Diversity in Renewables Smooths Output

Renewable sources of power, wind, solar, wave and tidal power have been criticized because they do not produce power at a consistent or predictable rate. "By mixing between sites and mixing technologies you can markedly reduce the variability of electricity produced by renewables, Graham Sinden, of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute was quoted as saying in the May 12th edition of The Guardian.  Sinden went on to say, "And if you plan the right mix, renewable and intermittent technologies can even be made to match real-time electricity demand patterns. This reduces the need for backup, and makes renewables a serious alternative to conventional power sources."  He found that by combining a diversity of geographical locations and a diversity of technologies, renewables combined with domestic combined heat and power could ultimately make the the following contributions to Britain's total energy supply: wind 35%, wave and tidal 15%, combined heat and power 15%, and solar 5-10%. 

A more detailed report can be found at the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute's web site.  The Cambridge-MIT Institute has a related paper "Diversity and Security In UK Electricity Generation: The Influence of Low Carbon Objectives"

The conclusion that diversity reduces variability is rather intuitive.  These studies put some numbers on the required mix. I would assume that similar findings would apply to other regions of the world.  If eventually more than 50% of our electricity could be produced from renewables that would be an enormous contribution.  Add another 10% for hydro and 40% from a combination of bidiesel made from algae and syngas made from biomass and we have total independence from fossil fuels.

si

Comments

[Ajith Gopi]

Intesting article!!
Recent trend of the costs of renewable energy technologies shows a declination because of innovation and improvement in manufacturing technology. In remote areas supply of fossil fuels is very costly due to poor transport infrastructure. Almost all fossil fuels need to be imported. Most of the energy is supplied through diesel generators and or through independent renewable power plants (wind, PV, or micro-hydro plants). In most of the cases, these supply systems are not cost effective because they function with a very low load factor. In many cases, these stand-alone plants have poor reliability and operational flexibility in electricity supply. However, it is necessary to increase the reliability or the power supply from these technologies. By hybridization different renewable energy technologies, it has been shown that the supply of energy can be guaranteed at minimum lifecycle cost.

[Julie J.]

Hey, I love the articles, but I was just wondering what your name is. I need it for the Citation for my Science Fair Resport. Thanks!

[Clee]

Julie,

At the top of the left side bar is information about the blog and a link to further information about the author of the blog, including his name.

[Kit P]

Clee, do you think Julie is a science report on wishful thinking?

[Clee]

Dunno, but I wouldn't cite a blog for a science report. I'd try to track the pertinent information back to its original source.

[Toki]

As the wind is free and with modern technology it can be captured efficiently. The wind energy does not cause green house gases or other pollutants. It is free of cost and does not require any power supply.
For more detailed information about the wind energy log on to www.windpowersavings.com

[homemade wind turbines]

I can't believe the size of them blades. That going to create some serious amounts of electricity.

[christian louboutin]

haha...It is so useful imformation for us to read...gogo..

[NFL shop]

I would like to thank you for the efforts you've made in writing this posting.