http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/technology/renewable-energy-viable-carbon-capture-energy-vet-136877
Renewable energy not as viable as carbon capture: energy vet
Former Shell Canada CEO said subsidies for clean energy are too high for
the returns
[To quote Larry the Cable Guy, "now, that's funny, I don't care who you
are"]
EDMONTON—Investments in renewable energy would have been better spent on
carbon capture and storage solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
said Clive Mather, former president and CEO of Shell Canada Ltd.
Speaking at the Zero2014 conference in Edmonton last week, Mather noted
the massive subsidies provided to the renewable energy markets in
Germany and the broader European Union are far out of proportion with
the return.
“I don’t think renewables are doing terribly well,” Mather said. “If we
had a little more honesty and less political posturing in Europe, we
would have avoided wasting an enormous amount of taxpayer money.”
Clean energy projects such as wind and solar require huge incentives and
subsidies—billions of Euros to date, he said. Plus, the
‘not-in-my-backyard’ objections to wind turbine farms is a big problem
in Europe due to population density.
Those billions could have gone into carbon capture and storage
technologies, which seek to reuse carbon or sequester it in buildings
and other products; along with projects to reduce energy use.
“Energy efficiency in particular, remains one of the best investments
anybody can make. It saves money, it saves energy, reduces greenhouse
gases and the cumulative gain over time is extraordinary,” Mather said.
Grid constraints
The theme was echoed by Bjorn Stigson, a consultant and visiting
professor at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Stigson pointed to
grid and delivery constraints curtailing clean energy in Europe.
“Last year Germany burned more coal than they have over the last 20
years,” said Stigson, adding coal is needed to provide base energy load.
“In 2013 in Germany, the investment in renewables fell 42 per cent
compared to 2012.”
Even so, Germany has set an ambitious goal to generate 50 per cent of
its electricity from renewables by 2030. Stigson isn’t sure the grid can
keep pace.
“I don’t know anyone who can tell me how you operate an energy grid with
50 per cent renewables … This is really complicated. There are an awful
lot of unintended consequences.”
In the end though, the markets will decide, added Tom Rand, managing
partner with the MaRS Cleantech Fund in Toronto. Rand said the cost of
renewable energy, such as solar, is rapidly decreasing—a trend catching
the attention of investors.
“Morgan Solar is coming on to the market this year with the lowest cost
of energy on the planet … solar power for five cents a kilowatt hour,”
Rand said.
“Enbridge has invested in Morgan Solar. I believe the reason … is they
want a front row seat in projects that have that kind of a [return].”
Traditional energy utilities are seeing their business model come under
threat from the rapid expansion of solar power, said Rand. They risk
losing investors if they don’t start to “seriously dabble” in
renewables, he concluded.
=================================================================
[Emmm, let's see. Carbon capture and sequestration projects get
announced, massively funded by taxpayers, then shut down before going
operational. Renewables projects do cost-benefit analyses, get funded
by investors, get built and put into operation, and may get production
credits from governments as value for reduced pollution and emissions.
As for Germany burning more coal in 2013 than in some prior years, well,
it might be worth noting they are using a lot less nuclear than in prior
years - on their way to a complete phase-out. Or, one could just do a
reality check.
(http://energytransition.de/2013/02/the-german-coal-myth/,
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/03/11/coal-plants-out-of-style-in-germay/,
http://theenergycollective.com/robertwilson190/328841/why-germanys-nuclear-phase-out-leading-more-coal-burning,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-guay/europes-coal-renaissance-industry_b_2535187.html)
Mr. Stigson need not concern himself too much about grids operating with
over 50% renewables. Previous critics set that bar at 10%, then 20%,
then 30%, and grids have survived moving past all those thresholds. As
for 50%, well, Denmark has kept the lights on despite reaching over 100%
electricity generation from wind power.
(http://energytransition.de/2013/11/denmark-surpasses-100-percent-wind-power/,
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/12/postcard-from-the-future-122-wind-power-in-denmark)
However, there are undoubtedly "an awful lot of unintended
consequences"; enhanced revenues from energy exports, reduced fuel costs
for generation, more green collar employment, cleaner air, reduced
greenhouse gas emissions ...]
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