Indicators to determine winning renewable energy technologies with an application to photovoltaics.
Several forms of renewable energy compete for supremacy or for an appropriate role in global energy supply. A form of renewable energy can only play an important role in global energy supply if it fulfills several basic requirements. Its capacity must allow supplying a considerable fraction of present and future energy demand, all materials for its production must be readily available, land demand must not be prohibitive, and prices must reach grid parity in the nearer future. Moreover, a renewable energy technology can only be acceptable if it is politically safe. We supply a collection of indicators which allow assessing competing forms of renewable energy and elucidate why surprise is still a major factor in this field, calling for adaptive management. Photovoltaics (PV) are used as an example of a renewable energy source that looks highly promising, possibly supplemented by solar thermal electricity production (ST). We also show why energy use will contribute to land use problems and discuss ways in which the right choice of renewables may be indispensible in solving these problems.
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change and Department of Economics, University of Graz, A-8010 Austria.
Wolf D
WD
Grossmann
Iris
I
Grossmann
Karl
K
Steininger
D000465:Algorithms; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D011211:Electric Power Supplies / Q000191:economics*; D004560:Electricity; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources / Q000191:economics; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011210:Power Plants / Q000191:economics; D012993:Solar Energy; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride