Can alternative energy compete with oil and natural gas?

Can alternative energy compete with oil and natural gas? Developing countries are ready to invest more in green energy than developed countries. According to the research of the Ernst & Young agency, government support for the renewable energy sector has decreased significantly in the European Union, Australia and the USA. On the other hand, investments in “green” energy are increasing in Brazil, China, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand and Chile.

The USA was a leader in the world for the development of alternative energy sources for a long time. However, currently, investors prefer to invest in shale oil and natural gas fields rather than experiments such as wind generators or electricity generation from photosynthesis. The Australian government plans to repeal the recently introduced carbon tax. The pressure from the industrialists is showing its effect.

In the conditions of the economic crisis in the European Union, the public is increasingly expressing their dissatisfaction with the current energy policy. Europeans prefer to depend on oil and gas imports, as long as they have cheap heat and constant electricity. As a result, Europe had to review the terms of financial support to renewable energy producers. Investors, on the other hand, lost interest in such producers.

The problem is in the approach. They don't call renewable energy the "alternative" for nothing. This reduced environmental impact is an additional resource for the economy. Sergey Pravosudov, Director of the Russian National Energy Institute, stated that if the sun shines brightly throughout the year in a place, but not to use it as an additional source of energy, not the main one, Sergey Pravosudov stated that at least this is how the technology should be used at the current development stage:

“There is no alternative source that can beat traditional energy sources. In countries where it is very sunny, it is more or less convenient to use solar energy. There are regions where the wind blows constantly on the sea coasts. Wind energy is good here. However, they lag behind conventional energy in terms of cost.”

However, the weak competitiveness of solar cells (solar panels) is not a reason to abandon studies in this direction. Developing countries think so. The world's largest solar power plant is being built in Chile without the financial support of the state. China is enacting related tax reliefs as part of its plan to increase solar power generation to 2015 GW by 35. In Brazil, large projects that envisage benefiting from renewable energy sources have started to be implemented.

Despite having cheap natural gas and oil resources, Russia attaches great importance to alternative energy. Solar-powered traffic lights are increasing in cities. Wind generators are installed in open areas. A high-power wind park is being built on the shore of the White Sea.

Once upon a time, people plowed the land with horses, grinding the wheat in water and windmills. Technical improvement introduced machines and more reliable energy sources. However, less than a century later, man turns to nature again. It is ready to give the sun, wind and water energy to people.

 

Source : turkish.ruvr.ru

Günceleme: 19/12/2013 23:28