Solar PV is a multidimensional energy system difficult to evaluate on a global basis. Maximum concentration required from The Game players! First, there is solar thermal hot water, solar thermal power generation (also known as CSP) and solar PV. Today’s game is exclusively on the latter. And in solar PV there are two main families of panels: 1) thin film and 2) polycrystalline. Today’s game is exclusively on the latter. Add to that the fact that solar PV works much better at low latitude than high, not only from the resource perspective but also from the seasonal storage one. In short, solar PV makes much better sense in Arizona and Mexico than it does in Aberdeen. Politicians tend to see devices that generate free, clean electricity, while I tend to see expensive devices made from coal in China that produce electricity some of the time.
[Inset image: abject cognitive dissonance seems to be a feature of renewable energy enthusiasts and politicians who see environmental advantage in plastering the countryside with low power density renewable energy devices.]
The Externalities of Energy Production Systems (Day 1 Coal)
Energy Externalities Day 2: Gas-fired-CCGT
Energy Externalities Day 3: Biomass-Fired-Electricity
Energy Externalities Day 4: Nuclear Power
Energy Externalities Day 5: Wind Power
Energy Externalities Day 6: Hydroelectric Power
I am proposing to use 12 metrics to measure costs and benefits:
- Fatalities / year / unit of energy produced
- Chronic illness years / year / unit of energy produced
- Environmental costs not covered directly by the system operators
- Foot print of energy system per unit of energy produced
- Energy system costs where energy source transfers costs to the transmission system
- Energy system benefits where energy source provides a service to the transmission system
- Environmental benefits derived from energy system operation
- Taxes raised / year / for total energy produced
- Subsidies paid / year / for total energy produced
- Tax free cost of energy
- EroEI
- Resource availability
For the following 12 electricity generating systems
- Coal-fired (Monday 19 March)
- Gas-fired (Tuesday 20 March)
- Biomass-fired
- Diesel
- Nuclear
- Hydro electric
- Wind
- Solar PV
- Solar thermal
- Wave
- Tidal
- barrage
- lagoon
- stream
- Geothermal
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