Renewable Energy Resources
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Abstract
The British Association for the Advancement of Science, with the Institute of Energy and the Fellowship of Engineering held a one-day seminar on 18 May 1983 on the topic of Renewable Energy Resources. Under the chairmanship of Sir George Porter and Sir Hugh Ford, this well-attended seminar covered the prospects and potential for various renewable resources in the UK, as well as briefly assessing European and worldwide developments. From various predictions, the percentage of UK energy needs which could be met by 'alternative' sources such as wind, wave, tidal and solar, could be 5% (IIASA) to 60% (Earth Resources Research), by 2020. As Sir George Porter stated, despite the lack of comfort in long-term future for fossil fuel supplies, their price fluctuations, along with lack of investment in the 'alternatives' has meant little commitment to these in the UK. According to Ian Fells (University of Newcastle upon Tyne) current Government expenditure on renewabies was running at 7% of that on nuclear power development. Problems which might be encountered in the utilisation of such resources include their disparate nature and location, environmental problems and storage difficulties. These were just some of the real problems to be solved, and for which R&D effort and finance was required in order that renewables could play an increasingly important part in the UK energy mix. Describing wind, wave, tidal and geothermal sources specifically, Prof. Michael French (University of Lancaster) opined that wind power was emerging as the most appropriate alternative source for electricity production, especially for isolated areas, and that when engineering problems had been overcome in decreasing the cost of production and increasing the durability of equipment, the prospects for large-scale offshore wind farms was good. Technology had advanced worldwide, especially in the USA, where Boeing had designed a 7.2 MW windmill. Currently, five UK companies were cooperating in the manufacture of small-scale power plants. The major drawback of wind generators was that only about 60% of power was recoverable. This is in contrast to wave power generation, where in theory, 100% is recoverable. However, due to disappointing results from existing equipment, and the high cost of power produced, this option had fallen from favour. Tidal power was also seen as a very real prospect for the UK, as in the case of the much analysed Severn Barrage project, which could supply 5% of the electricity requirements of the country. Although the UK has no hot acquifers, hot dry rock geothermal power has real potential, as indicated by the test site at Camborne, although a vast increase in experience with deep drilling in hard rock would be vital for its economic development. As a group, Prof. French saw these sources as promising, not least because of their potential to provide jobs, for instance in the steel and ship-building industries. Covering the rest of the renewable resources available, Prof. David Hall (King's College, London) spoke enthusiastically on power from solar energy and biofuels. The experience of the EEC was invaluable to the UK, especially that of France, Germany and Greece, who between them had 250 000 solar-powered systems. For space heating, combined with insulation techniques, solar power would benefit the UK as a whole, and if tax and other incentives were made available, the individual consumer as well. The other aspect was the export potential, 20% of current solar heating systems manufactured here being sold abroad. Worldwide, photovoltaic solar electricity generation is worth £150 million mainly in Japan, USA and France and export potential for the UK was therefore large, although the use of photovoltaics in tnt: UK was likely to be small. With biofuels, the Department of Energy sees six categories as cost-effective, but despite this, only £0.5 million of the total budget since 1975 has