IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v32y2007i3p442-458.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Upfront resource requirements for large-scale exploitation schemes of new renewable technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Lund, P.D.

Abstract

Large-scale global use of new renewable energy sources (RES) necessitates massive physical resources. Present study shows that more than 99.5% of the materials needed in new RES systems are basic construction materials and metals abundantly available. Special elements may constitute future bottle-necks in some PV technologies. The extra financial resources needed over traditional energy to achieve a breakthrough in PV and wind power range from 100 to 500 billion $ for a period of 20–30 years influenced by technology progress and speed of penetration, but in solar heating much less. This upfront support could be paid back within 15–25 years later through cheaper and cleaner energy. Compared to nuclear power the resource numbers estimated are of the same order of magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Lund, P.D., 2007. "Upfront resource requirements for large-scale exploitation schemes of new renewable technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 442-458.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:32:y:2007:i:3:p:442-458
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2006.01.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148106000498
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2006.01.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geroski, P. A., 2000. "Models of technology diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 603-625, April.
    2. Davies, Stephen W., 1979. "Inter-firm diffusion of process innovations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 299-317, October.
    3. Andersson, B.A & Azar, C & Holmberg, J & Karlsson, S, 1998. "Material constraints for thin-film solar cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 407-411.
    4. Andersson, Bjorn A. & Jacobsson, Staffan, 2000. "Monitoring and assessing technology choice: the case of solar cells," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(14), pages 1037-1049, November.
    5. Ardente, Fulvio & Beccali, Giorgio & Cellura, Maurizio & Lo Brano, Valerio, 2005. "Life cycle assessment of a solar thermal collector: sensitivity analysis, energy and environmental balances," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 109-130.
    6. Schleisner, L, 2000. "Life cycle assessment of a wind farm and related externalities," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 279-288.
    7. Ardente, Fulvio & Beccali, Giorgio & Cellura, Maurizio & Lo Brano, Valerio, 2005. "Life cycle assessment of a solar thermal collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1031-1054.
    8. Pehnt, Martin, 2006. "Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-71.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fizaine, Florian & Court, Victor, 2015. "Renewable electricity producing technologies and metal depletion: A sensitivity analysis using the EROI," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 106-118.
    2. Victor Court & Florian Fizaine, 2014. "Energy transition towards renewables and metal depletion: an approach through the EROI concept," Post-Print hal-01411803, HAL.
    3. Lund, P.D., 2010. "Exploring past energy changes and their implications for the pace of penetration of new energy technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 647-656.
    4. Kim, Junbeum & Guillaume, Bertrand & Chung, Jinwook & Hwang, Yongwoo, 2015. "Critical and precious materials consumption and requirement in wind energy system in the EU 27," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 327-334.
    5. Chien, Taichen & Hu, Jin-Li, 2008. "Renewable energy: An efficient mechanism to improve GDP," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 3035-3042, August.
    6. Bardi, Ugo, 2009. "Peak oil: The four stages of a new idea," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 323-326.
    7. Radpour, S. & Gemechu, E. & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Kumar, A., 2021. "Developing a framework to assess the long-term adoption of renewable energy technologies in the electric power sector: The effects of carbon price and economic incentives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Rao, K. Usha & Kishore, V.V.N., 2010. "A review of technology diffusion models with special reference to renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 1070-1078, April.
    9. Xin-gang, Zhao & Wei, Wang & Jieying, Wang, 2022. "The policy effects of demand-pull and technology-push on the diffusion of wind power: A scenario analysis based on system dynamics approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    10. Xu, Jiuping & Li, Li & Zheng, Bobo, 2016. "Wind energy generation technological paradigm diffusion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 436-449.
    11. Pihl, Erik & Kushnir, Duncan & Sandén, Björn & Johnsson, Filip, 2012. "Material constraints for concentrating solar thermal power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 944-954.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tian, Xueyu & You, Fengqi, 2019. "Carbon-neutral hybrid energy systems with deep water source cooling, biomass heating, and geothermal heat and power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 413-432.
    2. Elshkaki, Ayman & Graedel, T.E., 2015. "Solar cell metals and their hosts: A tale of oversupply and undersupply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 167-177.
    3. Evans, Annette & Strezov, Vladimir & Evans, Tim J., 2009. "Assessment of sustainability indicators for renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 1082-1088, June.
    4. Yvan Dutil & Daniel Rousse & Guillermo Quesada, 2011. "Sustainable Buildings: An Ever Evolving Target," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Martínez, E. & Jiménez, E. & Blanco, J. & Sanz, F., 2010. "LCA sensitivity analysis of a multi-megawatt wind turbine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(7), pages 2293-2303, July.
    6. Bany Mousa, Osama & Kara, Sami & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "Comparative energy and greenhouse gas assessment of industrial rooftop-integrated PV and solar thermal collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 113-123.
    7. Nugent, Daniel & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2014. "Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar PV and wind energy: A critical meta-survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 229-244.
    8. Martínez, E. & Sanz, F. & Pellegrini, S. & Jiménez, E. & Blanco, J., 2009. "Life cycle assessment of a multi-megawatt wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 667-673.
    9. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Resources on the stage: a firm level analysis of the ict adoption in Turkey," MPRA Paper 65956, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    10. Carnevale, E. & Lombardi, L. & Zanchi, L., 2014. "Life Cycle Assessment of solar energy systems: Comparison of photovoltaic and water thermal heater at domestic scale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 434-446.
    11. Ravikumar, Dwarakanath & Malghan, Deepak, 2013. "Material constraints for indigenous production of CdTe PV: Evidence from a Monte Carlo experiment using India's National Solar Mission Benchmarks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 393-403.
    12. Greening, Benjamin & Azapagic, Adisa, 2014. "Domestic solar thermal water heating: A sustainable option for the UK?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 23-36.
    13. Nguyen, Hiep V. & Law, Ying Lam E. & Alavy, Masih & Walsh, Philip R. & Leong, Wey H. & Dworkin, Seth B., 2014. "An analysis of the factors affecting hybrid ground-source heat pump installation potential in North America," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 28-38.
    14. Liang, Yanan & Kleijn, René & Tukker, Arnold & van der Voet, Ester, 2022. "Material requirements for low-carbon energy technologies: A quantitative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Sokka, L. & Sinkko, T. & Holma, A. & Manninen, K. & Pasanen, K. & Rantala, M. & Leskinen, P., 2016. "Environmental impacts of the national renewable energy targets – A case study from Finland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1599-1610.
    16. Motte, F. & Notton, G. & Lamnatou, Chr & Cristofari, C. & Chemisana, D., 2019. "Numerical study of PCM integration impact on overall performances of a highly building-integrated solar collector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 10-19.
    17. Richard A. Jensen, 2001. "Strategic Intrafirm Innovation Adoption and Diffusion," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(1), pages 120-132, July.
    18. Song, Cuihong & Gardner, Kevin H. & Klein, Sharon J.W. & Souza, Simone Pereira & Mo, Weiwei, 2018. "Cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions from dams in the United States of America," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 945-956.
    19. Turconi, Roberto & Boldrin, Alessio & Astrup, Thomas, 2013. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 555-565.
    20. Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Siu, Yim Ling & Li, Xin, 2014. "The energy and water nexus in Chinese electricity production: A hybrid life cycle analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 342-355.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:32:y:2007:i:3:p:442-458. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.