind turbines are even shorter in most cases.


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    #4
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭probe


    johnathan woss wrote: »
    How many TWh would it take to produce enough PV cells to harness that energy ?

    Stats like this are useless.

    The intended purpose of these numbers is to show the abundance of renewable electricity.

    Total global electricity demand about 20,000 TWh.

    Total potential renewables listed 975,010 TWh.

    1) The list includes most forms of renewable energy - not just solar, but does not include techniques such as osmosis of salt and river water - which probably has the potential to produce 5 to 10,000 TWh of electricity. Energy starved Norway is already implementing this technique, in the certain knowledge that they will run out of energy over the next few years :)

    2) The energy payback time for solar depends on the technology - ranging between 1 and 3.5 years.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaics#Energy_payback_time_and_energy_returned_on_energy_invested


    Germany is the world leader in PV solar with four times as much solar power capacity installed as the US, and about 20 times as much as Spain. The Germans are not stupid, and wouldn't be using solar if the input energy to produce the kit was high relative to the output.

    France has a far better solar energy climate compared with Germany (especially in the South East), and France has only 1% of Germany's solar capacity installed. Even Luxembourg has more. Reason being, the French gov nuclear programme which delivers electricity at a cost of around 2c per kWh - is killing any prospect of alternatives (aside from installed hydro). Given the finite supply of uranium (that will consume more energy to produce than it delivers within 30 to 40 years or so) changes will have to be made soon. Vested interests yet again.

    PV solar energy potential map of Europe - Munster and South Leinster have similar solar potential to much of Germany (aside from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg). While PV solar is improving in cost and performance in terms of w per m2 every year, making it a no-brainer for most countries in due course and a good mix with wind (sunny days seldom are windy and vice versa), solar water heating is already a very viable technology in Ireland.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/EU-Glob_opta_presentation.png


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