Homework Ch. 9 Renewable Energy

Quiz question 1 Can hydro energy be stored? What about wind and solar? Why does it matter? See Q 10.

Renewable energy sources can replenish themselves. 1. Provide three differences between renewable energy such as wind and solar and non-renewable energy such as coal and natural gas as sources of energy for electricity generation. Renewable energy sources can replenish themselves. Renewable sources do not emit carbon. Renewable sources are intermittent. Renewables sources are not under the control of the electricity dispatcher.

The comparison does not take into account: 2. Compare the levelized costs of (onshore) wind, solar (photovoltaic), and natural gas. Provide three factors that render the cost comparison difficult. Wind is the lowest cost if you include subsidies. Solar is the highest, even with subsidies. If you exclude subsidies, NG is the lowest. (By the time you read this book, wind may be the lowest even without subsidies.) The comparison does not take into account: Intermittency Dispatchability Carbon emissions

First-best would be to price carbon. 3. What do we mean when we say that subsidizing solar and wind is a second-best solution? First-best would be to price carbon. Since we don’t do that, Second-best is to subsidize renewables Since we are implicitly subsidizing carbon-based fossil fuels.

Text cites Google, Amazon, and Facebook. 4. Cite a company (it can be one mentioned in the text or another one) that uses renewable fuels, but claims its motivation is not strictly profit maximization. What explanation do they give for their decision and do you believe them? Text cites Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Use 100% renewable fuels to run their servers. Google’s website says “We’re creating a better future for everyone.” They also say, “It has to make good business sense.” It may be greenwashing, as they acknowledge that their servers run 24/7 and wind and solar do not.

At best, it is a second-best policy as pricing carbon would be better. 5. The U.S. government currently offers incentives to purchasers of electric vehicles. How should we evaluate the social efficiency of such a program? At best, it is a second-best policy as pricing carbon would be better. With gas prices low, the demand for EVs is weak. Also consumers have range anxiety Few recharging stations And we need to consider how the electricity is produced Renewables or fossil fuels? We are changing the location of the emissions, but not necessarily reducing them. Best for the government not to pick winners. Better to use incentive-based programs.

6. What are the similarities and differences between Feed-in-Tariffs and Renewable Portfolio Standards? Give an example of a location where FIT is used and one where there is an RPS. Both FITs and RPSs aim to increase the use of renewables faster than the market. FIT uses a price approach requires electric utilities to purchase renewables above the market cost of electricity. Germany uses FIT RPS requires utilities to use an above-market percentage of renewables Quantity approach U.S. uses RPS Britain uses Renewable Obligations (ROs)

Wind Solar Geothermal Biofuels 7. Aside from hydro, which renewable energy source has the largest share of the electricity-generating market? Wind Solar Geothermal Biofuels

U.S. leads in generation, second in installed capacity 8. Provide examples of countries that lead in the percentage use of hydro; geothermal; wind; solar. Hydro – Norway Geothermal – Iceland Wind?- Denmark (42%) Cutting back on subsidies: Too expensive U.S. leads in generation, second in installed capacity China leads in installed capacity, and fastest growth in capacity (likely to cut; costs too much) Second in generation Wind production is far from population centers Solar? Sunny Italy, followed by cloudy Germany

9. What is the Duck Curve, and what is its significance?

Hydro can be stored in some cases. 10. Can hydro energy be stored? What about other renewables? Why does it matter? Hydro can be stored in some cases. Water is stored in a reservoir, and released when needed. Pumped storage pumps water from a lower elevation in the reservoir to a higher reservoir. When needed, it is released and drives a turbine to generate electricity. Batteries that can store wind and solar energy are in the development stage. Storage allows electricity to be available when it is demanded, as opposed to when it is produced.