I wrote back in May about the growth of renewables in electricity generation. It was a positive picture. Today's post is a somewhat more sober one.
A recent BP report says that world-wide solar energy generation grew by 38% last year. However, solar and wind still made up less than 3% of global energy demand. At present growth rates, this will reach 8% by 2015, or so BP says. As costs (particularly of solar) continue to fall, however, this will probably help boost the growth rate. Even so, it will be a while before unsubsidised solar will be competitive with gas — although if you factor in gas's externalities, that might be much sooner. But nobody will be doing that any time soon.
The problems of intermittency loom large: no solar power at night or when it's cloudy; no wind power when there's no wind — or too much of it. Better storage, and, say, a pan-European / North African smart energy grid are needed. No sign of those either.
Although we remain pleased with the output and reliability of the power station on our roof — Semington A — we have no illusions about our ultimate reliance on the grid for most of the energy we use at home – that is, on coal and gas generation. This must be the case for most schools that have solar PV on their roofs. Still, such schools have an in-built opportunity to monitor power generation and use, involving students in data gathering and reporting. I hope that all such opportunities are seized and used well.
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