By Dennis Posadas
While I appreciate the enthusiasm that groups like Greenpeace and WWF about enabling as much clean/renewable energy as we can put into the system, given that we have a new renewable energy law, there are also a few mindset changes we need to put into place. I am all for renewable energy; however, as a trained engineer, I also realize that there are some hurdles that need to be overcome.
First is, some renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, while abundant, are also intermittent. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. On the other hand, cogeneration and biomass plants, which are clean sources, can be stable if enough heat or biomass material is forecast and planned. For solar and wind, if we want to use it for 24×7 use, we need to make sure that there is an energy storage mechanism of some type. The most common energy storage device is of course a battery.
For bigger solar and wind systems, running in the megawatt range, batteries would have to be connected together, so it probably won’t be practical. Concentrated Solar Plants (CSPs) that employ banks of mirrors in the desert use some type of liquid like molten salt. Another possibility is to use pumped storage, like in Lake Caliraya. When power is available, it is used to pump water up an elevated lake. During nighttime, the lake water can be released to drive a generating turbine. Other schemes involve compressed air (in the US), or as in the case of some wind systems, natural gas turbines. But for many systems, the storage technique they employ is to simply connect the renewable energy system to the grid.
Now as we increase the percentage of renewable energy systems that connect directly to the grid, we have to remember again that these are intermittent. You can’t exactly tell the sun to shine exactly at 6:00am, or the wind to start blowing at 9:00pm. So there has to be a way to prevent blowups of circuit breakers or fuses, a way to plan when each energy source will come on stream. There is a role for software and intelligent grid systems that work with meteorological information to determine that there is a high/low likelihood that the wind/sun will be available at a certain time. The grid itself, and components will have to be redesigned to take into account the higher occurrence of intermittent turn-on and turn-off of power sources, many of them being renewable. Appliances may need to have chips in them, telling them that the power at a given hour is mostly coming from renewable sources, or not.
Meralco’s plan, for example, to offer Internet over broadband lines, is indicative of this. The common perception is that they plan to mainly utilize this to offer broadband services to the public through their power lines. Actually, it is not as simple as that. The Internet over power lines can also be used to command and control equipment, such as chillers in malls, to turn on or to idle at a certain time. The grid needs to be intelligent, to handle the intermittent nature of clean/renewable energy systems.
There will be a lot of new capabilities, already being experienced in places like California and Europe, that we will soon have here. Our electric meters (“kontadors”) for example, will run backwards and forwards. So if we decide to install solar panels or wind turbines on our roofs, not only can we be consumers, we can also be mini power producers supplying to Meralco. The amount we sold, is then subtracted from the amount we consumed.
The more citizens and private industry, as well as government, invest in these mini and private renewable energy systems, the less need there will be for big, and often carbon emitting power plants. In other words, power generation will be decentralized to many small renewable power producers, as opposed to a few large ones. Now who will pay for that? Some cities in the US consider solar panels as part of the house (roof) and allow citizens to simply add a little extra to their real estate tax, and amortize the solar panels over 25 years. The payment can actually be taken from the savings generated by the panels, so in effect a no-cash out scheme is feasible.
Are we ready for that?
We all want reduced carbon emissions. But we don’t get there by simply joining token Earth Hour or Earth Day celebrations. We also need to do some work, and take the time to educate ourselves.
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Dennis Posadas is the editor of Cleantech Asia Online, and the author of Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009)
17 Feedbacks on "Renewable Energy hurdles"
laurence
wow! green energy is the energy of the future! indeed greening our energy sources is a revolution of some sort. imagine that…we can ’sell’ our excess energy to providers..just awesome! long way to go..but the good thing is that, we are starting!
lira
hi, this is lira, i am an employee of the Philippine House of Representatives, where a bill about nuclear energy is being debated … i’d like to be able to get in touch with Dennis Posadas, can you please give me his email? thank you
rome
these are specific ideas as well as implementing actions of the renewable energy concepts espoused by E.F. Schumacher in his book “Small is Beautiful”. While there is no denying that renewable energy is simple, clean, natural and practical, it involves an appropriate level of technology to set up and sustain it. And that Engr. Posadas here is intelligently dealing with them. More power to you,
more on upcoming developments.
Fred
“So there has to be a way to prevent blowups of circuit breakers”
Circuit breakers do not blow up they trip.
This coming from someone who claims to be “a trained engineer” if they have an engineering degree they need to go back to school for a serious refresher.
Mark
yes… we are on the way there. i read a few weeks ago in inquirer that meralco is already conceptualizing the implementation of SmarGrid in its franchise area. clean air + cheap energy!
Dennis P
Your right hah hah they trip! Good catch. Email me at editor@cleantechasiaonline.com
Francis
well, from my point of view as an electrical engineering student.. clean energy is good source of “back up” energy due to the energy it offers being not available when it is needed the most..
for example, when do we use energy? at night and during storms; where night, as was stated, there is no sun and low wind speeds. Storms have great wind speeds but may/can damage the wind turbines, so, it must me brought down, and the heavy clouds block sun light.
we have discussed about how nuclear power operates, and its pros outweigh heavily the cons.. one point stated by one of our professors that shook me was.. “Japan, Korea, and the Philippines started their nuclear program almost at the same time.. All of these countries suffered a great loss from the war.. Then the Philippines halted its nuclear program and the two countries continued.. Japan and Korea has more than a dozen nuclear power today.. The Philippines has 1..”
and another thing, nuclear energy cost does not become unstable unlike oil prices that keeps the energy cost go up as time passes.. AND the nuclear waste, as its byproduct CAN be recycled..
Arnold
To Fred:
He is a trained engineer AND a writer. Using words that might be more effective rather than accurate to the common reader is legitimate as long as it does not overly detract from the message. Like in space movies where there is sound during an explosion–that is inaccurate but it conveys the message of huge explosion.
Je
Hi Fred, not all “trained engineers” are fluent with Electrical Engineering stuffs. You should give consideration and get the context of what is being said, not play with words. There should be more people like Mr. Posadas, whose insights could spark motivation in a scientist’s/engineer’s imaginative mind.
Angela
It is easier to critique than to come up with an original idea or write.
Well done, Mr. Posadas.
CEF
I believe the author’s understanding of the terms are misplaced, behind, and misaligned.
Generally, properly engineered “systems” do ensure that the design parameters are met, so I do not understand the statement about blowing circuit breakers, and other concerns by the author. I am also lost as to why the reference to natural gas turbines as a renewable source.
In their broadest definition, renewable energy sources are sources of energy derived from the likes of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc. In simple words, sources that are “almost” unlimited or those that can be re-created.
Alternative energy sources are sources of energy derived from “consumable non-traditional” sources such as natural gas, propane (lpg), etc.
Clean energy sources could either be coming from both renewable or alternative sources. The keyword here is the carbon footprint of the power plant which in most cases is determined by the type or kind of “system” that drives the generators.
Then there is also what is called a baseload in the power generation sector. When the demand exceeds the available supply on the grid, then other power generating plants are put online (like in the case of Limay).
Nevertheless, the economics and cost of technology are what determines viability of ideas and concepts for a developer and its investors.
Cheers!
A LEED Certified Energy Developer/Consultant
Los Angeles, California
Fred
To Je and Arnold:
Not playing with words just pointing out that the statement was incorrect a fuse will blow, a breaker will trip.
Dennis P
Natural gas turbines are not renewable but these are often used as backup for wind systems. Ask T. Boone Pickens; this is his plan for the Texas Panhandle. I never said NGTs are an RE source.
As for Fred, he is correct. CBs trip, they don’t blow. That was a boo-boo on my end. However, they trip because of overcurrent, but there is a gap that may be bridged if the current is too high.
I suggest you read up on the impact of a high percentage of intermittent sources on the grid. We probably won’t see it for years to come, but we slowly need to evolve our grid design.
Dennis P
Cef, putting renewable systems online will differ a bit from putting coal or hydro systems online. You can run these systems as spinning reserves prior to putting them onstream. I’m not saying you can’t do it; but you need to put meteorological factors into account, at least for wind and solar.
I have no beef with your statement in general.
iyo karpo
“Appliances may need to have chips in them, telling them that the power at a given hour is mostly coming from renewable sources, or not.”…
This violates privacy rules in some countries.
“There will be a lot of new capabilities, already being experienced in places like California and Europe, that we will soon have here. Our electric meters (“kontadors”) for example, will run backwards and forwards. “…
While this Germany has solar farms supplying the grid and Denmark has wind turbine farms that supply the grid, Philippines need political will and commitment to harness the abundant renewable energy that is available.
DennisP
I agree Iyo. Sometimes, legal systems need to wrestle with the implications of new technologies.
jakeonline
thank you for posting your article. now, i have at least an idea about how renewable energy could come about…and how it could be a promising and viable source. if this RE is where the investments of energy-companies, then i guess my stock investments on them will be put to good use, if not profitable
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