Paper: Valuing base-load power sources in future energy planning
Karl Gawell, Executive Director of GEA (to the left) at the GEA Press Conference, Finance Forum NY, February 2011 (source:flickr/ thinkgeoenergy, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas
12 Mar 2015
The authors state that "the revaluation of baseload renewables may well provide the best path to address today's power challenges and be the most effective way to combat the threat of climate change"
An academic paper has been recently published in the Electricity Journal that states that the base-load capabilities of renewables such as geothermal should have “revaluation” process in order to give them the true relevance that they have and can have in the future as catalysts to meeting the demand for global energy effectively.
The documents authors, the renowned Karl Gawell, executive director from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and Ben Matek from the same institution, write, “Misinformation about baseload renewables has distorted the discussion about the least-cost future renewable energy mix. There are renewable baseload power sources with generation profiles that can economically replace other retiring electricity sources megawatt for megawatt, thereby avoiding incurring additional costs from purchasing and then balancing renewable intermittent power sources with storage or new transmission.”
Both authors make a clear statement in the document’s introduction saying that “recognizing that no one-size-fits-all solution is preferable, the revaluation of baseload renewables may well provide the best path to address today’s power challenges and be the most effective way to combat the threat of climate change”
To access the paper, please follow the link below.
Source: Science Direct
