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The Goldilocks Problem – Renewable Energy

 The Goldilocks Problem

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD by Tam Hunt, Community Environmental Council December 30, 2008 “…………….Regarding the goldilocks problem of renewable energy, it’s important to be aware of the costs and feasibility of the various market segments. I divide the renewable energy market into three segments: small-scale (one megawatt (MW) and less); medium-scale (one to twenty MW); and large-scale (above 20 MW)………..

The advantage of small-scale renewables like rooftop solar photovoltaics is that they can be built relatively quickly due to fewer permitting hurdles. They also take advantage of rooftops or parking lots, so don’t require disturbing large amounts of land. Even though there are still permitting problems in many jurisdictions, conditions have improved remarkably in recent years. At the same time, the general public has become more tolerant of seeing solar panels on rooftops. And installers have become more adept at installing small installations tastefully.

The primary downside to small-scale renewables is that they are often still relatively expensive. It also requires a lot of small-scale renewables to add up to a large-scale impact in terms of climate change mitigation or energy independence……………………So what should policymakers do? Which size is “just right”? Again, we need all the renewable energy we can get – and quickly. So while the answer does depend on many facts specific to each case, the complete answer is that no size is just right — we need them all. But we should also keep in mind that there are tradeoffs for each market segment.

The Goldilocks Problem – Renewable Energy World

Tags: renewables

December 31, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY