Electricity, the lifeblood of industrial society, powers an increasing variety of human activities. In despite of measures to improve energy efficiency, global demand for electrical power will likely continue to grow in decades to come. While electricity in itself is a clean and convenient energy carrier, its production is laden with environmental, social and political problems. This calls for a radical transformation from fossil and nuclear to renewable sources of electrical power.
A transition to renewables, however, is not without problems. Numerous questions demand an answer: if there is enough renewable energy to replace all non-renewables; what environmental impact that may be caused by the production and use of novel types of power plants; how supply and demand of electricity is balanced when large amount of intermittent power is connected to the grid; how the political power of the incumbent industry is balanced by other forces; and what is required from policy makers and investors to build large new systems.
There is not one final answer to questions like these. However, studying renewable power from different systems perspectives can help out in killing myths, clarifying controversies, deepening understanding and formulating new and more precise questions. The sixteen chapters of Systems Perspectives on Renewable Power 2014 address different topics related to the profound question whether electricity, and eventually all energy, can and should be supplied from renewable energy sources, and what is required to realise such a future.
Systems Perspectives on Renewable Power is an evolving ebook with annual updates. You may also want to read Systems Perspectives on Electromobility and Systems Perspectives on Biorefineries. Also a shorter Swedish version of this book called Perspektiv på förnybar el is available on our Swedish website.
Contents: System Perspectives on Renewable Power
1. Assessing renewable power
2. Drivers and barriers for renewable power
3. Are renewable energy resources large enough to replace non-renewable energy?
4. Harnessing energy flows: Technologies for renewable power production
Linus Hammar, Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers
5. Grid and storage
6. Assessing environmental impacts of renewable power
7. Energy balance and climate impact of renewable power: Is there cause for concern?
Anders Arvesen, Noweigian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
8. Will ocean energy harm marine ecosystems?
Linus Hammar, Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers
9. Challenges of integrating solar and wind into the electricity grid
10. Can demand response mitigate the impact of intermittent supply?
11. Intermittent renewables, thermal power and hydropower - complements or competitors?
12. Utilising excess power: The case of electrofuels for transport
13. The response of incumbent utilities to the challenge of renewable energy
Steven Sarasini, Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers
14. On the German and EU cost discourse – is large-scale renewable power supply “unaffordable”?
15. Towards a strategy for offshore wind power in Sweden
Kersti Karltorp, Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers
16. The need for financial and human resources - the case of offshore wind power
Kersti Karltorp, Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers