This was a school project, from back in mid/late 2021. It wasn't fun to write, but there's no harm in putting it here. If I recall correctly, this report yielded a D. Somehow. Oh, also zero plagiarism.
The topic of energy sources, specifically renewable energy sources, has come to importance in recent years, and for good reason. With the the population of the world increasing year over year, and with it projected to reach around 9 to 10 billion by 2050 (UN, 2019), the amount of carbon emissions released annually is bound to increase to, possibly dangerous, levels. Switching current energy sources from single-use sources to renewable energy is one of the ways that has been recognized to reduce carbon emissions, but only around 15% of the world's energy comes from such sources. Why are countries adopting renewable energy sources at such a slow rate? What is stopping them from doing so?
Is a future built upon sustainable energy feasible?
The objective of this report is to go over the factors that will determine how feasible a future built upon renewables is for different kinds of countries.
According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, a study conducted from 1965 to 2019 concerning the production and usage of renewable energy by countries, most countries produce around 10-20% of their primary energy from renewable sources, as of 2019. As compared to the 1960s, plenty of countries have adopted and developed renewable sources of energy, and have also increased the share of primary energy produced by renewables. Most countries still, however, have low shares of energy produced by renewables, especially in regions such as Africa and parts of Asia.
Nations located in northern Europe produce a larger share of primary energy from renewables, ranging from around 50% to as high as 80%. Southern America has also drastically increased the usage of renewables, with most countries producing over 10% of their energy sustainably, with some reaching as high as 45%. The main kinds of countries struggling to adopt renewables are developing countries.
Extracted from a paper written by Dilip Ahuja and Marika Tatsutani, "Developing and emerging economies thus face a two-fold energy challenge in the 21st century: Meeting the needs of the billions of people who still lack access to basic, modern energy services while simultaneously participating in a global transition to clean, low-carbon energy systems. And historic rates of progress toward increased efficiency, de-carbonization, greater fuel diversity and lower pollutant emissions need to be greatly accelerated in order to do so."
There are developing countries that have adopted renewables while also catering to other aspects of development. Kenya, as an example, produces around 60% of its energy renewably, with most of it coming from hydro-power, and some 10,000 MW of electricity produced via geothermal sources. Another such example is Brazil. From sources such as hydro-power, biomass, solar, biogas and wind, it produces around 83% of its energy.
Other countries, however, have not paid the same attention to the production of such energy sources, such as Pakistan, with it producing only 7% from renewables. As for the adoption of multi-use energy sources in developed countries, adoption is generally higher than developing nations, with the exception of countries the likes of Kenya, Brazil and Costa Rica.
As of 2019, the USA was producing 9% of it's energy from renewables, with most of it coming from hydro-electricity. Canada produced almost 28%. As for Europe, most of Fennoscandia has comparatively higher production rates of renewable energy consumption, with Iceland, as an example, producing ~80% of its energy from renewables, Norway producing ~66% and Sweden producing ~42%. The rest of Europe has lower production rates, such as Spain and Germany with ~17%, Italy with ~16%, France with ~12%, and Poland with 6%. As of the first half of 2020, Europe managed to generate more renewable energy than non-renewable.
There are several factors that determine how a country will adopt renewables. Among these factors are backlash from the population, which happen mainly because of a lack of knowledge when it comes to the benefits of renewables, both financial and ecological, and the technologies used to produce renewable energy. But there is also the issue of the population being unable to know whether the implementation of renewable energy systems will be reliable in the long run.
Another issue that causes backlash from the population is fact that renewable energy may cause some to lose their jobs, particularly for those who work at power plants. The uncertainty of whether they will be able to find a new job should they lose their current one may lead them to not accept, or act against, the adoption of renewables.
Probably one of the larger factors that is slowing the adoption of renewables are monetary issues. Aside from a lack of money for some countries, which will be addressed later, countries have to compete with fossil fuels, or single-use energy sources. Pricing for such sources of energy have become rather cheap for many countries to scale the usage of.
According to the EIA's International Energy Outlook, from 2016, around 78% of the global energy used by 2040 are to be supplied from fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas. As for a lack of finances for many, mostly developing nations, their economy will play a large role in deciding whether investing in renewables is inherently worth it to them.
The issue of underdevelopment paired with the global transition to renewable sources of energy have meant that governments of developing nations have had to either strike a balance between developing both necessities for its population and attempting to develop or adopt sources of renewable energy, or simply focusing only on developing what is needed for the population, without paying attention to developing renewables. The costs of having to design and explore facilities for developing renewable energy sources and technologies, in addition to the costs of actually purchasing the equipment, are significant for many countries. If the economic situation of a nation plays well with these circumstances, it is possible that it may try to adopt renewables, else if it does not, adoption is less likely.
Furthermore, there are technological issues when it comes to the adoption of renewables. Among these issues are a limited availability of facilities, in addition to infrastructure, especially in developing nations. A significant issue that arises when there is a lack of infrastructure and facilities is connecting renewable power-plants to the main grid.
The absence of infrastructure and facilities makes this a particularly demanding task, as most renewable power-plants have to be located in more remote places. Additionally, renewable power-plants need to be maintained. If a country does not facilitate proper maintenance and operation, power-plants will become less and less reliable, in addition to producing less efficient output. Moreover, experienced personnel are required in order to properly maintain a power-plant, of which there are few, given that renewables are a relatively new field of technology, that has only been developed in the last few years. Lastly, proper research and development needs to be funded.
Renewables need to be developed in order for them to be competitive with single-use fuels. If R&D is not properly funded, renewables will not reach the same level of usefulness that non-renewables have. This can be particularly problematic if a country is tight on money. Funding such R&D is costly, and it needs to be funded properly for the field to develop.
Lack of awareness: A lack of awareness for the population when it comes to the benefits and drawbacks of renewables, and the attitude that may come with it, is a significant factor that is slowing the adoption of clean energy. For this to be overcome, the public should be educated about these matters in ways they find convenient. This could be done through advertisements, billboards, schools or leaflets. Competition with non-renewables: Renewables have to be developed to the point where they are both as useful and as cheap as non-renewables are. This can be done only through proper research and development (R&D) and it being properly funded.
Lack of money: A lack of money for countries is a more difficult issue to solve, and plays into the topic of general development for a nation. This includes, for example, diversifying sources of income and improving relations with neighbouring countries.
Lack of infrastructure and facilities: This problem can be solved only if a country has access to more money. With more money, a country will be able to develop its facilities and improve its infrastructure, therefore allowing it to more easily integrate renewables into its energy pipeline.
Maintenance and operation: As mentioned before, a lack of experienced personnel means it is more difficult to properly maintain and operate a renewable power-plant. Given the young age of this field, there are few people who are experienced enough to properly maintain and operate such a power-plant. Such people can be trained for such tasks via education programs, or courses in colleges and universities.
To conclude, a future built upon renewable energy is indeed feasible, but it requires the solving of plenty of problems, such as a lack of money and a lack of public awareness. However, should these problems be overcome, many of the hurdles previously slowing the development, adoption and implementation of renewables should fall, resulting in easier adoption of said energy sources.
Writing this report on the global adoption of renewables has had a tangible effect on how I now view the various issues and factors when it comes to moving away from fossil fuels. I have learnt that transitioning away from non-renewables is not a simple task, and that making such a change is quite demanding for a country to undertake, courtesy of the many factors which need to be kept in mind so as to appease the population and economy of a country while simultaneously benefitting the planet. This is a difficult balance to strike, which is partly why the adoption of these resources has been so slow.
Most of the research in this report has come from research papers, while a few facts and figures have been sourced from Wikipedia along with other websites (listed below). The information has all come from within the last 12 to 13 years (as of the time of writing), so while statistics may not be completely up-to-date, the actual substance from these sources still mostly stands. Given that most sources are research papers, the information is generally conveyed with neutral language and with a lack of biasedness, and are well researched, with citations being given in most papers.
This was posted on 17/08/2023. If you have any thoughts, feel free to send me an email with them. Have a nice day!