Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy technologies are emerging as strong contenders for more
widespread use. Yet despite the remarkable progress made over the past
decades through the collaboration of scientists, industrialists, and policy
makers, they are not yet fully in the mainstream of the power sector. Some
renewable electricity technologies have already gained a significant market
share – their industry is relatively mature, although they may be far from
having developed their world-wide potential. For example, small
hydropower is well-established, as are some segments of the biomass
industry. Wind has been going through vigorous technology and market
development and has reached considerable market share in a few countries,
but still has considerable potential for technological improvement. The solar
photovoltaics market is comparatively small, but tripled its volume in the last
four years. Geothermal has been successfully producing electricity for almost
a century and is currently regaining importance. Concentrating Solar Power
was demonstrated in MW sized plants in the 1980s, but its progress
subsequently stalled as government supports were withdrawn. New designs
and materials suggest a possible renaissance for this technology.
The future of “new” renewables depends on a supportive policy
environment. Under conditions where governments support market
experience through incentives to manufacturers and consumers, technology
development and market deployment are strongly interlinked and function
as a “virtuous cycle” (see Figure 1). Technology development results in new,
improved and/or less expensive products. These new products can then be
sold to serve the needs of more and new customers. Greater sales allow for
higher production volumes, and greater use allows for “learning” from
experience in the market to further technology development. This symbiosis
only operates under a policy framework that equally supports elements of
both the technology development and market cycles. Thus, effective policy
must take into account that there are positive and reinforcing relationships
among technology development, the industry and the market. By stimulating
both the technology development cycle and the market cycle, policies can
achieve sustained renewables-based electricity market growth. Not only
does policy play a central role, but an urgent one as well. Recent scenarios,
including the IEA’s World Energy Outlook, suggest that the market share of
renewables in electricity generation thirty years from now will depend largely
on policy steps taken in the next several years.
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INTRODUCTION
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