Renewable Energy Deployment Not Keeping Up
I wanted to post about something that is not getting nearly enough attention. We see so much progress in the renewable energy industry every day – especially with utility scale solar plus energy storage - most days we feel like good progress is being made. So it is a bit disheartening to read BP economist Spencer Dale's ‘Statistical Review of World Energy’ speech on June 11th, 2019 appropriately titled “Energy in 2018: an Unsustainable Path.”
The report shows that global primary energy demand grew by 2.9% in 2018, driven by China, US and India which accounted for > 2/3rd's of the growth. Notable is US growth, where energy consumption increased by 3.5%, the fastest growth seen for 30 years and in sharp contrast to declines seen over the previous 10 years. One result of this growth in demand is - despite the big gains in renewable energy - overall carbon emissions from the power sector have increased substantially over the past three years.
Mr. Dale performs a thought experiment – how would the mix of fuels used by the power sector have to have changed over the past three years to maintain the level of carbon emissions from the power sector at 2015 levels, while accommodating growth in power demand? His conclusion: renewable generation over the past three years would need to have grown more than twice as quickly than it actually did (1,800 TWh vs. 800 TWh - note that 1,000 TWH is roughly equivalent to the entire renewable generation of China and the US combined in 2018). Or the same outcome for carbon emissions could have been achieved by replacing around 10% of coal in the power sector with natural gas (see chart below).
Bottom line – as hard as we are working, the pace of decarbonization has not been happening fast enough to offset the growth in demand. We need to use less and deploy renewable assets faster...much more work to do.
Below is a link to the BP resources.
#energy #solar #wind #energystorage #sustainability
Jack E. Burroughs DDS FAGD UT Dental Branch Houston. Dallas-Fort Worth. 25,000+. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute Covid-19 Impact On Dental Practices Panel
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Renewable Energy Designer @ Sipenery Solutions | Multiple Patents/ The first woman with US Patent energy & agriculture, along with 15 years of fabrication. . Designer of S3F Farm system
6yThey got sold PV farms in huge quantities and it didn’t deliver , But it does work and it can be charged and we can change the box together but we have to go back and fix the problem
The inventor of clean Hydrogen targets H2S in global wastewater using his US Patent Process with 19 approved claims. My process also reduces the chemical treatment costs of H2S.
6yHello Ron DiFelice, I think the most disturbing point is the fact that we have yet to experience the full effect of the last two decades of CO2 emissions that are compounded with our continued use of ICE... We all have no choice but to undertake the, seemingly impossible, task of ceasing internal combustion engines (ICE) and the total avoidance of fossil fuels. Pray that we don't arrive at the "tipping-point" prior to that acknowledgment; that world co-operation effort; finding the, unbelievable, source of a carbon-free hydrogen energy carrier; containment of hydrogen that is superior to the containment of diesel fuel, gasoline and "natural gas" which,by the way, is worse than CO2 with respect to warming Earth. I am confident; I strongly believe; I have spent over two decades researching, "teaching" and with untiring patience, waiting for the world to vet and apply my "Knapp Process" that will seriously help to mitigate the deleterious consequences of Climate Change. God help me to remain steadfast in my quest to seek out an equity partner with the resources to complete my phase 2 Pilot Plant operation. What helps is my US Patent No. 10,323,328 that issued 2 days ago on June 18, 2019.