Renewables 24/7 – Infrastructure needed to save the climate

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/renewables-24-7.pdf

There’s no need to worry that renewable energy can’t keep the lights on, concludes a new study by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). ‘Renewables 24/7 – Infrastructure needed to save the climate’ shows how the world’s power grids could be transformed to secure robust energy supplies with a power mix comprising 90% renewable energy by 2050. The transformation would be achieved with a modest level of investment, presents a leap in the direction of a sustainable economy, and would enable huge cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Renewables need a smart and interconnected power system, but such a system will only be possible if the grids are put to the service of renewables. With smart grids in place, reliable supplies of renewable energy would be available around the clock. Coal and nuclear power plants could truly become a thing of the past,” said Frauke Thies, Greenpeace EU energy policy advisor.

The study explains how smart local and regional grids could be intelligently connected with a high-voltage super grid to deliver robust and clean energy supplies.

“With smart grids we basically merge the internet with the electricity grid,” said Greenpeace International senior energy expert, Sven Teske. “Building up smart grids is a huge business opportunity, especially for IT companies. In Europe the annual investment needed will be around €5 billion: less than five euro a year per European household. To unlock this urgently needed investment in climate friendly infrastructure, we urgently need energy policies which support the transition towards close to 100% renewables in the power sector,” Teske added.

The 2008 EU 27 Energy [R]evolution scenario showed how Europe could achieve 90% renewable energy supply by 2050. The new report compared 30 years of weather data with European annual demand curves and concluded that with the existing grid there is only a 0.4 percent – or 12 hours a year – chance that high demand would occur when solar and wind power generation are low. The proposed grid reinforcement would remove this small uncertainty, guaranteeing 100% reliable power.

This new publication comes as European governments, led by the Spanish EU presidency, are preparing an energy action plan including important initiatives for grid infrastructure. The nine North Sea countries already announced a first step towards a smart and interconnected European grid system on 7 December 2009. In the ‘North Seas Offshore Wind Initiative’, ministers declared that they would develop an offshore grid to enhance the integration of renewable energies such as offshore wind farms.

“We welcome the EU initiative for a better use of renewable energies which shows we can build up a smart and interconnected grid and expand renewable energy supplies in parallel,” said Christine Lins, EREC secretary-general. “The global market for renewable energy could grow at double digit rates until 2050 and overtake the size of today’s fossil fuel industry. Currently, the global renewable energy market is worth US$ 120 billion and doubling in size every three years. The global renewable market will go hand in hand with the development of smart grids, when the combined share of wind and solar photovoltaic power exceeds roughly one third of the total power generation.”

The Renewables 24/7 report is part of Greenpeace’s Energy [R]evolution scenario, a comprehensive vision for a climate friendly global energy supply.

Copies of the “Renewable 24/7” report can be downloaded at:
www.greenpeace.org/energyrevolution

Greenpeace www.Greenpeace.org

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

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