The Economic Competitiveness of Renewable Energy: Pathways to 100% Global Coverage

Chapter 11

Conclusion: The 100% Renewable Energy Puzzle

The most important arguments for a future 100% renewably powered world are summarized in Figure 11.1. There are basic objections to a “Business As Usual” scenario as summarized in the darker and reddish elements of the puzzle:

• Nuclear is a “no go” because of safety considerations which are not 100% guaranteed, and because of the unsolved waste storage problem. Nuclear also has no economic future: based on recent discussions between EDF (France) and British ministries the cost of newly built nuclear power station is such that an agreement was made to pay €ct 11.2/kWh for 35 years for each produced kWh plus adjustment for inflation. In addition, uranium resources for fission reactors are quite limited and could only be stretched if reprocessing is considered, which would in turn cause additional safety and proliferation problems. Furthermore, the use of 3^rd and 4^th generation reactors like fast breeders would only add significantly to the safety problems. Fusion reactors are not being considered because even if technological challenges were to be solved, I am convinced that firstly they would not be feasible for the preferred decentralized energy production technologies and, secondly, they would be more expensive than renewables.
• Fossil energies pose either an environmental problem when CO₂ is released and contributes to global warming at unacceptable levels, or a cost problem if CCS is considered which adds significantly to ...