Challenges and opportunities in the use of renewable energy
By Eng. B. R. O. Fernando
ENERGY: When nuclear fission power was first becoming a
commercial reality, the fossil fuel dominated the electricity generation
industry and the budding nuclear power industries basked in the glow of
numerous promises and said electricity would be almost free or at the
very least, like water then was not worth metering.
 Water has since become an expensive commodity today, referred to as
"White Gold" and is now widely metered. Today, the basic problem of
nuclear power of ensuring reliable energy at reasonable cost, both in
money and environmental terms, get progressively more difficult.
Electricity is not free. It is most expensive and tapped resources are
as scarce as they always were.
The decision of The Minister of Power and Energy, John Seneviratne,
in presenting The Sustainable Energy Authority Bill in Parliament is
very commendable considering the importance of developing all
economically viable renewable energy resources available in Sri Lanka
Globally it was agreed that each country decide on a policy of reaching
10 per cent of power generation using non conventional renewable energy
by the year 2010.
Sri Lanka lagging behind this global target is no surprise,
considering a delay of two decades to produce the first Coal fired power
station.
However, its determination to reach 10 per cent of its power
generation of 400 MW by 2016 as disclosed by the Minister of Power and
Energy in Parliament should be welcomed by all renewable energy
promoters.
I wish to now elaborate on the steps taken by other countries to
attain this goal of 10per cent by countries the world over . Even our
neighbouring country India has taken positive steps in this direction.
Climate change and global warming
Growing evidence has convinced most of the scientific community that
some degree of climate change is taking place.
There is no conclusive proof that indicates whether the cause of the
climate change is a small glitch in the Sun's output of energy, or
whether it is due to the activities of human kind or both. But the media
and everyone slip easily into the use of phrases like "greenhouse gases"
and "global warming".
Greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere
has doomed the planet Venus to have the hottest planetary surface in the
Solar System, which has resulted in a hellish atmosphere both physically
and chemically.
There are an increasing number of signs that the nature of the
Earth's surface is beginning to change. At no time in modern history has
energy played a more crucial role in the development and well being of
nations than at present.
The source and nature of energy, the security of supply and the
equity of distribution, the environmental impacts of its supply and
utilisation, are all matters which have to be addressed by suppliers,
consumers, governments both rich and poor, industry academia and
financial institutions.
The discussions held in Kyoto and Johannesburg have increased the
awareness of renewable energy. Much effort is still required to make an
appreciable impact on the adoption of renewable energy as a major source
of energy supply world wide.
Contributions made at various forums look optimistically at renewable
energy technologies, both those well established and those that are
still a long way from making a commercial impact. Wind power, passive
and electronic solar energy and certain new methods in the use of
biomass have moved into the normal commercial world.
Technologies such as waves, ocean, thermal and tidal energy and the
hydrogen economy have not, as yet; but the prospects are still good and
the potential benefits are enormous.
Update on renewable energy
When considering global peace and posterity and the contribution
renewable energy can make, the question that we are posed with is
whether it is possible for renewable energy to meet all our energy
demands globally?
Given that four fifths of the world economies come under the
designation of "Developing Country", and that they are found in the
geographical areas which have an excess of 3000 sunshine hours per year,
then by the year 2050 the answer could be Yes.
 Presently Solar thermal applications such as water heating, processed
heat, crop drying and thermal generation are all well established, and
to a lesser extent ceramic making, metal melting and water desalination.
Large hydro schemes are found in South America, Asia and Africa.
Geothermal applications are well established not only in Europe but also
in North and South America and to a degree in Africa.
Biomass usage for heat and electricity generation, energy crops and
residues, liquid gaseous and solid fuels constitute 5 per cent of total
prime energy while the ratio increases to 15per cent in the developing
world.
It is worth mentioning that if we compare CO2 emissions from
electrical power plants, we find that using coal or oil to generate
produces 1110 gm of CO2/kwh; using Gas reduces the figure to 600 gm of
CO2/kwh but using biomass reduces dramatically to 16g of CO2/kwh (Ref.
World Renewable Energy Congress VII Cologne 2002).
On the photovoltaic front which is perhaps the most publicised, use
of renewable energy and thanks to space exploration, we find that cell
and panel efficiency of both Monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon
has increased substantially.
Monocrystalline average efficiency is 17.5per cent and
Polycrystalline average efficiency is 15.5 per cent while in the thin
film technologies the stability and reliability of amorphous silicon has
achieved an average efficiency of 11 per cent.
It is possible to buy a PV system for US $5/Wp (Peak Watt). The UK
government allocated US $15m to be spent on PV applications within
buildings, while the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, USA, Spain
and Japan have all created incentive schemes to provide PV usage.
The real success story in renewable energy lies in the Wind Energy
industry. The cost of electricity produced from wind power has in some
European Countries fallen as low as 4US cents/kWh which is cheaper than
from gas. Europe remains the main market for wind power, followed by USA
and India.
Globally, the growth of wind power during 2001 was in excess of 30per
cent. If this growth rate were maintained, Europe would have 22 per cent
of its electricity supplied from renewable sources by 2010, and globally
by 2020 wind energy will produce 12 per cent of electricity equivalent
to 1200 GW.
In order to achieve this, US $5.2bn must be invested immediately and
rise to a peak investment of US $6.7bn by 2020. The present installed
cost of wind energy, has been reduced to a value of US $675/Kw. Denmark
represents one of the most successful suppliers of wind energy
utilisation.
UK a representative of European Community (EC) Countries has its
energy sources being shared by 38.9per cent from natural gas, 29.1per
cent from Coal, 26.5per cent from nuclear power, 1.5per cent from oil,
2.8per centfrom renewable and waste , and 1.2per cent miscellaneous .
However EC has deemed that the percentage of electricity production
from the renewables must increase to the proportions specified and
achieve the targets by 2010.
Wind energy applications and economics
During the twelve years from 1990 to 2002, World Wind Energy capacity
has doubled every three years. Wind Energy capacity in 1990 which was
2000 MW has reached 25,000 MW in 2002.
The growth rate accelerated in 2001 by 38 per cent. The
representative prices of windfarms and wind turbines and electricity
generation costs depend on factors such as location, the size of the
machines and size of the windfarm.
The growth curve suggests that for every doubling of capacity that
the prices fall by 15per cent. The steady decrease in costs is due to
the move towards larger machines. In 1992 the cheapest machine was rated
at 300 Kw. In 1996 it was about 500 Kw and now around 900 Kw.
At present the prices of the largest turbines are dearer than those
around the 1 MW mark Large turbines means taller turbines which mean
they intercept stronger winds, and this further enhances the attractions
of large machines. The minimum price of wind turbines is about (300/sqm.
of rotor area. Most wind turbines have ratings around 450 W/sqm of rotor
area with a benchmark price of around (670/kW.
Operational Costs fall with the increase in turbine size. The data
obtained from German wind installations show that the prices of
insurance and guarantees both halve approximately as the ratings
increase from 200 to 600 Kw. Total costs fall from around (25/kW/year at
250 Kw size to around (13/Kw/year at 1500 kW . On Shore "balance of
plant" costs typically add 50per cent to turbine costs bringing the
total around US $900-1000/Kw.
At Off Shore however additional costs can almost double the turbine
costs bringing the total to US $1100/Kw upwards. There is a consensus
that the installed costs for offshore wind is now in the region of
US$1400 to US$1600/Kw. The advantages of off shore in many locations is
that the wind speeds are higher, leading to a greater energy
productivity.
Estimates of installed costs range from US$50/Kw which roughly is the
lowest cost for on shore, to US$1500/Kw in a typical offshore cost. For
an on shore farm at US $1000/Kw , declining from around 9.5 US c/kwh at
6.5 m/s to about U 4.5 c/kwh at 9 m/sec.
As the capital costs dominate the calculations, off shore prices at
same wind speeds, and US $1500/Kw are about 50per cent higher, and
prices on shore, at US $750/Kw are about 25per cent lower. At the high
wind speed end these latter prices come within the range of generation
costs for a thermal plant.
The future
Wind industry has delivered impressive reductions in cost and
productivity over the past twenty years. Energy generation prices are
now almost on par with those of the fossil fuels. If wind energy
capacity continues to double every three years or so, accompanied each
time by a 15per cent reduction in wind turbine production costs, there
will be a 30per cent reduction in prices by 2008.
Forecasting electricity prices from the thermal sources of generation
is more difficult, but, at worst generation costs from gas will stay
level at about 3 US c/kwh with gas prices offsetting gains from lower
plant costs and higher efficiency.
At best therefore, wind and gas prices might "Cross Over" around
2008, and at worst around 2009. Also new technological developments
especially in power generation will have the potential to improve the
efficiency of energy recovery.
Biomass industries
Energy from Waste.
Biomass includes a wide range of chemically stored, solar energy
resources, all originating from plant material. Conversion into useful
energy services and products can be undertaken using a wide range of
technological pathways.
Biomass products can vary in scale from simple combustion in domestic
open fires to bio fermentation processes for the treatment of organic
wastes of a community, to a fully commercial complex thermo chemical
reactors in the form of 100 MWe combined heat and power station.
Traditional biomass currently contributes to 12-13per cent of global
primary energy demand, but based mainly in the non sustainable annual
burning of 2x109 t of firewood, 1.3x109 t of crop residue and 1x109 t of
animal dung.
Removal of this material from the land, robs the soil of recycled
nutrients, exposes it to wind erosion, reduces the organic matter
content and reduces the soil rooting depth.
There are generic environmental issues relating to the biomass base.
The USA has fallen behind much of the world in the use of biomass and
other renewable energy forms to produce electricity and steam. Instead
the USA has embraced coal for energy production.
Currently over 52per cent of US power is fuelled by coal. CO2
emissions for US coal fired plants are estimated to be 2.3 million tons
per year. CO2 output of USA has increased by 20per cent since 1990 and
millions of tons of sulphur in the form of SO2 to SO3 are emitted every
year.
Wastes from municipal and industrial services represent an
increasingly important fuel source that can be used to produce heat and
power. These types of wastes are produced worldwide wherever there are
centres of population.
Using these wastes as fuels can have important environmental
benefits. It can provide a safe and cost effective disposal option for
wastes that could otherwise pose significant disposal problems.
The use of waste as a fuel helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions
through displacement of fossil fuels. Methane is a very potent
greenhouse gas, 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
Produced by biodegradable waste and residues such as bagasse ,
ricehusks and sawdust when diverted from landfill and used as a fuel. If
landfill gas is collected and used as a fuel (rather than be allowed to
escape to the atmosphere, methane emissions are avoided).
Any energy that is recovered from biodegradable waste can be regarded
as renewable energy. It comes from plant material (either directly or in
the case of animal wastes or paper indirectly). As plants grow they
absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When this biomass material is
used as a fuel, the CO2 is returned to the atmosphere in a "carbon
neutral" cycle, and the biomass is used to displace fossil fuels.
Instead of being left to decompose naturally, it will actually help
to limit the emission of CO2 and methane into the air. There are many
ways of combining waste disposal with energy recovery. The UK's landfill
gas industry is today one of the most developed in the world. For the
last 15 years, landfill gas has provided UK companies to convert a
potential hazard into a source of renewable energy.
As the industrialized nations make moves towards reducing emissions
to the atmosphere in an effort to stem global warming, landfill gas is
fast becoming one of the chief areas of activity, for developers,
providing, as has been proved in the UK, a low cost, reliable baseload
with clear environmental benefits. Around 600 MW landfill gas capacity
is likely to be commissioned.
Combustion with energy recovery
Waste combustion with energy recovery is an established way to the
disposal of wastes. It decreases the volume of waste and allows for the
recovery of metals and other potentially recyclable fractions. After
further treatment, most of the remaining residue can be combined with
other materials and used as an aggregate material.
Any residue that is landfilled is biologically inactive and does not
generate potentially harmful emissions. The heat recovered from these
plants can be used to generate electricity or can be used for industrial
heat applications.
The size of energy from waste plant is designed to meet the waste
disposal needs of the community taking into account the potential for
waste minimization and recycling. Plants that generate electricity can
typically process between 20,000 and 600,0000 tons per year and from
this they can generate 1 to 40 MW of electricity.
Power is produced from these wastes by using the steam raised in the
combustion process to drive a steam turbine to generate electricity.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is an attractive option when there is a
market for the heat. This could be a factory or district heating system
for a small community.
Advanced thermal technologies
When the waste stream is of a uniform nature, for example if it has
been processed into a homogenous fuel it is more suited to the more
"advanced technologies" such as gasification or pyrolisis.
Gasification
Gasification is one of the newer technologies that is increasingly
being used for waste disposal. It is a thermo-chemical process in which
bio mass is heated in an oxygen deficient atmosphere to produce a low
energy gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. The gas can
be used as a fuel in a turbine or combustion engine to generate
electricity.
Gasifiers fuelled by fossil sources such as coal have been operating
successfully for many years. But they are now increasingly being
developed to accept more mixed fuels, including wastes.
New gas clean-up technology ensured that the resulting gas is
suitable to be burned in a variety of gas engines with a very favourable
emissions profile. Gasifiers operate at a smaller scale than an
incineration plant.
Pyrolisis
Pyrolysis is another emerging technology, sharing many of the
characteristics of gasification. With gasification, partial oxidation of
the waste occurs whilst with pyrolysis the objective is to heat the
waste in the complete absence of oxygen. Gas, liquid and char are
produced in various quantities.
The gas and oil can be processed, stored and transported if necessary
and combusted in an engine, gas turbine or boiler. Char can be recovered
from the residue and used as a fuel, or the residue passed to a gasifier
and the char gasified.
Landfill gas
Energy can also be recovered from waste that had already been
landfilled in the form of landfill gas (also referred to as biogas). In
a process anaerobic bacteria break down the organic fraction of the
landfill in the absence of air, generating a mixture of gases comprising
mainly methane and carbondioxide and oxygen, nitrogen and many hundreds
of trace compounds and gases as well as water vapour and waste products.
The biogas can be collected by drilling wells into the waste and
extracting it as it is formed. After cleaning, it can be used in an
engine or turbine for power generation, or used to provide heat for
industrial purposes situated near the landfill site such as brickworks.
Landfill sites can develop commercial quantities of "landfill gas"
for up to 30 years after the waste had been deposited. The gas is
normally collected from a series of vertical boreholes that have been
purpose drilled into the site.
I mentioned earlier that methane has a greenhouse gas potential of
approximately 21 times that of carbon dioxide and although methane is
eventually oxidised in the atmosphere, the uncontrolled release of
landfill gas contribute significantly to emissions of greenhouse gas and
thus global warming.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that
landfill gas contributed to between 20 million tones and 70 million tons
of methane to the atmosphere in 1990.
Estimated emissions of methane from solid waste disposal within the
15 European Union Countries rose from 7,144,000 tones in 1990 to
7,223,000 tones in 1994 representing the largest single source of
methane and around 33per cent of the total, in the E.U. So removal of
methane emissions and conversion to carbon dioxide provides a valuable
contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. A typical 1
MW landfill gas project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around
30,000 tones/year.
Anaerobic digestion
The biological processes that take place in a landfill site can be
harnessed in a specially designed vessel known as an anaerobic digester
to accelerate the decomposition of wastes. Anaerobic digestion is
typically used on wet wastes, such as sewage, sludge or animal slurries
but the biodegradable fraction of municipal wastes can be added to
wetter wastes to increase the biogas output.
Solar electric power
Solar Electric power has demonstrated its effectiveness and holds
exceptional promise for electrical generation throughout the world. Its
technology makes it suitable for central station installations of
Gigawatt proportions as well as smaller, remote electrification
applications of the 100 Watt size.
Solar is an extremely cost effective way of generating electricity in
remote locations. For industrial services that require small amounts of
power or for isolated homes, grid connection is often impossible or far
too expensive.
Solar is a clean alternative that will dramatically reduce
maintenance costs. Photovoltaic products are proven. But in order to
fulfil the technology expectations of this millennium of producing
significant portions of the world's electricity needs it will require
phased up developments in R&D, through manufacturing.
The traditional concept of a solar cell is that of a solid state
(semiconductor) device which produces useful electricity (direct current
and voltage) from the sun's energy via the photovoltaic effect. Various
solar modules and designs exist that can be integrated into traditional
residential architectural plans.
The direct current electricity generated in the solar modules, is
converted to alternating current (AC) that can be used by most standard
appliances. Some new solar modules have built in inverters.
Batteries are important if you want to store electricity. But you can
eliminate them if you are connected to your local electrical utility
power gird as is prevalent in most developed countries.
Solar Photo Voltaics (PV)
Solar PV is a new and exciting technology which should not be
confused with solar thermal systems. Thermal systems are used to heat
water, whereas solar PV actually generates electricity.
PV technologies have significant long-term potential to provide
sustainable energy for the world's needs. World PV Sales continues to
grow at a rate of 20-30per cent per year and it is estimated that the
world production in 2001 nearly reached, the 400 MW mark. Solar Cell
module shipments continue to increase 25 to 40per cent annually.
The industry roadmap calls for a 25per cent annual growth (surpassed
over the past 4 years worldwide) in meeting the expected demands for PV
products over the next 20 to 30 years. This rate of growth equates to a
doubling of the capacity every 3 years.
The market in UK is still small with only about 5 MW installed. In
fact UK's level of PV power installed per capita is low compared to the
other countries like Japan, USA, Switzerland, Germany and Australia
which are at the top of the rankings. One could say that we are in the
solar age.
PV offers much promise as PV generators are silent, clean in
operation, highly reliable, low maintenance and extremely robust, with
an expected life time of at least 20 to 30 years. They are also very
modular and can be adapted for many locations or easily extended.
Market sectors
The most established market sector for PV is in the power supply for
communications, remote sensing, signaling and research centres, whereas
the alternatives may be unattractive for reasons such as the pollution
and noise caused by some generators, the difficulty of transporting fuel
to an isolated location and maintenance costs.
PV is also widely recognized as a solution to the problem of powering
millions of homes and farms in developing countries, where relatively
small power supplies are needed to provide lighting, radio and TV,
telephones and light industry as well as clinics and schools.
The electricity can be used to directly power an appliance such as a
pump or refrigerator, or it can be converted to AC to power any
conventional electrical appliance. For use at night, the energy can be
stored in a battery, or as water stored in a tank or as cold in a
refrigerator.
The modules can be assembled in any combination to produce different
voltages and power levels. A tiny unit can power a satellite phone, a
large array of modules can generate kilowatts of power for a field
hospital or a village.
The third sector is in the use of PV in buildings including those in
less sunny climates such as Western and Northern Europe. PV has a huge
potential in this sector offering a number of advantages.
When integrated into the fabric of the building, it can displace
other materials, saving some costs. It needs no extra land and it
generates at the point of use, thus reducing transmission losses.
When you bring solar power into domestic housing projects, you are
literally providing landowners with their own power station right there
on the roof. When used for domestic electricity supply, it will displace
purchased electricity and export surplus to the network, as will be
evidenced by the meter readings.
The rapid growth of building integrated PV in 'grid connected
distribution' represents primarily PV in buildings. The installed
capacity in 20 reporting countries carried out in a survey is growing
rapidly.
This survey excludes developing country markets. But there, the
emphasis is on rural, off grid, solar home systems which together
account for probably less than 100 MW compared to 700 MW included in
this survey.
Off grid electricity continues to grow significantly in real terms
due to international agency funded programmes. However the building
integrated PV is the real star in terms of growth.
In theory, if a PV installation replaces the more expensive
conventional building materials, it can be shown to be fully economic.
In practice this is not generally the case at present, unless there is a
considerable incentive available for the installation.
Governments that are keen to encourage growth in the PV industry
stimulate it by taking the technology a step closer to full
commercialization This is the stance adopted by the nations which lead
the field in per capita installation listed in the survey. Funding for
R&D and per capita spending here is also led by these nations with
around 50per cent of the world total originating in Japan.
Incentives
On incentives in 1996, the 70,000 Roofs programme in Japan was
subsidised 50per cent to buy a US $ 11/W systems down to US $ 5.50/W.
The present subsidy is 10per cent to get to the same US $5.50/W system.
This indicates the price reduction due to increase in production.
The UK government recently announced a three year solar PV grants
programme of Å“ 20 million. Part of this money is offered to domestic
home owners who want to generate their own clean electricity, provided
the applicants meet certain criteria they could receive up to 50per cent
of the cost of their solar system. Similar incentive programmes are
carried out in USA, Germany, Switzerland and other EU Countries.
Costs
Current cost of an installed PV system varies considerably depending
on the supply route chosen and the scale of the project. PV modules are
already a worldwide market and ex factory prices are about Å“ 3000 per Kw
in bulk.
The installation, including wiring and a DC/AC inverter and network
connection will double the cost. However costs have fallen dramatically,
and further reductions to a quarter of today's level, with out a major
technological breakthrough.
PRODUCTS used in the early building projects using PV were standard
industrial modules that did not integrate with the buildings. But today
there is a much greater choice. Large area modules can be made to fit
standard facades and cladding systems of larger buildings.
With new development in R&D, a variety of roof tiles and sheet
materials with new sheet materials are in the market and they are
purpose - designed mounting and integration systems to improve
appearance and weather proofing as well as to make the installation
process easier.
Recent UK installations have used PV that is mounted on tiles,
integrated into glass slates which are indistinguishable from real
slates at a distance. Products such as sunslates and solar shingles can
be fully integrated and look like normal roof tiles. These can replace
existing roof coverings, or be introduced to the roofing structures of
homes under construction.
Solar heating systems
The use of solar technologies and systems to provide electricity for
lighting and for hot water and heating can contribute significantly
towards the worldwide demand for an increasing level of energy supplied
from renewable sources.
As with all sources of renewable energy, the use of solar thermal
systems can reduce our dependence on fossil fuel and help to combat
adverse environmental impacts such as climate change and poor air
quality.
Many of the technologies for producing hot water using the energy of
the sun are already established. While new technological developments
will help to maximize the cost effectiveness of energy recovery.
Solar collectors is the heart of a solar water heating system. There
are three main types
(1) Hot Plate
(2) Evacuated tube and
(3) Concentrating (parabolic) collectors. Solar water heating systems
can be direct systems, active or passive.
In direct systems, potable water is simply circulated through the
solar collector and the resulting hot water is returned to a storage
tank ready for use. In an indirect system heat from a special
circulating fluid is transferred to potable water in the hot water
storage tank via the 'heat exchanger'.
Both types of systems can be either active or passive. That is fluid
can be circulated with or without the use of an electric pump. These
pumps have a very small power requirement and may be powered by small
photovoltaic panels.
As applications in the use of solar energy reduces the consumption of
fossil fuels, it can make a significant contribution towards reducing
the harmful impacts of using conventional sources of energy. Solar Water
Heating Systems can be used for a wide range of applications.
Although in the past the provision of domestic hot water to
individual households in Europe had been the main market, the technology
is now increasingly being applied to larger buildings and establishments
that demand large quantities of hot water such as shower blocks,
kitchens, hotels and laundaries Solar heating is also ideal for
providing hot water to accommodation sites at remote locations without a
mains supply.
Active (pumped) indirect systems are used most often for larger
facilities. At the opposite end of the scale, unglazed direct systems
for heating swimming pools are particularly cost effective.
The United States utilises 800 GW of electricity and 100 GW goes from
PV. Followed up with the September 11 terrorist attack serious thought
is being given for PV technology.
A conservative calculation has shown that the sun shining on a
photovoltaic system within a 100 mile square area in the South West
dessert or a 17 mile square in each of the 50 states of United States of
America will be sufficient to provide all the energy required by the
Country.
It will be of interest to see the oil reserves in the World, and the
impact PV is driving as a catalyst to reduce the use of fossil energy.
Oil reserves in the world
Oil Reserves Consumes
Saudi Arabia 26% USA 26%
Iraq 11% Japan 07%
Kuwait 10% Germany 06%
Iran 09% Russia 03%
UAE 08% Venezuela 06%
Russia 05% Mexico 03%
Libya 02% USA 02%
The fear of war and terrorist attacks have now made governments the
world over to rethink and make maximum use of the technological
developments in the field of Renewable Energy.
Sri Lanka should have planned for the future to have 10% of renewable
energy by 2010. But now it will be in 2016.
The rapidly expanding functions of the Renewable Sector worldwide is
comparable to that of the oil and gas sectors in the early 1970s. This
positive role continues today and the UK content in domestic oil and gas
project is around 70per cent.
The experience gained from 40 years, on oil and gas will undoubtedly
contribute to the development of renewables. As part of the climate
change strategy the government policy on renewables in countries in the
European Union, UK, USA and other countries worldwide has been to
establish a target for Renewables Obligation of 10per cent of the total
electricity supply in each country, by the year 2010, recognizing the
renewable's contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
This will be achieved by the requirement placed on electricity supply
companies to source an increasing proportion of their supply from "green
energy". Companies failing to do this have the option of buying out of
their "obligation" at an initial US$42.5/MWh, with such monies paid
distributed among those companies that did meet their obligation.
In such a scenario, wind power will be an obvious winner offering as
it does rapid deployment of electricity generating plant at the lowest
prices, anywhere in the European Union. The world's largest wind farm
came on line in US in March 2002 with a capacity of 300 MW.
Wind power is a technology that has very wide support especially in
UK, with offshore and onshore wind the most strongly supported.
Energy from waste makes up a useful part of an integrated waste
management system. Furthermore, renewable and greenhouse reduction
targets require the exploitation and support of all available clear
technologies Landfill gas clearly offers a large potential for the
development of projects in countries where carbon certification will
provide a degree of financial support to the investment required.
Although the value of carbon ranges from less than US$1/tonne to over
$ 5/tonne, it is estimated that worldwide potential for landfill gas
will grow to 9000 MWe by the year 2010 allowing the development of a
carbon market which may have a value of $ 1 billion.
Future for PV will be high profile projects and will undoubtedly
encourage the take up of PV systems from countries world wide. With
advances made on R & D and efficiency levels, the potential for overseas
market will be large and USA and UK will benefit from these markets.
Technological development and cost reduction will progress. However
there will be a need to continue to identify and reduce the numerous
regulatory and institutional barriers that exist - such as network
connection issues, national and international standards, accreditation
and training for the growing industry, access to finance in developing
countries and to support R & D. R & D plans for the next few years have
been set up by various governments in the developed countries.
Twenty five years ago the PV industry was predicting price reductions
in 2001 which have been met.
Today with new solar - to - electricity conversion technologies in
the laboratory and manufacturing and market distribution mechanisms,
gearing up, further comparable reductions are predicted over the next 20
years, A recent report from the UK's Cabinet office, on 'Renewable
Energy in the UK - Building for the Future of the Environment' states
that PV could become an important and cost effective option for
decentralized power generation in the UK, probably by 2020.
The Drivers of Renewable Energy are
* Energy Diversity and Security
* Cost and Practicality
* Pollution and Emission Control
* World Growth Sector
We could see the need for the Renewable Energy that the World expects
from the year 2000. Governments the World over rich and poor countries
are going a big way towards attaining this goal.
Renewable Energy Plan of India up to 2012 has been planned. We in Sri
Lanka too should have planned for Renewable Energy till 2012. We are
aware that various agencies in Sri Lanka are involved with renewable
energy projects for mini and micro hydro, wind energy, from waste, and
solar photo voltaics.
But the government should have a plan and ensure that 10per cent of
the country's capacity in energy is added on using Renewable Energy.
Research has been carried out in the developed countries.
What is necessary is a commitment from the Government of Sri Lanka to
keep in line with the world energy scenario capacity up to 2050 and
ensure phased up development by giving incentives and also exemption
from customs duties for photovoltaic equipment. Such action will
definitely help to reduce CO2 emissions and use of fossil based energy.
We expect Sri Lanka will not lag behind on Renewable Energy
development projects and will ensure transparency in the selection of
such projects up to 50 MW and will join other world governments and take
the challenge to make use of a planned Renewable Energy Programme to add
at least 10per cent (400 MW) to the total electricity capacity by 2016.
We hope the New Sustainable Energy Authority to be formed will be
manned by professionals who are capable of attaining the identified
goals and targets and will electrify others into action.
If the new Authority give a Friendly atmosphere to the various stake
holders and also ensure that the projects selected are both technically
feasible and economically viable with benefits accruing to the country
at large then the Sustainable Energy Authority will definitely be a
beacon of light to be emulated by other institutions.
The writer a Consulting Engineer is a Past President of The
Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka and a former Vice Chairman of The
Ceylon Electricity Board He is an Internationals Steering Committee
Member of The World Renewable Energy Network (WREN / Council (WREC) |
