Germany sets renewables record

gmb92 · Sep 1, 2011

Germany set another record with renewable energy. A new report by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) highlights, in the first half of 2011, renewables accounted for fully 20.8 percent of power production, as Der Spiegel reports.

Throughout the past decade, Germany has fundamentally transformed the way it produces electricity. The country increased its share of renewable electricity from 5 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2010. Over time, Germany has consistently met its legislated targets ahead of schedule, and appears poised to outdo itself again in the next years. The goal by the current center-right government of Chancellor Angela Merkel is to draw at least 35 percent of production from renewables by 2020. The opposition parties claim that 40 percent or even more is realistic.

Today, wind and biomass are the pillars of Germany's renewable sector. The main driver of the 2011 development, however, has been photovoltaic -- in a country that is as sunny as the state of Alaska
Click to expand...

http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/2011-08-31-germany-sets-renewables-record

Their economy has done very well too.

http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1022669.shtml

Black Monarch · Sep 1, 2011

Photovoltaics are a joke. Do you have any idea how much strip-mining has to be done to acquire the selenium and other rare elements for use in those things? And, of course, covering hundreds of square miles of land with wind turbines isn't ecologically intrusive at all...

gmb92 · Sep 1, 2011

Black Monarch said: ↑

Photovoltaics are a joke. Do you have any idea how much strip-mining has to be done to acquire the selenium and other rare elements for use in those things? And, of course, covering hundreds of square miles of land with wind turbines isn't ecologically intrusive at all...
Click to expand...

This is what coal does. It's no comparison.

Each stage in the life cycle of coalextraction, transport, processing, and combustiongenerates a waste stream
and carries multiple hazards for health and the environment. These costs are external to the coal industry and are
thus often considered externalities.We estimate that the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are
costing the U.S. public a third to over one-half of a trillion dollars annually.Many of these so-called externalities are,
moreover, cumulative. Accounting for the damages conservatively doubles to triples the price of electricity from coal
per kWh generated, making wind, solar, and other forms of nonfossil fuel power generation, along with investments
in efficiency and electricity conservation methods, economically competitive. We focus on Appalachia, though coal
is mined in other regions of the United States and is burned throughout the world.

http://solar.gwu.edu/index_files
/Resources_files/epstein_full%20cost%20of%20coal.pdf

Black Monarch · Sep 1, 2011

I never said that coal was so much better. I'm a strong supporter of nukes, especially breeder reactors.

fiddlerdave · Sep 1, 2011

Black Monarch said: ↑

Photovoltaics are a joke. Do you have any idea how much strip-mining has to be done to acquire the selenium and other rare elements for use in those things? And, of course, covering hundreds of square miles of land with wind turbines isn't ecologically intrusive at all...
Click to expand...

The rare earths issue for solar panels is becomng a non-problem!

Solar panel engineering is ending the need for rare earth elements, except for selenium.

Unlike most of the other rare earth elements, selenium is both a by-product of many other refining processes, and can be obtained from plant sources, in the trace amounts of selenium needed for solar panels.

http://www.popsci.com/science/artic...-higher-efficiency-common-element-solar-cells

While IBM is primarily known for its information technology products, the company has recently begun expanding into the alternative energy market. So far, that change has mainly taken the form of a new ad campaign. But IBM is now backing those words up with action, by unveiling a groundbreaking solar cell, 40 percent more efficient than any similar cells.
The cells operate at a power conversion efficiency of 9.6 percent. And while that isn't that high, the cells use only common elements like copper, zinc, tin, sulfur, and selenium. By comparison, the most efficient common earth element solar cell on the market today only operates at 6.7 percent efficiency.
By shying away from the rare earth elements employed by so many other solar cells, IBM hopes to both keep the cost of their cells down, and prevent reliance on foreign sources for rare earth elements.
Ultimately, IBM plans to lease the technology to other companies, rather than getting into the solar manufacturing business.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium

Native selenium is a rare mineral, which does not usually form good crystals, but, when it does, they are steep rhombohedrons or tiny acicular (hair-like) crystals.[11] Isolation of selenium is often complicated by the presence of other compounds and elements. Selenium occurs naturally in a number of inorganic forms, including selenide-, selenate-, and selenite-containing minerals.
In living systems, selenium is found in the amino acids selenomethionine, selenocysteine, and methylselenocysteine. In these compounds, selenium plays a role analogous to that of sulfur. Another naturally occurring organoselenium compounds is dimethyl selenide.
Certain solids are selenium-rich, and selenium can be bioconcentrated by certain plants. In soils, selenium most often occurs in soluble forms such as selenate (analogous to sulfate), which are leached into rivers very easily by runoff.
Anthropogenic sources of selenium include coal burning and the mining and smelting of sulfide ores.[12]
Production

Structure of trigonal selenium
Selenium is most commonly produced from selenide in many sulfide ores, such as those of copper, silver, or lead. It is obtained as a byproduct of the processing of these ores, e.g., from the anode mud of copper refineries and the mud from the lead chambers of sulfuric acid plants. These muds can be processed by a number of means to obtain selenium. Specifically, most elemental selenium comes as a byproduct of refining copper or producing sulfuric acid.[13][14]
Industrial production of selenium often involves the extraction of selenium dioxide from residues obtained during the purification of copper. Common production begins by oxidation with sodium carbonate to produce selenium dioxide. The selenium dioxide is then mixed with water and the solution is acidified to form selenous acid (oxidation step). Selenous acid is bubbled with sulfur dioxide (reduction step) to give elemental selenium.
Click to expand...

Black Monarch · Sep 1, 2011

junobet · Sep 1, 2011

Black Monarch said: ↑

Click to expand...

The innovations inventive humans with a vision can come up with are fascinating indeed.

Another example would be the new innovations in the field of how to use geothermal energy. Yesterday I listened to a rather interesting German radio-report on a whole settlement that's heated by ground heat.

Photovoltaic gets better every day too. But I have to question the article linked in the OP in one tiny little detail:

The main driver of the 2011 development, however, has been photovoltaic -- in a country that is as sunny as the state of Alaska
Click to expand...

http://www.grist.org/renewable-energ...ewables-record

We may have had a rather rainy summer this year, but I like to think that all in all Germany is still a bit sunnier than Alaska is. (I may be wrong of course, I've never been to Alaska.)

Margot · Sep 1, 2011

Black Monarch said: ↑

Click to expand...

http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byP/solar/pvS/byGeo/byC/SaudiArabia/SaudiArabia.shtml

Photovoltaic System Businesses in Saudi Arabia

Germany: Solar conference told Saudi Arabia will export as much solar energy as petrol

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/det...ort-as-much-solar-energy-as-petrol_100000647/

Log in or Sign up

Germany sets renewables record

gmb92 New Member

Black Monarch New Member

gmb92 New Member

Black Monarch New Member

fiddlerdave Well-Known Member Past Donor

Black Monarch New Member

junobet New Member

Margot Account closed, not banned

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Germany sets renewables record

gmb92 New Member

Black Monarch New Member

gmb92 New Member

Black Monarch New Member

fiddlerdave Well-Known Member Past Donor

Black Monarch New Member

junobet New Member

Margot Account closed, not banned

Share This Page

Useful Searches