IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i8p2051-d348014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Replacing Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power with Renewable Energy: Utopia or Valid Option? A Swiss Case Study of Bioenergy

Author

Listed:
  • Renato Lemm

    (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Raphael Haymoz

    (Institute of Bioenergy and Resource Efficiency, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, Klosterzelgstr. 2, 5210 Windisch, Switzerland)

  • Astrid Björnsen Gurung

    (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Vanessa Burg

    (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Tom Strebel

    (Institute of Bioenergy and Resource Efficiency, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, Klosterzelgstr. 2, 5210 Windisch, Switzerland)

  • Oliver Thees

    (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

Abstract

The transition towards a reliable, sustainable, low-carbon energy system is a major challenge of the 21st century. Due to the lower energy density of many renewable energy sources, a future system is expected to be more decentralized, leading to significant changes at the regional scale. This study analyzes the feasibility of the energy transition in the Swiss canton of Aargau as an illustrative example and explores different strategies to satisfy the local demand for electricity, heat, and fuel by 2035. In particular, we assess the potential contribution of biomass. Four scenarios demonstrate what energy demand proportion could be covered by bioenergy if different priorities were given to the provision of heat, electricity, and fuel. The impact of improved conversion technologies is also considered. The results show that the sustainably available renewable energy sources in canton Aargau will probably not be sufficient to cover its forecasted energy demand in 2035, neither with present nor future biomass conversion technologies. At best, 74% of the energy demand could be met by renewables. Biomass can increase the degree of autarky by a maximum of 13%. Depending on the scenario, at least 26–43% (2500–5700 GWh) of total energy demand is lacking, particularly for mobility purposes.

Suggested Citation

  • Renato Lemm & Raphael Haymoz & Astrid Björnsen Gurung & Vanessa Burg & Tom Strebel & Oliver Thees, 2020. "Replacing Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power with Renewable Energy: Utopia or Valid Option? A Swiss Case Study of Bioenergy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:8:p:2051-:d:348014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/2051/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/2051/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nataly Echevarria Huaman, Ruth & Xiu Jun, Tian, 2014. "Energy related CO2 emissions and the progress on CCS projects: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 368-385.
    2. Codina Gironès, Víctor & Moret, Stefano & Peduzzi, Emanuela & Nasato, Marco & Maréchal, François, 2017. "Optimal use of biomass in large-scale energy systems: Insights for energy policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 789-797.
    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. Matthew J. Burke, 2020. "Energy-Sufficiency for a Just Transition: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.

    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. Guansheng Qi & Hao Hu & Wei Lu & Lulu Sun & Xiangming Hu & Yuntao Liang & Wei Wang, 2022. "Influence of Mine Environmental Factors on the Liquid CO 2 Pipeline Transport System with Great Altitude Difference," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Mauerhofer, A.M. & Schmid, J.C. & Benedikt, F. & Fuchs, J. & Müller, S. & Hofbauer, H., 2019. "Dual fluidized bed steam gasification: Change of product gas quality along the reactor height," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1256-1272.
    3. Frazer Musonda & Markus Millinger & Daniela Thrän, 2020. "Greenhouse Gas Abatement Potentials and Economics of Selected Biochemicals in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Zang, Guiyan & Zhang, Jianan & Jia, Junxi & Lora, Electo Silva & Ratner, Albert, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of power-generation systems based on biomass integrated gasification combined cycles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 336-346.
    5. Herui Cui & Tian Zhao & Ruirui Wu, 2018. "An Investment Feasibility Analysis of CCS Retrofit Based on a Two-Stage Compound Real Options Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Xie, Peijun & Jamaani, Fouad, 2022. "Does green innovation, energy productivity and environmental taxes limit carbon emissions in developed economies: Implications for sustainable development," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 66-78.
    7. Oliveira, Flávio A.D. & Carvalho, João A. & Sobrinho, Pedro M. & de Castro, André, 2014. "Analysis of oxy-fuel combustion as an alternative to combustion with air in metal reheating furnaces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 290-297.
    8. Luo, Shihua & Hu, Weihao & Liu, Wen & Zhang, Zhenyuan & Bai, Chunguang & Huang, Qi & Chen, Zhe, 2022. "Study on the decarbonization in China's power sector under the background of carbon neutrality by 2060," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    9. Zailan, Roziah & Lim, Jeng Shiun & Manan, Zainuddin Abdul & Alwi, Sharifah Rafidah Wan & Mohammadi-ivatloo, Behnam & Jamaluddin, Khairulnadzmi, 2021. "Malaysia scenario of biomass supply chain-cogeneration system and optimization modeling development: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Zhang, Xinghui & Yang, Jiaojiao & Zhao, Xudong, 2018. "Optimal study of the rural house space heating systems employing the AHP and FCE methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 631-641.
    11. Verhaeghe, C. & Verbeke, S. & Audenaert, A., 2021. "A consistent taxonomic framework: towards common understanding of high energy performance building definitions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Siddhartha Pradeep, 2022. "Role of monetary policy on CO2 emissions in India," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-33, January.
    13. Míguez, José Luis & Porteiro, Jacobo & Pérez-Orozco, Raquel & Patiño, David & Gómez, Miguel Ángel, 2020. "Biological systems for CCS: Patent review as a criterion for technological development," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    14. Jianu, Ionut, 2022. "Economic development and environmental degradation: A panel ARDL/PMG model for EU-27 countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(13), pages 120-131.
    15. Piotr Ziembicki & Joachim Kozioł & Jan Bernasiński & Ireneusz Nowogoński, 2019. "Innovative System for Heat Recovery and Combustion Gas Cleaning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-13, November.
    16. Sun, Qie & Li, Hailong & Yan, Jinying & Liu, Longcheng & Yu, Zhixin & Yu, Xinhai, 2015. "Selection of appropriate biogas upgrading technology-a review of biogas cleaning, upgrading and utilisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 521-532.
    17. Ma, Y. & Li, Y.P. & Mei, H. & Nie, S. & Huang, G.H. & Li, Y.F. & Suo, C., 2024. "Potential way to plan China's power system (2021–2050) for climate change mitigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    18. Emmanuel Adu & Y.D. Zhang & Dehua Liu & Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul, 2020. "Parametric Process Design and Economic Analysis of Post-Combustion CO 2 Capture and Compression for Coal- and Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-28, May.
    19. Alexey Cherepovitsyn & Sergey Fedoseev & Pavel Tcvetkov & Ksenia Sidorova & Andrzej Kraslawski, 2018. "Potential of Russian Regions to Implement CO 2 -Enhanced Oil Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, June.
    20. Abdilahi, Abdirahman M. & Mustafa, Mohd Wazir & Abujarad, Saleh Y. & Mustapha, Mamunu, 2018. "Harnessing flexibility potential of flexible carbon capture power plants for future low carbon power systems: Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 3101-3110.

    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:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:8:p:2051-:d:348014. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.