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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RADIO ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Renewable energy: progressive trends or aggressive PR? Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering
Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Alternative energy sources The potential for renewable energy is huge. Thus, only the Sun daily sends to the Earth 20 times more energy than it is used by the entire population of the globe in a year. Man has long learned how to extract this energy, and technological progress allows the use of renewable energy sources more and more efficiently.
The all-Russian newspaper "Energetika" (No. 5 March 2011) published an article by A. Perov, the title of which was placed in the headline. The bias in the presentation of information and the uncomplicated manipulation of facts give reason to think about the propaganda nature of this material. The very formulation of the question is surprising: renewable energy is the destiny of the Middle Ages. The article presents some facts and draws certain conclusions, with which I, as an expert in the field of renewable energy, let me disagree. And I will offer readers a different point of view. A. Perov's article contains several main theses:
Now for each thesis separately. Green energy is expensive for consumers When thinking about the cost of green energy to consumers, two questions need to be answered. First, what is the cost of electricity in our country that does not have a renewable energy sector? Secondly, what is the cost of generating electricity from renewable energy sources using modern technologies? It is known that over the past 10 years, electricity in Russia has risen in price by three or more times. According to the forecast of experts, by 2014 electricity will rise in price by 2 times. As a result of the transition to "manual control" of the industry, the situation has become simply absurd: electricity prices in Russia, which has excess energy resources, have not only become more expensive than in most countries with energy resources, but also approached the level of countries experiencing a serious shortage in energy raw materials. This was stated by President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council and cited as an example the Kursk region, where enterprises operating at a low voltage level paid in January 2011 about 6 rubles per 1 kWh. "Even in Italy, which is the most problematic country in Western Europe in terms of electricity, this level is 11-11,5 euro cents," he said. Even today, Russian electricity tariffs are comparable or higher than those in the US, France and the UK. The widespread opinion that the development of renewable energy in Russia is unprofitable due to low energy tariffs is not true. On the one hand, green energy technologies have made a breakthrough over the past 10 years. Thus, the specific cost of wind power plants has decreased from $5000 to $1000 per 1 kW, and the "net" cost of electricity production (without the investment component) is already at the level of 30-40 kopecks per kWh. Projects for the construction of small hydropower plants with a payback period of about 10 years provide electricity at a cost of 1,5-2 rubles per kWh, and geothermal stations - 3-3,5 rubles per kWh. Photovoltaic modules are still quite expensive: but it is this direction of renewable energy that is considered the most promising. Financing of R&D projects in this area exceeds more than 10 billion dollars annually. Experts expect that in the next 3-4 years the efficiency of photovoltaic converters will be equal to other technologies for generating electricity. On the other hand, the tightening of environmental requirements and the rising cost of energy resources have led to a significant increase in the cost of building traditional generating facilities. The cost of building traditional thermal power plants over the past five years has increased from $1000-1200 per 1 kW to $2500-3000. 10 kW. Connecting to the RES network leads to a reduction in the cost of electricity. For example, in Spain in 2009, the cost of electricity at the time of maximum wind and hydro generation was 17 euro cents per kWh. For comparison, the average annual price of electricity in Spain at that time fluctuated between 37 and 42 euro cents per kWh. Connection to the network of the NPP unit is comparable to the cost of the unit itself due to special requirements for the redundant power distribution scheme. The tragic events at Fukushima-1 in Japan will unequivocally lead to tougher requirements for the safety of nuclear power plants, and hence to an increase in the total cost of construction and operation. There is another fact that the author of the article does not mention, but which is well known to experts in the fuel and energy sector - this is state support for traditional energy. According to the estimates of the International Energy Agency, the total amount of measures to support and stimulate the energy sector in Russia is currently about 40 billion dollars. The investment company Troika Dialog estimates the scale of cross-subsidization for OAO Gazprom at about $70 billion. rubles (1 billion dollars in 40 prices). The dispute about the effectiveness of RES arises due to different methods for evaluating individual projects and integrated programs for the development of renewable energy, which are used in developed countries and in Russia. In our country, assessments of the short-term economic results of individual projects are used, forgetting about the safety and environmental consequences of the activities of hydrocarbon and nuclear energy. This type of analysis does not take into account future risks associated with fuel prices, future environmental and health care costs. In the modern history of Russian industry, an objective analysis of the prospects for the technological development of industries related to the production of equipment for renewable energy sources has not yet appeared. Conclusion: "green" electricity is not expensive for consumers. Definitely not more expensive than nuclear or coal-fired electricity. Technologies are developing and making renewable energy more efficient and cheaper, while coal and nuclear power plants are becoming more and more expensive due to the tightening of environmental and safety requirements. "Green" energy will not replace traditional energy sources In itself, the direct opposition of renewable and traditional energy, used by the author of the article A. Perov, is incorrect. Of course, the current level of technology development, the established practice of obtaining energy, the availability of hydrocarbons in sufficient volumes are still limitations for the mass introduction of renewable energy. But the practice of mass use of renewable energy in Europe, the USA and China has existed for more than 20 years, and hydrocarbon deposits, especially cheap ones, are declining. Therefore, the objective trend in the energy sector is the development of new technologies for generating energy, including renewable energy sources. According to international experts, RES can already replace fossil fuels in four areas: electricity generation, cooking and space heating, motor fuel production, autonomous energy supply to remote consumers and in rural areas. The weakest point of RES is the higher specific capital investment compared to traditional CCGT and GTP. This is due to the high capital intensity of equipment, the need to create large areas of power plants that "intercept" the flow of energy used (the receiving surfaces of solar installations, the area of a wind wheel, extended dams of tidal power plants, etc.), additional costs for energy conversion and accumulation. The disadvantages of RES at the present stage of technology development should also include the difficulties associated with the impossibility of constantly pairing electricity production with its consumption (load schedule), or integrating RES-based power plants into a common power grid. These problems are solved with the help of modern frequency converters and energy storage devices. In order to avoid changes in the parameters of the integrated energy system (primarily frequency), the share of unregulated power plants (wind and solar power plants) should not exceed, according to experts in the field of electricity dispatching, 10-15% of the total capacity. Although in Denmark the share of RES in the total electricity balance in some months is up to 50%, and within a day, especially at night, it reaches 100%. In Spain, these figures are 30% and 50% respectively. The contribution of RES to the global energy balance is still small, about 20% of final energy consumption. At the same time, the share of biomass and hydropower used by traditional methods accounts for the bulk - about 17%, the share of non-traditional RES - about 3%. But it is with non-traditional renewable energy sources that the future of energy is associated. The large-scale development of renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies will mean a decrease in the share of centralized large-scale energy. For society, this will mean autonomy and independence from large energy companies, as well as increasing the reliability of electricity supply. The accelerated development of RES in the electric power industry will require a revision of the concept of "base load" with a transition to the concept of "distributed load". Technologically, the rejection of the "base load" is possible. This will mean a significant decentralization of electricity providers. A conflict between basic generation (nuclear power plants, coal) is expected in developed countries by 2030, where renewable energy is actively developing. But the harbingers of this conflict are already being observed. And A. Petrov's article confirms this. The general conclusion is obvious. Scientific and technological progress, the emergence of new technologies and materials are constantly increasing the competitiveness of renewable energy sources, which are already replacing traditional energy sources in a significant amount. Public opinion is "shifting" towards "distributed energy", where the main place will be occupied by RES. "Green" energy is not perfect from an environmental point of view Having formulated this thesis, the author of the article A. Perov uses direct manipulation of information. Giving an example of the possible harm of "green" fuel - ethanol and the change in the nature of land use when growing raw materials for it, the author calls into question the "environmental integrity" of renewable energy sources. To these arguments one can add the problem of flooding large areas and the need to relocate large masses of the population during the construction of large hydroelectric power plants, the problem of recycling wind turbine blades, etc. But all these problems, in comparison with the environmental consequences of environmental pollution by nuclear and coal plants, appear to be technical difficulties. The demand for "green" energy and "low-carbon" energy appeared and persists not because, as the author believes, international associations wanted to develop new industries, but as a public response to global environmental pollution and the monopoly of energy companies. There is another important argument for the global advantage of renewable energy over fuel energy - this is energy efficiency. The fact is that the energy generated by an electrical installation using renewable energy sources during the entire service life is 5-10 times more than the energy spent on the creation and operation of this installation, taking into account equipment and materials, transport and construction and installation works. Thus, the gradual transition to renewable energy at the same time means the transition of mankind to a new level of energy efficiency. Prospects for "green" energy in Russia How "cheap" energy costs us based on "cheap" energy resources, I have already said in the first part of the article. Russia has huge resources for the entire range of renewable energy sources. The report on the results of the TACIS project "Prospects for the development of RES in Russia" provides estimates of the gross, technical and production potential of some types of RES. Thus, the production solar potential for generating thermal energy is estimated at 1,4-1,7 million tce. per year, which is enough to provide 12-14 million people with hot water with acceptable quality at a price of less than 2000 rubles per 1 Gcal. The production wind potential for electricity generation is estimated at 36 million tce. per year or 120 billion kWh at a price of about 2-2,5 rubles per kWh. General assessment of the production potential of solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy, as well as biomass energy, wastewater, etc. exceeds 250 million tce annually, or about 30% of all consumed primary energy resources in Russia per year. It should be noted that detailed calculations of the potential of non-traditional RES in Russia were made at the end of the XNUMXth century. To date, they appear to have increased in line with the increasing efficiency of renewable energy technologies. Despite the availability of traditional energy sources, Russia is interested in using non-traditional renewable energy sources. The latter may have several areas of application. First, it is the power supply of the northern and other hard-to-reach and remote areas not connected to the public grid, where more than 10 million people live. In general, the "northern delivery" is estimated at 7 million tons of oil products and 23 million tons of coal. At the same time, fuel is delivered by water, road and even air transport. Such fuel supply costs the country 500 billion rubles annually. The cost of electricity production in such regions exceeds 10 and even 50 rubles per kWh, and heat production costs 3000 rubles per 1 Gcal, which makes the use of renewable energy technologies commercially attractive. Increasing generating capacities in energy-deficient regions is another area for the possible use of non-traditional renewable energy sources in Russia. More than 15 million Russians live in places where the centralized power supply is unreliable and consumers are regularly disconnected from the network. Emergency shutdowns disrupt the life of cities and rural areas, causing enormous damage to industrial and agricultural production. The use of local non-traditional RES, mainly wind power, small hydropower plants and biomass, would avoid such losses and at the same time reduce the need for imported fuel. Decentralized supply of electricity and heat to rural areas, including remote isolated settlements, family farms, individual country houses is also a promising area for the use of non-traditional RES. Moreover, this is often the only way to supply them. Potential consumers of non-traditional RES may also include forestry and fishing industries, meteorological, communication, archaeological and geological stations, radars, lighthouses, offshore oil and gas platforms. Climate change is directly related to the consequences of burning hydrocarbons and, as a result, the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In Russia, about 85% of greenhouse emissions of anthropogenic origin come from the energy sector, including energy, transport, industry and utilities. Improvement of the environmental situation in resorts and other places of public recreation, as well as in cities with a difficult environmental situation, can be achieved through the widespread introduction of non-traditional renewable energy sources (solar collectors, biogenerators, heat pumps, wind turbines, etc.). The main motive for the development of RES in Russia should be to ensure the diversification of the fuel and energy balance of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the country. Such diversification should become an element of the Energy Security Concept for the long term. Russia has every opportunity to create an optimally diversified fuel and energy balance, in which equal shares will fall on thermal gas and coal generation, nuclear power plants and renewable energy sources. It is necessary to say about the international aspect of the development of RES. Russia maintains the status of a world energy power. As the experience of cooperation within the G2000 has shown, the solution of global and European energy problems is not conceivable without the development of renewable energy. In September 189, 8 UN member countries adopted the Millennium Declaration, which sets out 7 goals, XNUMX of which are related to the use of renewable energy. Today, it is obvious that there is no production of equipment for renewable energy in Russia. However, the production, technical and technological backlogs have been preserved. At present, technical projects of such companies as Nitol and Hevel (solar energy), Rostekhnologiya and New Wind (wind energy), Institute for High Temperatures (geothermal energy) are actively promoted in the RES market in Russia , A-Energy (bioenergy), etc. I believe that the experience of foreign partners will be in full demand. It should be noted that renewable energy technologies implement the latest achievements of many scientific areas and technologies: meteorology, aerodynamics, electric power industry, thermal power engineering, generator and turbine construction, microelectronics, power electronics, nanotechnology, materials science, etc. In turn, the development of science-intensive technologies has a significant social and macroeconomic effect in the form of creating additional jobs by maintaining and expanding the scientific, industrial and operational infrastructure of the energy sector, as well as creating the possibility of exporting science-intensive equipment. So, for example, 1 job in the wind energy itself is accompanied by the creation of 4-5 jobs in related industries. In Russia, the social aspect is of particular relevance, because. the construction of a power plant in remote areas provides a basis for the development of local industry, and the construction of local RES-based boiler houses provides additional guarantees for the reliability of heat supply in the winter. Despite everything, the situation in Russia is changing. Fuel and energy prices are rising, environmental requirements and safety standards are being tightened. In November 2009, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a new Energy Strategy of Russia for the period up to 2030, in which considerable attention is paid to the prospects for the development of alternative energy. According to this document, by 2030 the share of non-traditional RES in the domestic energy balance should be at least 10%, or about 100 billion kWh. The author of the article A. Perov asks a rhetorical question "what, in fact, is the gain of Russian consumers of energy resources, who will be forced to pay out of their own pockets to join the" progressive trends "? the author's irony is not clear if one looks at the latest experience in the automotive industry, where the efforts of the state lead to the fact that the Russian auto industry adopts Western technologies, and the inhabitants of the country get the opportunity to drive cheaper, safer and more economical cars. Hence the conclusion. Russia needs to develop RES. Either in the form of projects implemented by state-owned companies, or in the form of demonstration projects implemented on the principles of public-private partnership, or through the adoption of relevant legislation for the mass introduction of renewable energy. Renewable energy is new technologies and real modernization of the scientific complex and industry in a broad sense, it is the diversification of the fuel and energy balance and the energy security of individual regions and the country as a whole, it is the conservation of hydrocarbons for future generations that will find more rational use for it, it is the ecology of our cities and the health of us and our children, this is a new quality of our life. Conclusion The global energy industry is at a crossroads. The economy requires more and more energy, and the fossil fuels on which traditional energy is based are not unlimited. The rise in the cost of fossil fuels is exacerbated by the fact that the use of hydrocarbons, which has reached enormous proportions, causes significant harm to the environment, which affects the quality of life of the population. RES is a huge growing market with an annual turnover of more than 50 billion euros with a powerful multiplier effect in education, science and industry. The world is expanding and accelerating the process of transition to a new technological platform for global energy, in which renewable energy will take a significant place with a share of 30-35%, and all carbon-free technologies will account for more than 60%. Russia needs to set a new task - optimization of the fuel and energy balance of the regions with a simultaneous improvement in the quality of life of the population. This problem is solved with the help of the widespread use of renewable energy sources and local fuels. In applied technologies, Russia is 10-20 years behind the developed countries. But with a reasonable use of the resources of the state and business, it is possible to master existing Western technologies, support our own developments of the latest technologies, and also finance research in promising areas of the energy of the future. It is high time for Russia to develop renewable energy. All prerequisites exist for this and a push is needed - the adoption of a legislative framework. Otherwise, the "Middle Ages" for Russia will come very soon in the form of low efficiency of life support systems, disregard for environmental problems and an incomparably low quality of life for people. Author: Andrey Kulakov, head of the industry department "Renewable energy and alternative energy supply systems" of the all-Russian public organization "Business Russia"; Publication: AEnergy.ru.
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