Baseload: overrated?

Talk renewables and the first doubt voiced is how do we address the intermittency issue? Inevitably one looks for baseload! Who better than Germany to ask! How did Germany switch over directly from nuclear to renewables without first relying on ramped-up coal use during the transition? As a new study shows, renewables completely ‘obliterate’ the need for baseload power. The study’s main question was: How will intermittent wind and solar power affect the grid? And how much electricity will need to be stored?

Dispatchable power generators will mainly have to be flexible, but this requirement can be met in all of the scenarios. And up to a 40% share of renewables, the cost of power storage (or otherwise lost excess power production) remains moderate, only raising the cost of power by 10% in the worst case, Renewables International says.

Renewables International had already found based on its calculations that Germany won’t need to make any real changes to its grid and won’t need very much power storage if it meets the targets that it currently has set for wind and solar. If the targets are met, Germany will get around 40% of its electricity from renewables. As a comparison, it got around 25% of their electricity from renewable sources during the first half of 2012. So far, the effect has mostly been to offset power from natural gas, but it’s been increasingly “cutting into the baseload.” Denmark, which is already sourcing over 40% of its power from renewable sources, hasn’t had to create any major power storage infrastructure so far.

To move beyond 40% to 80% renewable power (the target for around 2050), Germany could need as much as 14 GW of short-term and 18 GW of seasonal power storage to meet its peak power demand of around 80 GW in the moderate scenario. At that point, power prices would be roughly 10% greater than in 2011, but reaching 100% renewable power will be quite expensive indeed. The German engineers estimate that the final 20% will triple the need for power storage, raising prices once again by around 19%. Not only will nuclear disappear but coal power use will fall off, nearly disappearing by the time the country sources 80% of its electricity from renewable sources.

The country’s phaseout of coal power is based not on an official policy, but rather on a general understanding among experts in the power sector that the switch to renewables will gradually obliterate the need for baseload power, says the study. And if Germany can do it, any reason why others can’t?

FITs best

The quota model for renewable energy does not work as well as feed-in tariff models. In a report recently published by Germany’s Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien (Renewable Energy Agency), the feed-in tariff system was shown to deliver a lower cost to consumers than quota systems.

The majority of the EU’s member states use some sort of feed-in tariff system, in which investments are made into renewable energy according to the cost of producing the energy. As time goes on, often the investments are reduced to encourage lower production costs over time.

The rest use a quota system, known in the United States as Renewable Portfolio Standards or Renewable Energy Standards. Here, the prices end users pay for wind energy is consistently and considerably higher than the prices paid in member states with feed-in tariffs. This runs counter to the idea that quota systems are supposed to reward cheap tech and deliver the lowest-cost electricity possible to consumers.

Germany is a model of the feed-in tariff system, having embraced wind energy to the tune of 29,000 MW. A large portion of its wind capacity is located in less than ideal locations — mainly, in mid-Germany. And yet, according to the Renewable Energy Agency, Germans pay €0.089/kWh for wind energy. Compare the United Kingdom, which has much greater wind-producing potential but also a quota system. It would seem easier to produce electricity via wind and therefore lower production costs, leading to lower prices. That would be wrong. Consumers there pay €0.108/kWh.

Feed in tariffs are not without their drawbacks but are still the best bet for encouraging investment in renewables.

What a waste

As a city like Bangalore struggles to tackle its 5000 tonnes of waste generated daily, with residents near landfills up in arms, it seems a logical solution to turn this waste to wealth. In the UK a 60MW energy-from-waste plant in Cheshire backed by Tata Chemicals and E.ON has just been given government approval. Consent was required for the construction of the £250m plant at Lostock, Northwich, after taking into account concerns around its potential health and visual impacts, as well the implications for traffic safety and the local environment. The Lostock plant deals with about 600,000 tonnes of waste-derived fuel a year. This waste has had all the economically recyclable materials removed and would otherwise be sent to landfill for disposal.

There are already umpteen such plants around the world generating power and it would make sense to study the pitfalls and learn well in time. Plans are on in Bangalore to set up a biogas plant among some other waste to energy plans with biomethanation plants taking 3 months to set up. Even these will not be effective if segregation is not done. Supreme Court guidelines say WTE can be an option only if the waste cannot be recycled or composted. Much of the waste, if segregated, can be composted. Segregation will have to start at homes.
So what is a better option – to compost or generate power? Any ideas?

Lo, presto and waste dissapears!

Just close your eyes and picturise the amount of waste we humans are spewing out every moment. Take plastic bags for instance: 1 trillion bags are produced every year and 3.5 tonnes by weight are discarded every year! It takes around 1000 years for a bag to degrade! Obviously, every one of them we have made is still around!

E-waste is another growing class of waste. Around 50 million tones are discarded every year. This could go up by 500 percent in another decade, says the UNEP! Recycling is one way out but complete recycling is still a distant hope.

Hopefully, research is on to tackle this problem. A team of U.S. scientists at University of Illinios says it has developed a class of biodegradable electronics technology that could be utilized for a wide range of products — from consumer devices to medical implants — and that ultimately would dissolve completely, leaving no environmental impacts.

The technology has been used experimentally to make transistors, diodes, temperature sensors, and solar cells that degrade completely in even tiny amounts of water, the researchers say. The devices are encapsulated in silk, enabling manufacturers to alter the rate of dissolution based on the structure of the silk used. According to John Rogers, leader of the research team, the technology could be used for a myriad of electronic devices that end up in landfills; for environmental monitoring equipment, such as sensors used in oil spills; and for medical implants needed for short-term diagnostic or therapeutic functions.

That still leaves us with all the plastic…

The frozen warriors

Small rooftop wind generators are being increasingly installed in many cities in India. But the issue is that wind speeds are below required rates in most places. Surprisingly the subsidy given by MNRE places no criteria as to which zone the installations are permitted in. Geographically, experts say that hardly 10% area is suitable for wind machines as wind power is proportional to cube of velocity. A 1000 watt machine designed for 12 m/sec velocity generates less than 100 watt at half wind speed of 6m/sec and ceases to generate at 4 m/sec. They remain like battle showpieces perched on housetops!

What is the solution in such a scenario? Why can’t the state renewable development agencies offer consultancy solutions to households opting for such units? Instead of rushing to pitch in and go self-reliant in every which way, people need to be educated on what is the best locally available resource. Witness the recent scramble in Bangalore to segregate waste at source, and the resultant mandate on large apartment blocks left high and dry to do composting of wet waste independently.  The situation could have been avoided if citizens were prepared in advance. Should PV panels be placed on rooftops? What are the maintenance conditions? Do manufacturers bother to educate buyers? What the sensitive citizen needs today is not to be confronted with a wide array of possible solutions but a consultant giving wise choices. Like with everything else, one size does not fit all and each case presents a new possibility.

Not too far

Climate change is already contributing to the deaths of nearly 400,000 people a year and costing the world more than $1.2 trillion, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP, according to a new study. By 2030, the researchers estimate, the cost of climate change and air pollution combined will rise to 3.2% of global GDP, with the world's least developed countries forecast to bear the brunt, suffering losses of up to 11% of their GDP.

The impacts are being felt most keenly in developing countries, according to the research, where damage to agricultural production from extreme weather linked to climate change is contributing to deaths from malnutrition, poverty and their associated diseases.

Air pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels is also separately contributing to the deaths of at least 4.5m people a year. The 331-page study, entitled Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet was carried out by the DARA group, a non-governmental organisation based in Europe, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum. It was written by more than 50 scientists, economists and policy experts, and commissioned by 20 governments.

Climate change is not necessarily a long-term problem. Scientists have been alarmed by the increasingly rapid melting of Arctic sea ice. Some research suggests that this melting could be linked to cold, dull and rainy summers in parts of Europe. In the US, this year's severe drought has raised food prices and in India the disruption to the monsoon has caused widespread damage to farmers. Yet, we fail to rise to the challenge.

UK renews hopes

According to a latest research conducted by alternative energy analysts at GlobalData, UK’s renewable energy installed capacity is expected to match the dominant thermal energy sector by 2025. Aggressive government policies and support are expected to be a key reason for a drastic shift in the UK’s energy mix by 2025.

The report determines that the renewable energy industry is the fastest-growing segment in the UK’s power sector, and is expected to climb significantly from 11,000 MW of installed capacity recorded last year.

The report predicted that, by 2025, cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy will reach up to 79,000 MW, which is just 2,000 MW less than the anticipated capacity of thermal power capacity at that time.

According to the report, the wind energy sector is expected to grow at the fastest pace — from 6,000 MW in 2011, to 53,000 MW in 2025. Solar photovoltaics is also expected to show strong growth — from just 1,000 MW in 2011, to 13,338 MW in 2025. Many hurdles there, but as starters that is good news.