Renewable energy systems have rapidly become more efficient and cheaper over the past 30 years. A large majority of worldwide newly installed electricity capacity is now renewable. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, have seen significant cost reductions over the past decade, making them more competitive with traditional fossil fuels. In most countries, photovoltaic solar or onshore wind are the cheapest new-build electricity. From 2011 to 2021, renewable energy grew from 20% to 28% of global electricity supply. Power from sun and wind accounted for most of this increase, growing from a combined 2% to 10%. Use of fossil energy shrank from 68% to 62%. In 2022, renewables accounted for 30% of global electricity generation, and are projected to reach over 42% by 2028. Many countries already have renewables contributing more than 20% of their total energy supply, with some generating over half or even all their electricity from renewable sources.
The main motivation to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is to slow and eventually stop climate change, which is widely agreed to be caused mostly by greenhouse gas emissions. In general, renewable energy sources cause much lower emissions than fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency estimates that to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, 90% of global electricity generation will need to be produced from renewable sources. Renewables also cause much less air pollution than fossil fuels, improving public health, and are less noisy.
The deployment of renewable energy still faces obstacles, especially fossil fuel subsidies, lobbying by incumbent power providers, and local opposition to the use of land for renewables installations. Like all mining, the extraction of minerals required for many renewable energy technologies also results in environmental damage. In addition, although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. (Full article...)
A protest group was formed to resist the proposed construction, and attracted support from the botanist and environmental campaigner David Bellamy. Despite the opposition, planning permission was granted in 2005 and construction began in 2007. Although work on the project was hampered by harsh weather, difficult terrain, and previous mining activity, the wind farm was officially opened on 25 September 2008 after "years of controversy", at a cost of £50 million.
In 2012 Peel Energy sold its 50% share in the facility to Munich Re's asset management division MEAG. The other 50% holding was also purchased by MEAG from HgCapital Renewable Power Partners. (Full article...)
"Wind power is widely seen as the source of renewable energy with the best chance of competing with fossil-fuel power stations in the near term." – The Economist Technology Quarterly, 12 June 2010, p. 12.
"In 2009, a total of 38,103 MW of new wind installations were recorded, with the total installed global wind power capacity now standing at 160 GW. This represents an increase in cumulative installations of 31%, and a 35% rise in the rate of annual installations. This was the fifth year in a row with record installations, albeit a slightly lower rate compared with the 42% achieved in 2008." – BTM Wind Market ReportRenewable Energy World, 20 July 2010.
The Tataragi Dam serving the Okutataragi Hydroelectric Power Station is one of the largestpumped-storage power stations in the world, and the largest in Japan.
Image 7Energy from wind, sunlight or other renewable energy is converted to potential energy for storage in devices such as electric batteries or higher-elevation water reservoirs. The stored potential energy is later converted to electricity that is added to the power grid, even when the original energy source is not available. (from Wind power)
Image 8Cost development of solar PV modules per watt (from Solar energy)
Image 13Onshore wind cost per kilowatt-hour between 1983 and 2017 (from Wind power)
Image 14Wind turbines such as these, in Cumbria, England, have been opposed for a number of reasons, including aesthetics, by some sectors of the population. (from Wind power)
Image 15Geothermal power station in the Philippines (from Geothermal energy)
Image 16Typical components of a wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position (from Wind power)
Image 23A turbine blade convoy passing through Edenfield in the U.K. (2008). Even longer 2-piece blades are now manufactured, and then assembled on-site to reduce difficulties in transportation. (from Wind power)
Image 24Electricity generation at Ohaaki, New Zealand (from Geothermal energy)
Image 28Enhanced geothermal system 1:Reservoir 2:Pump house 3:Heat exchanger 4:Turbine hall 5:Production well 6:Injection well 7:Hot water to district heating 8:Porous sediments 9:Observation well 10:Crystalline bedrock (from Geothermal energy)
Image 31Seasonal cycle of capacity factors for wind and photovoltaics in Europe under idealized assumptions. The figure illustrates the balancing effects of wind and solar energy at the seasonal scale (Kaspar et al., 2019). (from Wind power)
Image 32Global map of wind speed at 100 meters on land and around coasts. (from Wind power)
Image 34Distribution of wind speed (red) and energy (blue) for all of 2002 at the Lee Ranch facility in Colorado. The histogram shows measured data, while the curve is the Rayleigh model distribution for the same average wind speed. (from Wind power)
Image 35Concentrated solar panels are getting a power boost. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will be testing a new concentrated solar power system – one that can help natural gas power plants reduce their fuel usage by up to 20 percent.[needs update] (from Solar energy)
Image 41Electricity generation at Wairakei, New Zealand (from Geothermal energy)
Image 42Electricity generation at Poihipi, New Zealand (from Geothermal energy)
Image 43Parabolic dish produces steam for cooking, in Auroville, India. (from Solar energy)
Image 44Share of electricity production from wind, 2022 (from Wind power)
Image 45The Hoover Dam in the United States is a large conventional dammed-hydro facility, with an installed capacity of 2,080 MW. (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 46Hydro generation by country, 2021 (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 53Museum Hydroelectric power plant "Under the Town" in Užice, Serbia, built in 1900. (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 54A panoramic view of the United Kingdom's Whitelee Wind Farm with Lochgoin Reservoir in the foreground. (from Wind power)
Image 55Acceptance of wind and solar facilities in one's community is stronger among U.S. Democrats (blue), while acceptance of nuclear power plants is stronger among U.S. Republicans (red). (from Wind power)
Image 56The Warwick Castle water-powered generator house, used for the generation of electricity for the castle from 1894 until 1940 (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 57Merowe Dam in Sudan. Hydroelectric power stations that use dams submerge large areas of land due to the requirement of a reservoir. These changes to land color or albedo, alongside certain projects that concurrently submerge rainforests, can in these specific cases result in the global warming impact, or equivalent life-cycle greenhouse gases of hydroelectricity projects, to potentially exceed that of coal power stations. (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 58Krafla Geothermal Station in northeast Iceland (from Geothermal energy)
Image 59Share of electricity production from hydropower, 2022 (from Hydroelectricity)
Image 60Global map of wind power density potential (from Wind power)
![Image 35Concentrated solar panels are getting a power boost. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will be testing a new concentrated solar power system – one that can help natural gas power plants reduce their fuel usage by up to 20 percent.[needs update] (from Solar energy)](https://businessmakeronline.club/javaburnreview?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3APhoto_of_the_Week-_Boosting_Solar_Technology_%288722948189%29.jpg)
