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The new Renewable Industrial Revolution- nuclear power is so, so yesterday

Power of renewables is sweeping the world towards a new revolution, Business Live, 08 MAY 2017 – 05:57 MICHAEL POWER, I am not going to write about nuclear power. By the end of this article, you will know why. The global economy is on the cusp of its Fourth Industrial Revolution. And like the previous three, this one will be driven by — quite literally — a concentrated burst of energy. In the early 19th century, the original Industrial Revolution was based on harnessing steam energy; in the late 19th century, the second followed with the employment of electrical energy; in the late 20th century, the third was built on the exploitation of computing energy. And, as will become all too apparent in the coming decade, the fourth will be rooted in renewable energy.

Such supercharged progress is born from mixing the most basic laws in the universe, thermodynamics, with economics. When humanity harnesses a higher form of energy, we are capable of doing much greater amounts of work with it. And much greater wealth results. There is nothing more to it. Nor less.

We are leaving the age when, to generate power, we exploited minerals that we found underneath the earth’s surface: coal, oil, uranium. Henceforth, we will increasingly access assets above the earth’s surface: the sun and the wind, with water and steam in various forms playing supporting roles. And not only is the harnessing of these energy sources essentially renewable, the side-effects in terms of pollution will be next to negligible. The production of these new energies will be extraordinarily safe. And the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be a game-changer because once renewable power capacity is installed, the marginal cost of energy production from it will be close to zero.

How soon will this happen? It is already happening. Trusted Sources estimate that, in 2016, more than 60% of all new energy installations worldwide were in the renewable space. By 2020, they predict that share will be 100%. Thus, within three years, the share of energy generation worldwide attributable to traditional sources will be declining.

Wind power is already having a huge affect in colder countries in the northern hemisphere: Scotland, Denmark and Germany have days when renewables, led by wind, provide all their energy needs. Solar power is starting to be used much more in regions between the 45° north and south latitudes, which embraces virtually all inhabited regions in the southern hemisphere. Our Cape Agulhas is 35° south.

While the whole world will participate in this revolution to varying degrees, industrially it will be driven by China………

Perhaps the most radical breakthrough has been made by using molten salt to absorb energy in the day and release it at night: Spain’s 150MW Andasol solar power station uses this method, doubling the power plant’s operational hours. It has been very successfully employed in Chile’s Atacama Desert, now dubbed the Saudi Arabia of Solar Power. The Karoo is SA’s equivalent of the Atacama.

One of the most extraordinary advantages of solar is that it can easily and cost effectively be installed on a micro scale, making it particularly applicable for emerging markets. A panel can work for just one household and not need to be connected to a grid. This has spawned a supply revolution in regions where grid coverage is patchy.

Companies connecting panels to mobile payment systems have flourished: Kenya’s M-Kopa is but one example. And the results of this have spread into many corners of society: one estimate has it that, because homework can now be done at night, exam results for children living in solar-connected houses have improved 40%. As the immutable laws of thermodynamics dictate, energy is translated into work! New sources of energy that become readily accessible to the poor are what make these industrial advances so revolutionary.

As with all previous industrial revolutions, the breakthrough in harnessing a new energy source spawns myriad secondary developments that are dependent on it. ……

Invariably there are vested interests connected to old energy that will seek to slow this coming revolution. But plans to install old energy capacity in a world fast migrating to renewables is economic lunacy. So, the reason I am not writing about nuclear power should be abundantly clear: it is so, so yesterday. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2017-05-08-power-of-renewables-is-sweeping-the-world-towards-a-new-revolution/

May 10, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

Wind and solar now the cheapest source of new electricity power – even without subsidies

A major reason why installations increased, even though dollars invested fell, was a sharp reduction in capital costs for solar photovoltaics, onshore and offshore wind,” the report said.

At the same time, because of the drop in prices, last year, the overall investment in renewable energy plummeted 23% to $241.6 billion from the record established in 2015; it was the lowest total investment since 2013.

Investment in new renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuel generation in 2016, for the fifth successive year. The proportion of global electricity coming from renewable sources rose from 10.3% in 2015 to 11.3% in 2016, and prevented the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatons of CO2.

Unsubsidized wind and solar now the cheapest source for new electric power http://www.computerworld.com/article/3190409/sustainable-it/unsubsidized-wind-and-solar-now-the-cheapest-source-for-new-electric-power.html Between 2015 and 2021, China is expected to install 40% of all worldwide wind energy and 36% of all solar, By Lucas Mearian Senior Reporter, Computerworld | APR 17, 2017, While investments in renewable energy slumped last year, a big drop in unsubsidized costs for new wind and solar power installations indicated that they remain popular energy alternatives.

Last year, the average “levelized cost” or total cost of generating power from solar worldwide dropped 17% percent, onshore wind costs dropped 18% and offshore wind turbine power costs fell 28%, according to a new report from the United Nations and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

Well, after the dramatic cost reductions of the past few years, unsubsidized wind and solar can provide the lowest cost new electrical power in an increasing number of countries, even in the developing world — sometimes by a factor of two,” Michael Liebreich, chairman of the Advisory Board at BNEF, said in the report.

The average capital cost for solar power projects of new construction in 2016 was 13% lower than in 2015, while for onshore wind the drop was 11.5% and for offshore wind, 10%.

It’s a whole new world: even though investment is down, annual installations are still up; instead of having to subsidize renewables, now authorities may have to subsidize natural gas plants to help them provide grid reliability,” Liebreich said.

Last year, more gigawatts of solar power were added (75GW) than of any other technology for the first time. Trailing behind solar, in order of net gigawatts installed, were wind, coal, gas, large hydroelectric, nuclear and biomass.

Renewable energy accounted for 55% of new worldwide power last year, or a total of 138.5 gigawatts (GW). That compares with 127.5GW of new renewable energy in 2015; and renewable power installed in 2016 was done so at a cost 23% lower than 2015, the report showed.

Since 2010, the dollars committed per year to new renewable energy worldwide — excluding hydroelectric — have increased roughly five-fold, and have since oscillated between $234 billion and $312 billion, the report said.

A major reason why installations increased, even though dollars invested fell, was a sharp reduction in capital costs for solar photovoltaics, onshore and offshore wind,” the report said.

At the same time, because of the drop in prices, last year, the overall investment in renewable energy plummeted 23% to $241.6 billion from the record established in 2015; it was the lowest total investment since 2013.

Investment in new renewables capacity was roughly double that in fossil fuel generation in 2016, for the fifth successive year. The proportion of global electricity coming from renewable sources rose from 10.3% in 2015 to 11.3% in 2016, and prevented the emission of an estimated 1.7 gigatons of CO2.

Smart energy hardware such as smart meters, energy storage sources and associated IoT technologies also saw record investments last year. Asset finance for smart meters and energy storage, plus equity raised for specialist companies in energy efficiency, storage and electric vehicles, totalled a record $41.6 billion last year. That was up 29%.

In the U.S., utilities and private energy companies are increasingly investing in smart grid technology, including microgrids.

China now leads the world in renewable investments

China is now the world leader in domestic investments in renewable energy. In 2015, it invested $103 billion, a 17% increase in spending year over year — twice as much as the U.S. invested. The country is now actively pursuing a “global” strategy, which aims for a Pan-Asian development approach.

In 2016, China increased its foreign investments in renewable energy by 60% year over year to $32 billion, according to a January report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)

China will install 36% of all global hydro electricity generation capacity from 2015-2021, according to the report. During the same period, it will install 40% of all worldwide wind energy and 36% of all solar, the IEEFA said.

“A change in leadership in the U.S. is likely to widen China’s global leadership in industries of the future, building China’s dominance in these sectors in terms of technology, investment, manufacturing and employment,”

April 19, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment