What Are We Drinking? 4 Ways We Are Sobering Up To Renewable Energy.
- Ariana Marshall
- Jan 3, 2017
- 6 min read
The party is over. Wait no, is it ever?
In the Caribbean there is ALWAYS another party around the corner. Nothing is wrong with that but when we go from party to party.........
What are we really paying for?
The drinks? The experience? Stress relief? Celebrating life? Drowning our sorrows? Burning money, just to show people that we can?
I ask this same question when it comes to using fossil fuels. We are literally burning our resources by using fossil fuels but is it worth it?
Health issues. Difficulty breathing when a bus passes by. The panic of an asthma attack. Polluted air,water and soil. Drowning island economies (through sea-level rise or debt) which depend on environmental quality?
When are we going to sober up to realize fossil fuels have met their end?
When we understand the financial consequences of this end and realize renewable energy as the best financial decision. There are signs everywhere in the Caribbean that these "best financial decisions" are not happening at a pace which shows that we realize the consequences of fossil fuels.
But, of course behind every barrier there is reason for the challenge.
The cost of repayment or return on investment for renewable energy projects remains mostly untied from the cost of fossil fuel. Even if grid parity occurs it doesn’t mean that investors (aka our bartenders - see my previous blog), will receive a return on their investment more quickly.
A drop in the cost of renewable energy only means that an initial renewable energy investment is lower. Still, investors need evidence of their rate of return regardless of whether the cost of that initial investment drops. Investors also need confidence in that rate of return. If governments, policy makers, utility companies and renewable energy providers compete against each other while developing policies which could instill that confidence, then there is little to no hope for a renewable energy future (See Barbados case).
In Other Words
Most renewable energy investors invest because they know that the reliability of the fossil fuel supply is decreasing and that there are profits to be made through renewable energy. They know that they will see eventually see an acceleration in receiving renewable energy returns on investment but how quickly this will happen is another question. The rate of return on renewable energy installation primarily depends on the rate of energy consumption and how either our governments or we ourselves subsidize the cost of energy.
Institutionalization is a Problem
Renewable energy technology is still largely seen as a separate technology from electricity generation based on how our institutions have made "cheap" fossil fuels the foundation of productivity and generating profits.
This is the institutionalization of fossil fuels.
If we want to move away from fossil fuel subsidies and counterproductive institutionalization of fossil fuel electricity generation, it is a matter of considering who has the capital, how capital is raised and how energy is generated (centralized/decentralized).
There are countries which understand this just as Tesla does. This is why, regardless of fluctuating OPEC prices, Tesla continues to make major capital investments not only in energy storage but also in renewable energy projects on entire islands.
Tesla is less concerned than most companies about how federal subsidies may change in the future. It is predicted that even with the Trump administration, we will not see a sudden plummet in renewable energy uptake.
Most U.S. federal subsides relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy were supported from both sides of the aisle and so reversing them will be an arduous process. Additionally, most renewable energy incentives and subsides were implemented at the state level in the U.S. and critical land use decision on energy projects still lie at the local governmental level worldwide.
Public Participation and Collaboration is the Solution
Through public participation in local government decisions, we have more access to influence the decisions made about our energy future. By making documented public comment, requesting data about energy projects and requiring accountability we will become more aware of the financial benefits of renewable energy. In turn this informs more of us about how we can pool together resources to cooperatively finance community based renewable energy projects.
Some of the most effective and wide-reaching energy projects worldwide have been hybrid energy projects which are co-operative or collaborative.
These four partnerships demonstrate a shift away from fossil fuel institutionalization by making major steps towards renewable energy -
1. American Samoa
Tesla, Solar City , the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of the Interior and the American Samoa Economic Development Authority partnered in Ta’u a small (17miles squared) island in American Samoa.
Details - 1.4 megawatts of solar capacity, 6 megawatt hours in commercial battery storage from 60 Tesla Powerpacks. This creates a microgrid that gives 3 days of power for 600 residents and recharges fully in 7 hours.
2. Asian supergrid
A memorandum of understanding was signed between State Grid Corporation of China, South Korea’s main utility KEPCO, Russia’s grid operator PJSC ROSSETI and Softbank a mobile provider which has become one of Japan’s largest renewable energy developers.
Details - the signees are undertaking feasibility studies for a super-grid which could allow the transmission of electricity from renewables across that part of the Northeast Asian region. Japan has recently liberalized its electricity market to over 250 electricity providers. Before that Japan was already overproducing renewable energy from 10 regional utility grid operators.
3. Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
These countries are developing utility scale solar in order to save domestically produced oil and gas for higher yields when exported.
Image - Visit Morocco
Ouarzazate Solar Power Station (OSPS), also called Noor Power Station (نور, Arabic for light)
Details - Over 30 solar projects have been approved since 2013, including the Middle East’s largest solar pv project growing from 13 mw to 3,000 MW over the next 15 years for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) (15% of UAE’s demand) and world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) complexes is being built in Ouarzazate province, Morocco a famous backdrop for films such as the “Gladiator,” and hit series “Game of Thrones.”
A number of solar PV and CSP hybrid pilot projects are in progress in consideration of the water scarcity and resulting high energy costs of desalination and waste water recycling.
Morocco leads the way in the MENA countries out of necessity because they are most dependent on energy imports (91 percent) energy resources from other countries or approximately $3 billion annually.
In 2009, Morocco committed to install 6,000 MW of renewable energy (42 percent of its installed capacity -- from renewable energy resources by 2020).
4. Kenya
Powerhive is creating solar microgrids which combine PV and battery storage, mobile telecommunications and the popularity of mobile payment systems in Kenya.
Details - Powerhive's microgrid management platform combines a range of technologies (including lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, smart metering, data analytics, mobile money, a web-based management app). This automation and information management keep solar power quantities productive and affordable. It also addresses some of the challenges which other solar companies have created by selling PV systems to rural areas which do not perform or are unsafe.
Powerhive has embedded remote asset tracking and monitoring capabilities into PV microgrid platform equipment so that buyers can better understand how their technology works. Powerhive also addresses the affordability of renewable energy by offering “pay-as-you-go payment model through the familiarity of mobile payments via cell phones which benefits from 80% penetration of mobile app use in Kenya.
Are We Ready?
Even with these examples, what does the future hold? Will the majority of us continue to bear the full and fluctuating fossil fuel cost?
Not for long if we consider that the main producers of oil and gas (MENA countries) prefer to generate clean energy in their own geography while they yield higher revenue from overseas consumption of their fossil fuel.
If governments comprehensively consider the cost of fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies are removed, then we still need to think of two more steps -
1) How can we keep the cost of the use of infrastructure down during this transition
2) Where will the initial capital come from for renewable energy investments?
Our water, electricity and public transportation will all need to become sustainable and efficient.
Our personal consumption choices may have to change and we would hope that government tax incentives lean towards sustainability, for example by considering the use of electric vehicles as much needed energy storage. Another example of how we can reduce the cost of a renewable energy transition is our willingness to use public transportation, participate in a sharing economy and develop cooperatives.
But culturally and geographically speaking, how ready are we to do this?
- Ariana Marshall Ph.D, Admirer of clean air. Scientist of the environment.
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