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Another study by Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and the IEA estimates that CSP has the potential to meet up to 7% of the world’s energy needs by 2030, and 25% by 2050. dclxviii c) Photovoltaics A photovoltaic cell (PV) is a device that converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. Though the first solar cell was constructed in the 1880s, due to high costs their use was restricted to powering spaceships and satellites till the 1960s. This changed in the early 1970s when prices reached levels that made PV generation competitive in remote areas without grid access. PV panels now started being used for off-grid purposes, powering homes in remote locations, cellular phone transmitters, road signs, water pumps, and millions of solar watches and calculators. These off-grid applications accounted for over half of worldwide installed capacity until 2004. In recent times, due to growing demand for renewable energy sources together with financial subsidies, photovoltaic production has dramatically expanded. Solar PV power stations today have capacities ranging from 10-60 MW, although proposed solar PV power stations will have a capacity of 150 MW or more. Grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) are the world’s fastest-growing energy technology: annual world solar photovoltaic (PV) installations were 5.95 GW in 2008, a 110% increase over 2007. At the end of 2009, the cumulative global PV installations surpassed 21 GW. Roughly 90% of this generating capacity consists of grid-tied electrical systems. Germany was the world leader in 2009, installing 3800 MW of solar PV in that year. dclxix For solar PV energy to become a dominant source of electricity worldwide, solar costs must become competitive with grid electricity from conventional sources. At present, solar PV (around 30 cents/kWh in the sunniest locations) is a long way from competing with conventional power generation costs (3-5 cents/kWh). But the advantage with solar PV is that decentralized generation is possible with it, meaning the energy source can be located at the consumer’s premises, thereby eliminating the transmission and distribution costs. In that case, the solar PV cost needs to be compared with the electricity tariff being paid by the consumer (around 20 cents/kWh), and not the generation cost of conventional electricity (all cost figures are for the US). dclxx This gap is not much. Considering the trend of falling solar PV costs over the last many years, it is expected that solar PV costs (without subsidies) should become equal or cheaper than grid electricity costs in the sunnier parts of the US, Japan and Southern Europe by 2015. In the more temperate part of Europe, this grid parity is expected to happen around 2020. Grid parity without subsidies is already a reality in parts of California. dclxxi Global solar photovoltaic generation is therefore all set to surge in the coming years. The US solar PV industry aims to provide half of all new U.S. electricity generation by 2025. dclxxii Greenpeace and European Photovoltaic Industry Association estimate that by the year 2030, PV systems could be generating approximately 1,864 GW of electricity around the world, or 14% of the global demand. dclxxiii 162
Renewable Energies: Poised for a Leap Given this huge potential, and with costs poised to sharply fall in the coming years due to technology improvements and economies of scale, it is obvious that it should be possible to meet a substantial part of the global future energy needs by harnessing renewable energy sources. Total global new renewable power capacity (i.e. excluding large hydropower) increased by a healthy 16% over the previous year to reach 280 GW at the end of 2008 – of which wind power was 121 GW, worldwide grid and off-grid solar photovoltaic capacity had increased to 16 GW, small hydropower had gone up to 85 GW, biomass power capacity was about 52 GW, and geothermal power capacity had reached over 10 GW. The top four countries in order of installed capacity were China (76 GW), United States (40 GW), Germany (34 GW), Spain (22 GW); India occupied the fifth position with 13 GW. dclxxiv Even more significantly, in 2008, for the first time, added power capacity from new renewables in both the United States and the European Union exceeded added power capacity from conventional power (including gas, coal, oil, large hydropower and nuclear). dclxxv In March 2007, European leaders signed up to a binding EU-wide target to source 20% of their energy needs from renewables, including biomass, hydro, wind and solar power, by 2020. dclxxvi The share of renewable energy in global electricity generation is set to rapidly increase in the coming years. The Energy Watch Group of Germany estimates that 29 percent of the world's electricity and heat requirements could come from renewables by 2030. dclxxvii The International Energy Agency also did a somersault in 2008, and reversing its earlier stand of marginalizing renewables, stated that by 2050, if governments support the development of renewables by appropriate policies and incentives, 50% of global electricity supply could come from renewable energy sources. dclxxviii A report prepared by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and Greenpeace in October 2008 titled “Energy [R]Evolution: A Sustainable Global Energy Outlook” is even more optimistic. According to this report, if energy efficiency measures are implemented to reduce consumption of electricity, then, new renewable energies (wind, solar, geothermal, ocean and biomass) dclxxix could provide around 62% of the global electricity generation by 2050! The report projects that the global installed capacity of new renewable energy technologies (excluding both small and large hydro) has the potential to grow from 89 GW in 2003 to 5878 GW in 2050, a 66- fold increase in 47 years!!! dclxxx The Greenpeace-EREC study shows that it is possible to completely phase out generation of electricity from dirty and dangerous nuclear energy all over the world by 2050, reduce worldwide carbon dioxide emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2050, and yet meet the global energy needs needed for growth! 163
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NUCLEAR ENERGY Technology From Hell
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Introduction Part I: Government Pla
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yet to find solution to the problem
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Mithivirdi: A powerful movement of
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eing proposed to be set up in the c
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nuclear power plant accident, in ou
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was subsequently endorsed by the he
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Atoms are so small that they can’
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called enriched uranium. [Note that
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of a nuclear power reactor. A typic
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Coolant: A liquid or gas circulatin
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Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Hea
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Is Nuclear Energy Safe? Chapter 3 A
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iii. Gamma radiation: This is akin
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haematopoietic system). Radiation c
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Part III: Radiation Emission in Nuc
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The radioactivity from the tailing
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power plant contains an amount of l
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Tritium is a particularly scary mat
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Plutonium cxi Named after Pluto, th
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Firstly, reprocessing does not redu
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sports and fishing were also banned
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detail the impact of these 'once th
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We today know for a fact that the n
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Till 2005, there were at least 10,0
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The report mentions 16 “events”
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In an article published in The Nati
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Even asssuming that there will not
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fossil fuels. It has now come up wi
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Opinion of Credit Ratings Agencies
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it acknowledged that the expected c
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plant owners to use much more of th
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was the Vice-President of the USA):
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6. Blithely Ignoring Health Costs S
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Is Nuclear Power Green? Chapter 5 S
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Energy Balance attempts to make an
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nuclear energy as compared to elect
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Table 1: Estimates of Total and Nuc
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� At the end of 2009, there were
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Therefore, despite all the optimism
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1. Reviewing the Nuclear Renaissanc
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certification also runs out in 2012
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nuclear phase-out plans which are n
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lower house (Bundestag) to pass a b
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UK and French nuclear safety author
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The second and more important reaso
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eactor or two, but considering that
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Pre-Independence Period India’s N
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Secretary to the DAE. The 1958 Reso
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The reality has been quite differen
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Narora Uttar Pradesh PHWR 220 x 2 4
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Background Part III: US-India Agree
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2. New Reactors Even before the Ind
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clearance, indicative of the fact t
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producing electricity from these re
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Page 115 and 116: India’s Nuclear Installations: Sa
Page 117 and 118: extremely sensitive material used i
Page 119 and 120: area due to uranium mining. cdlxxxi
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Page 123 and 124: India: World’s most unsafe, most
Page 125 and 126: the AEC has not instituted an award
Page 127 and 128: The biggest deficiency in the Rajas
Page 129 and 130: The bed of the Thane creek, which i
Page 131 and 132: Fires have also occurred repeatedly
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Page 135 and 136: can't catch anything else, and ther
Page 137 and 138: up in 1971 at Kalpakkam to lead the
Page 139 and 140: Tulsunde (population 800), Janshipa
Page 141 and 142: are going to be correspondingly hig
Page 143 and 144: governing the computers and systems
Page 145 and 146: guidelines.” It’s unbelievable
Page 147 and 148: The Sustainable Alternative to Nucl
Page 149 and 150: especially bad in the rural areas,
Page 151 and 152: of the human body. In particular, t
Page 153 and 154: While the costs of large dams are h
Page 155 and 156: Demand Side Management Potential to
Page 157 and 158: such absolutely non-essential uses?
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Page 161: Solar water heaters are a very simp
Page 165 and 166: (iii) Small Hydro Power The governm
Page 167 and 168: Indian villages are spread over wid
Page 169 and 170: Energy about the huge potential of
Page 171 and 172: anticipating a change in NSG rules,
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Page 179 and 180: analyse. We must develop our politi
Page 181 and 182: xxvii I. Semendeferi, “Legitimati
Page 183 and 184: lxxxvii Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jam
Page 185 and 186: cliii The IAEA maintains an interna
Page 187 and 188: cciv Mycle Schneider, et al., “Th
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Page 191 and 192: cccxxxv “The postponement of the
Page 193 and 194: cdi “Uranium imports boost Indian
Page 195 and 196: cdlxix Dhirendra Sharma, India’s
Page 197 and 198: dxxxviii “Nuclear power in India
Page 199 and 200: dxciii M. V. Ramana, ibid. dxciv Mu
Page 201 and 202: dclix Union of Concerned Scientists
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