Denmark Hits 200 Megawatt Solar Capacity Goal 8 Years Ahead of Schedule
Alternative Energy Wednesday, October 17th, 2012Philip Proefrock | EcoGeek
Installing solar power in Denmark is going faster than planned, and the country has already reached its goal of 200 megawatts of solar capacity. This amount was the goal that the Danish government had set to reach by 2020.
At present, the country is adding 36 MW of solar panels each month, and industry predictions are that there will be 1000 MW of solar panels (five times the goal) installed by 2020. Denmark has one of the highest levels of renewable power installed as a percentage of total power requirements. The national goals on that front are 35 percent (to be reached by 2020) and 100 percent (to be reached by 2050). More than 20 percent of Danish power is supplied from renewable sources at present.
The Danish energy market makes this an attractive option for homeowners and other building owners. “The demand for solar cells has increased dramatically since net metering was implemented in 2010. Net metering gives private households and public institutions the possibility of ‘storing’ surplus production in the public grid, which makes solar panels considerably more attractive.”
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But we, the US, are still wanting to rip Mother Earth’s heart out in search for more dirty oil.
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This is most laudable, but what happens during the winter, when a good part of Norway is dark for the entire day?
This article is incorrect. Denmark has a feed-in tariff, not net-metering, which is a much weaker incentive and (sadly) a very low and unfair return on energy generated that most people are offered in the US. According to this site: “Denmark promotes renewable electricity generation through a premium tariff. System operators receive a variable bonus on top of the market price. The legal basis for the premium tariff is the law on the Promotion of Renewable Energy (VE-Lov) which came into force on 1st January 2011″ http://www.futurepolicy.org/2663.html
From another article, “A large oil reserve in the North Sea keeps the country’s relatively small population amply supplied with energy.” Damn, they still us a lot of oil. These things work well on a small scale, no doubt. There isn’t enough land available for all the solar panels and windmills we’d need in the U.S. Sorry, just the way it is.
@Peter Goslett: Well, then you will only get renewable power during the other parts of the year… What does Norway have to do with this article, by the way?
@JeffT: Yes, of course we are still using oil – it didn’t say anything about Denmark being run a 100% by renewable energy. As the population density of the US is about 25% of Denmark’s, it’s not really a matter of space – and most of the solar panels are placed on roofs, anyway…
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@Peter Goslett Then Denmark uses hydro energy from Norway or nuclear power from Finland or their massive wind power capasity
the oil and gas industry has been invited to buy half off denmarks underground, and at the same time denmark has cutback on fundings for the renewable energy sector,,, denmark is under heavy invasion from oil and gas industries, we are doing our best to get this information out to the public and we will succeed. keep denmark clean, shale gas no thanks
@JeffT
Sorry Jeff, but a very simple calculation (which I do with my physics students every year) shows that a patch of desert in Arizona would do the job without getting in anyone’s way. Look up the physics, do the math. It’s not about area, it’s about distribution. You can’t collect it all in AZ and send it to NY. There would be too many transmission losses. That’s why on-site generation is best.
@JeffT (& following up Jim Clark’s points):
In 2000, total global energy used by humans (converted to electric equivalents) was approx. 13 terrawatts. The total energy flow of sunlight striking Earth’s atmosphere is about 174 Petawatts = 174,000 terrawatts. The energy striking earth’s surface is generally agreed to be about 130,000 terrawatts.
In 2050, the predicted total human energy demand (26 terrawatts, Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded) will total 0.02% of the SOLAR energy that strikes the earth’s surface every moment of every day.
The following page states that credible sources
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-earth-has-enough-wind-energy-potential-to-power-all-of-civilization-2012-9#ixzz2CRVZQTU2
Obviously you’re nowhere close to correct with your
.
JeffT
> There isn’t enough land…
Au contraire, the entire US energy can be met by solar panels on 100 miles square. This is well-published. Since we are putting solar panels over roofs, parking lots and streets, we don’t anticipate using much new land anyway. 99.99% of all energy comes directly from the sun already.
Peter Goslett,
> What happens during the winter…?
Be smart and stay home in the winter! It’s cold and windy outside. Oh, that’s it! The Danes have wind generators to pick up that source too.
The goal is to not drain Norway’s hydro in the summer when the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians have more sun than those in the south. Then they use mostly hydro and wind, and still some solar in the winter. It’s a blend.
[...] Philip Proefrock First published at Conscious Life News on October 17, 2012 This entry was posted in Blogs, General, News. Bookmark the permalink. ← Sharks caught by [...]