Many myths can be found when talking about renewable energies, and some lead people to believe that these do not make them an efficient source of energy production. Overall, it has created a lot of doubt even among those who were well-informed. To fight this fake news, in this blog post we will break down some of the biggest myths on renewables.
An article published in March 2021 on the World Economic Forum tried to tackle two important myths: that renewable energy is too intermittent to be reliable and that it would be too expensive for governments to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
Myth number 1: Intermittency = Unreliability
According to many people, renewable energy sources are non-reliable because of their dependancy on external factors, such as sun and wind. Although this may be in part true, it does not mean that they are unreliable. Thanks to the many innovations that we have had in the industry, intermittency is becoming less and less of a problem. For instance, it is true that solar energy depends on the sun, however, the development of high-capacity batteries and other technological innovations allows to store the energy produced in excess during the day from the sun. This stored energy can then be used to provide the necessary electricity needed during the night, or it may be used to produce other energy.
Did you know that lithium-ion battery capacity has almost tripled, and costs have reduced by almost 90% in the past decade! Italian company, UNE - Universal Natural Energy, has also managed to develop a 100% salt-based battery, that is 100% recyclable, more efficient than traditional batteries, and has a longer life expectancy than lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, sand-based batteries are also beginning to be commercialised and sold to the public and possess similar characteristics to the previously mentioned ones (find out more about sand-based batteries here). This makes it perfectly feasible for companies and households to install batteries that accumulate energy during the day and used the stored capacity during the night.
These innovations, together with developments in energy management software allows to match demand with supply and create a balanced energy grid based on renewables. The continuous research and development in renewables will allow to continue the ongoing trends of increased efficiency and reduced costs.
Myth number 2: Too costly to adopt
During the development phase and launch of the first renewable energy systems, like any other product or service in the same phase, they were very expensive to buy, and a nationwide adoption was difficult. During these phases, companies have to face the high costs connected with research and development, and a low demand given the fact that people are not yet aware of the new product.
So, it is true. Over a decade ago, renewable energy sources were more expensive to adopt than fossil fuels and therefore the industry continued to develop around traditional energy sources.
Since then, costs connected to renewables have decreased exponentially and nowadays, solar and wind energy are actually cheaper than using fossil fuels.
Retrieved on November 2022 from https://www.statista.com/chart/26085/price-per-megawatt-hour-of-electricity-by-source/
The reduction in production costs of renewables means that they have become also a cheaper option for companies and homeowners. Installing solar panels today, is less expensive than buying energy from the grid and allows for important decreases in the energy bill.
Thanks to the high investments in innovation, renewable energy source have also become more efficient than traditional energy production systems based on fossil fuels. Approximately 65% of energy coming from the coal industry is wasted during the production phase. Similar values can be found also for oil and gas, whereas renewables are much more energy efficient and continue getting more efficient each year.
Retrieved November 2022 from: https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-NB-1754
As can be seen from the figure above, all renewable energy sources appear to be by far more efficient than the three most traditional fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas. It is estimated that the transition to renewable energy will be able to save over 12 trillion dollars globally.
Myth number 3: Renewable energy = Unemployment
Another myth that often comes up when talking about renewables, is that it will drive up unemployment. It is true that some jobs will be lost, however, innovation obviously requires change and this means change also in the employment sector. The energy transition is actually expected to reduce unemployment rates. For the 3 million jobs that are estimated to be lost following the transition to renewables, an additional 12 million new work places are expected to be created.
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