IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v46y2015icp275-281.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are the land and other resources required for total substitution of fossil fuel power systems impossibly large? Evidence from concentrating solar power and China

Author

Listed:
  • Mathews, John A.
  • Hu, Mei-Chih
  • Wu, Ching-Yan

Abstract

The task of substituting the entire global fossil-fueled energy system by renewables is increasingly discussed in the energy literature, but in the social sciences academy it is widely viewed as impossibly large within any meaningful timeframe. In this article we argue that such pessimism is ill-founded. Taking as our starting point the material and energy requirements of existing operating systems such as the Shams1 Concentrating Solar Power plant, we scale these up to generate the real resource demands of a renewable electrical energy system to supply the entire planet – and find these to be feasible, particularly if it is China that takes on the manufacturing challenge. We argue that such results need to be promoted more vigorously by energy and carbon management scholars.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathews, John A. & Hu, Mei-Chih & Wu, Ching-Yan, 2015. "Are the land and other resources required for total substitution of fossil fuel power systems impossibly large? Evidence from concentrating solar power and China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 275-281.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:46:y:2015:i:c:p:275-281
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115001331
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.045?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. Hang, Qu & Jun, Zhao & Xiao, Yu & Junkui, Cui, 2008. "Prospect of concentrating solar power in China--the sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(9), pages 2505-2514, December.
    2. Jacobson, Mark Z. & Delucchi, Mark A., 2011. "Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1154-1169, March.
    3. John A Mathews & Sean Kidney, 2012. "Financing climate-friendly energy development through bonds," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 337-349, June.
    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. Fan, Xiao-chao & Wang, Wei-qing, 2016. "Spatial patterns and influencing factors of China׳s wind turbine manufacturing industry: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 482-496.
    2. Giglio, Andrea & Lanzini, Andrea & Leone, Pierluigi & Rodríguez García, Margarita M. & Zarza Moya, Eduardo, 2017. "Direct steam generation in parabolic-trough collectors: A review about the technology and a thermo-economic analysis of a hybrid system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 453-473.
    3. Vieira de Souza, Luiz Enrique & Gilmanova Cavalcante, Alina Mikhailovna, 2017. "Concentrated Solar Power deployment in emerging economies: The cases of China and Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1094-1103.
    4. Islam, Md Tasbirul & Huda, Nazmul & Abdullah, A.B. & Saidur, R., 2018. "A comprehensive review of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Current status and research trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 987-1018.

    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. Arsani Alina & Stefan George, 2024. "Energy Transition and European Sub-Models. Restructuring EU Economy," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 86-101.
    2. Altayib, Khalid & Dincer, Ibrahim, 2022. "Development of an integrated hydropower system with hydrogen and methanol production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    3. David Gattie & Michael Hewitt, 2023. "National Security as a Value-Added Proposition for Advanced Nuclear Reactors: A U.S. Focus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-26, August.
    4. Javed, Muhammad Shahzad & Ma, Tao & Jurasz, Jakub & Canales, Fausto A. & Lin, Shaoquan & Ahmed, Salman & Zhang, Yijie, 2021. "Economic analysis and optimization of a renewable energy based power supply system with different energy storages for a remote island," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1376-1394.
    5. Krupa, Joel & Harvey, L.D. Danny, 2017. "Renewable electricity finance in the United States: A state-of-the-art review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 913-929.
    6. Maruf, Md. Nasimul Islam, 2021. "Open model-based analysis of a 100% renewable and sector-coupled energy system–The case of Germany in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    7. Frate, Claudio Albuquerque & Brannstrom, Christian, 2017. "Stakeholder subjectivities regarding barriers and drivers to the introduction of utility-scale solar photovoltaic power in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 346-352.
    8. Trowell, K.A. & Goroshin, S. & Frost, D.L. & Bergthorson, J.M., 2020. "Aluminum and its role as a recyclable, sustainable carrier of renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    9. Kevin Ummel & Charles Fant, 2014. "Planning for Large-Scale Wind and Solar Power in South Africa: Identifying Cost-Effective Deployment Strategies Through Spatiotemporal Modelling," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-121, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Martín, Helena & de la Hoz, Jordi & Velasco, Guillermo & Castilla, Miguel & García de Vicuña, José Luís, 2015. "Promotion of concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) in Spain: Performance analysis of the period 1998–2013," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1052-1068.
    11. Peura, Pekka, 2013. "From Malthus to sustainable energy—Theoretical orientations to reforming the energy sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 309-327.
    12. Griffiths, Steven, 2017. "A review and assessment of energy policy in the Middle East and North Africa region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 249-269.
    13. Prasad, Abhnil A. & Taylor, Robert A. & Kay, Merlinde, 2017. "Assessment of solar and wind resource synergy in Australia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 354-367.
    14. Lenzen, Manfred & McBain, Bonnie & Trainer, Ted & Jütte, Silke & Rey-Lescure, Olivier & Huang, Jing, 2016. "Simulating low-carbon electricity supply for Australia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 553-564.
    15. Mediavilla, Margarita & de Castro, Carlos & Capellán, Iñigo & Javier Miguel, Luis & Arto, Iñaki & Frechoso, Fernando, 2013. "The transition towards renewable energies: Physical limits and temporal conditions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 297-311.
    16. Ronnie D. Lipschutz & Dustin Mulvaney, 2013. "The road not taken, round II: centralized vs. distributed energy strategies and human security," Chapters, in: Hugh Dyer & Maria Julia Trombetta (ed.), International Handbook of Energy Security, chapter 22, pages 483-506, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Zeyringer, Marianne & Fais, Birgit & Keppo, Ilkka & Price, James, 2018. "The potential of marine energy technologies in the UK – Evaluation from a systems perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1281-1293.
    18. Lacchini, Corrado & Rüther, Ricardo, 2015. "The influence of government strategies on the financial return of capital invested in PV systems located in different climatic zones in Brazil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 786-798.
    19. Yuxue Yang & Xuejiao Tan & Yafei Shi & Jun Deng, 2023. "What are the core concerns of policy analysis? A multidisciplinary investigation based on in-depth bibliometric analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Martin Seidl & Manal Saifane, 2021. "A green intensity index to better assess the multiple functions of urban vegetation with an application to Paris metropolitan area," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15204-15224, October.

    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:rensus:v:46:y:2015:i:c:p:275-281. 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.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    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.