Global Energy Sector Facing Change

The global energy sector is on the point of immense change. The current carbon economy, produces about 80% of the world's energy supply and depends on fossil fuels, which are finite and which produce harmful emissions. This infrastructure has been developed over about two centuries, but in the next 50 years will give way to a whole different reality. No matter a person's views on global warming or the causes of climate change, everyone agrees that the environment is vital to our future. Currently, only 11% of the world's energy needs are supplied by renewable sources.

How are we to provide the huge amounts of energy we need in our modern lives in a clean and secure manner? Governments, scientists and companies have now allocated large R&D budgets to finding the answer.

The "hydrogen economy", is an emerging sustainable energy supply system featuring electricity and hydrogen as dominant energy carriers. Supply of hydrogen is potentially limitless and clean. It is currently used in some industrial processes.

Developing the hydrogen economy depends on the development of fuel cells. Fuel cells utilise the chemical energy of hydrogen to produce electricity and thermal energy. A fuel cell is a quiet, clean source of energy. Water is the only by-product it emits if it uses hydrogen directly. There are a myriad of applications for the technology. In a hydrogen economy, vehicles are powered by Fuel Cells, akin to batteries, which produce electricity with the aid of hydrogen rather than gasoline. Hydrogen can be used for power stations, domestic use, electric and electronic appliances and transportation.

Hydrogen development is already beginning and the future is likely to see the emergence of a combination of existing and new technologies

Biomass - the Largest Source of Renewable Energy

As a primary energy source, renewable energy is significant. It delivered 1,448 Mtoe of primary energy in 2004 and accounted for 13.1% of the 11,059 Mtoe of World Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES). Because of its wide non-commercial use in developing countries, biomass in particular has provided the largest source of renewable energy. Its contribution of 1,150 Mtoe represented 79% of the total supply of renewable energy, followed by hydropower with a 16.8% share.

Primary biomass energy consists of firewood, agricultural residues, animal and human wastes, charcoal, and other derived fuels. Biomass currently represents approximately 10% of world final energy consumption, being the fourth largest provider after oil with 34%, coal with 26%, and natural gas with 22%. Biomass has a higher share with 10.3% than either nuclear with 5.6% or hydro with 2.3%.

According to the IEA, the use of biomass will continue to grow at a rate of 1.4% per year until 2015 and at a rate of 1.3% from 2015 to 2030. The overall share of biomass will remain at 10% of the total. The total of the renewable energy supply experienced an annual growth of 3.5% over the last 15 years—more than the 1.9% annual growth in TPES. Biomass grew with an annual rate of 1.5%. However, the “new renewables” such as solar and wind power have recorded a much higher annual growth of 8.3% up to 2005; both continued to increase even faster in 2006.

The developed countries account for the largest proportion of the new renewables. Out of 11,059 Mtoe of total primary energy in the world, 1,508 Mtoe (or 13.6%) is converted into electricity. 17.1% or 248 Mtoe of all renewable energy is converted into electricity, but only 2.8% or 32 Mtoe of biomass is converted into electricity. “Modern” use is in fact slightly higher because this does not include use of gas and other commercial processes, but it is still a tiny proportion of total biomass consumption.

Renewables, including hydropower, are the fourth largest contributor to global electricity production. They accounted for 15.1% of production in 2004, after coal with 38%, nuclear with 22.9%, and natural gas with 18%. Most of the electricity generated from renewables comes from hydropower plants, which provide 83%, followed by biomass with 9.3%. Geothermal, solar, and wind energy are growing fast but still only accounted for 7.3% of renewable energy generation in 2004.