Concerning the global-scale introduction of renewable energies: Technical and economic challenges
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REVIEW Concerning the global-scale introduction of renewable energies: Technical and economic challenges
David Faiman, A. Yersin Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Israel Address all correspondence to David Faiman at [email protected] (Received 03 February 2014; accepted 30 April 2014)
ABSTRACT The paper argues that solar photovoltaic or wind systems would need to be implemented at a rate of hundreds of gigawatts each year to obviate the continuing worldwide growth of fossil-fueled electricity generation. It suggests that an electricity consumption tax could constitute a sustainable mechanism for funding such an endeavor. It is observed that the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide rose by approximately 16 Gt in 2012. A non-negligible contribution to this increase must surely have come from the 35 Gt of CO2 emitted by fossil fuel consumption that year, of which 11 Gt came from fossil-fueled electricity generation (FFEG). Yet, new FFEG plants continue to be built. Although it is questionable whether economic forces would permit a halt to the construction of such plants, it is argued that, from the perspectives of technology, manufacturing capability, land availability, and cost, it could be feasible to use solar photovoltaic and wind plants to provide for the annual increase in the worldwide need for electricity. However, the required capital expenditure cost of approximately US$ 0.5 trillion per year might be difficult to raise by conventional methods for funding renewable energy plants. A number of alternative funding mechanisms are examined. Among them, an electricity consumption tax is found to be capable of providing an assured amount of regular funding on this scale. In North America and Europe, such a tax would add approximately 1 US¢/kWh to present electricity tariffs. In other regions, it would amount to an addition of 2–5 US¢/kWh. Keywords: environment; energy; photovoltaics
DISCUSSION POINTS • The problem of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is so large that there is nothing we can do about it. • The problem is enormous, but economic forces would prevent us from doing anything. • The problem might be solvable if China and the USA would jointly adopt a Manhattan-like project approach.
Introduction The increasing interest in renewable energy that has manifested itself on a worldwide scale in recent years has come about due to four factors: (i) Concerns about securing continued
supplies of energy for those countries that have hitherto depended heavily on imported fossil fuel; (ii) Concerns that fossil fuel requirements will continue to rise worldwide; (iii) Concerns about dwindling fossil fuel resources; (iv) Concerns about the environmental impact of the increasing use of fossil fuels, a concern that has been exacerbated by the recent development and exploitation of methods1 for extracting large amounts of natural gas that were hitherto deemed inaccessible. Among these concerns, the f
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