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Taking a close look at renewables

Jones, R. (2017, November) Taking a closer look at renewables. Energy Issues. Retrieved from http//:www.taking-a-closer-look-at-renewables.energyissues.

Capacity Factor

The capacity factor, which is linked to the concepts of intermittency and power density, is another significant issue. It is a major consideration when discussing the efficiency of energy sources in electricity generation. Renewable power generation has a significantly lower capacity factor than baseload power plants, such as nuclear, coal or natural gas, due to the variability of the wind and sun. Even hydro-electricity, which is one of the better renewables, has a capacity factor of 38%. The baseload power plants - which use fuel sources such as nuclear, coal, natural gas or hydro - can operate continuously, unlike variable resources such as the wind and solar facilities. When discussing the power output of wind and solar, the figure often given is maximum power output under optimal conditions which, due to the vagaries of the weather, is rarely achieved. Due to their poor capacity factor renewables are unsuitable for providing baseload power.

CO2 emissions

Figure 3

(K) As we can see from Fig. 2, the burning of traditional fossil fuels for electricity generation produces a massive amount of CO2. In comparison, the CO2 produced from renewable energy sources is insignificant. While this is obviously beneficial, it cannot be the only factor taken into account when choosing an energy source. If, for example, the comparison is with regard to electricity generated the reverse is true. Output from renewables comes a distant second to that of fossil fuels. We can see nuclear power is the only source of energy that can reconcile massive energy output and low CO2 emissions.

It is evident from the discussion above that nuclear power must be a significant part of our future energy mix. It is the only energy source that can meet the ever-increasing energy demand, without producing the huge quantities of greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. While renewables such as wind and solar have a role to play, it is a supporting role. Due to some of the weaknesses set out above, it would be a big mistake to think otherwise.