|
Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, hydro, biomass, and geothermal have become significant sectors of the energy market.〔International Energy Agency, IEA sees renewable energy growth accelerating over next 5 years, http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2012/july/name,28200,en.html〕〔Global trends in renewable energy investment 2012, by REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century); www.ren21.net/gsr〕 The rapid growth of these sources in the 21st century has been prompted by increasing costs of fossil fuels as well as their negative environmental impacts. While the average capacity of renewable energy sources was only 7% globally in 2010, most installation of new capacity has been with renewables. Few new installations were from fossil fuel‐based power plants. The trend towards new power capacity by renewables is expected to continue through 2020.〔The Emerging Electrical Markets for Copper, Bloomsbury Minerals Economics Ltd., July 6, 2010; Independent research study available at Leonardo Energy - Ask an Expert; http://www.leonardo-energy.org/ask-expert〕 Since renewable energy supplies offset the amount of fossil fuels that need to be combusted in power plants, the use of renewables indirectly helps to reduce CO2 emissions. Hence, renewable energy supplies enable societies to progress towards lower-carbon-based economies. Copper plays an important role in renewable energy systems.〔A kilo more of copper increases environmental performance by 100 to 1,000 times; Renewable Energy Magazine; April 14, 2011; http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/article/a-kilo-more-of-copper-increases-environmental〕〔Copper at the core of renewable energies; European Copper Institute; European Copper Institute; 18 pages; http://www.eurocopper.org/files/presskit/press_kit_copper_in_renewables_final_29_10_2008.pdf〕〔Copper and sustainability, Copper Development Association, http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/environment/sustainability.shtml〕〔Copper in energy systems; Copper Development Association Inc.; http://www.copper.org/environment/green/energy.html〕 Since copper is the highest rated thermal and electrical conductor among the engineering metals,〔Pops, Horace, 1995. Physical Metallurgy of Electrical Conductors, in Nonferrous Wire Handbook, Volume 3: Principles and Practice, The Wire Association International〕 power systems that utilize copper generate and transmit energy with maximum efficiency and with minimum environmental impacts. By using copper instead of other lower electrical energy-efficient metal conductors, less electricity needs to be generated to satisfy a given power demand. This article discusses the role of copper in various renewable energy generation systems. ==Overview of copper usage in renewable energy generation== Copper plays a larger role in renewable energy generation than in conventional thermal power plants, in terms of tonnage of copper per unit of installed power. While conventional power requires approximately 1 tonne of copper per installed megawatt (MW), renewable technologies such as wind and solar require four times more copper per installed MW.〔Maximization of use of copper in photovoltaics. Presentation by Generalia Group to ECI, 2012; Available at Leonardo Energy - Ask an Expert; http://www.leonardo-energy.org/ask-expert〕〔Wind Generator Technology, by Eclareon S.L., Madrid, May 2012; www.eclareon.com; Available at Leonardo Energy - Ask an Expert; http://www.leonardo-energy.org/ask-expert〕 Wind and solar photovoltaic energy systems have the highest copper content of all renewable energy technologies. Wind power and photovoltaic power are the fastest growing renewable-based markets. Significant growth is also expected in thermal concentrating solar power.〔 The total amount of copper used in renewable‐based and distributed electricity generation in 2011 was estimated to be 272 kilotonnes (kt). Cumulative copper use through 2011 was estimated to be 1,071 kt. Copper conductors are used in major electrical renewable energy components, such as turbines, generators, transformers, inverters, cables, power electronics, and information cable. Copper usage is approximately the same in turbines/generators, transformers/inverters, and cables. Much less copper is used in power electronics. Solar thermal heating and cooling energy systems rely on copper for their thermal energy efficiency benefits. Copper is also used as a special corrosion-resistant material in renewable energy systems in wet, humid, and saline corrosive environments. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Copper in renewable energy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|