Dear Muharren

Very interesting question but I don't see why you introduce the factor 'days'.

As long as we have solar light, then electricity plants based on solar dishes, photovoltaic cells , wind turbines and biomass, will be able to produce renewable energy.

As long as we produce waste, we can get energy from it.

As long as the Moon exists we can get energy from tides and waves

As long as we have geothermal heat we can have clean energy

Maybe that  hydro energy production may decline because global warming

As of 2015 worldwide more than half of all new electricity capacity installed was renewable. (Wikipedia)

Spain obtains about 30 % of its energy needs from renewable, and this has been happening from several years now

Dear Muharren

Very interesting question but I don't see why you introduce the factor 'days'.

As long as we have solar light, then electricity plants based on solar dishes, photovoltaic cells , wind turbines and biomass, will be able to produce renewable energy.

As long as we produce waste, we can get energy from it.

As long as the Moon exists we can get energy from tides and waves

As long as we have geothermal heat we can have clean energy

Maybe that  hydro energy production may decline because global warming

As of 2015 worldwide more than half of all new electricity capacity installed was renewable. (Wikipedia)

Spain obtains about 30 % of its energy needs from renewable, and this has been happening from several years now

Hello Muharrem, it is very true that we can depend on renewable sources all the time. The main obstacles for the renewable energy sources mainly the solar and the wind is the need for storage, however the storage technologies are growing very fast in addition to the bio fuel and bio gas that can support these sources. Professor Christian Breyer:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Breyer

is very interested in studying the 100% renewable energy scenario for different countries in the world. You can find very interesting information in his research.

Best Regards

I have been following this topic very well since 1993.

Trends of energy uses have switched over centuries from mainly wood "renewable"to chiefly coal and then to largely petroleum & natural gas "non-renewable fossil fuels". These trends were governed by politics, economics, and science respectively.

Scientifically speaking, there can be total dependence on renewable energy sources in the near future if few problems are solved through R &D.

Genuine support of R&D, in this direction, has not been forthcoming really because of the muscles of those who have been & still are reaping huge profits from the current tendencies of energy usage. In my humble opinion, this is the major stumbling block & nothing else.

Renewable energy is the future as conventional energy sources like coal, crude oil, biomass, etc are going to be almost over in 2-3 decades.

From a scientific point of view, a 100% renewable energy supply for our planet is possible and would bring not only economic benefits to  a lot of people. Have a look at the excellent publications of Prof. Breyer' s Group at Lappeenranta University of Technology about 100% RE scenarios (https://research.lut.fi/converis/portal/Person/50148?show=PUBLICATION&publyear=&type=All&endDate=&publyear=&lang=1)

However, as Nizar correctly pointed out, the incumbent energy suppliers, based on fossil energy sources and nuclear  will not give up easily their profits and influence. In addition, the huge subsidies for these kind of energy sources, which by the way considerably slow the efforts to limit global warming, are already criticised by the World Bank and IEA since a couple of years, but little has happened (2012: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/05/09/real-costs-fossil-fuel-subsidies; 2017 https://www.iisd.org/gsi/organizations/world-bank). In 2015 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report that if externalities are included,he unpaid costs of fossil fuels are upward of $5.3 trillion annually.

In 2017 the lowest Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) signed for electricity generated by solar photovoltaic power plants was below 30 USD/MWh for electricity delivered from 2019 on forwards. The CAPEX of such power plants would be about 1 billion USD for 1GW capacity. 5.3 trillion USD would buy you 5.3 TW able to generate between 5300 and 10 0000 TWh  (2015 world demand was 22 800 TWh).

Dear Muharrem, this paper presents the scenario in 2030 in Europe with 100% renewable energy:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318930823_Simulation_of_2030_100_Renewable_Electricity_System_for_Europe

The following paper show that the existing energy system of Kazakhstan can be transformed towards a 100% RE system by 2050.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317593466_Transition_Towards_100_Renewable_Energy_system_by_2050_for_Kazakhstan

Best Wishes

Presentation Simulation of 2030 100% Renewable Electricity System for Europe

Conference Paper Transition Towards 100% Renewable Energy system by 2050 for Kazakhstan

Costa Rica also run 100% on renewable very frequently. There are other important factors:

- I agree with the above that days 100% run on renewable are important,

- the cost of electricity,

- renewable proportion annually (this is more important than the 100% days but less appealing for the public - the 100% days is rather a healthy marketing tool of renewable energy),

- Environmental burden of using these renewable resources. The lowest environmental burden/MWh and the lowest environmental burden/capita are critical in sustainability.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for sending your comments.

Nolberto asks why I used the term "days".

I think we will be reading similar news stories with increasing number of days on which only renewable energy resources (RER) are utilized. To me, it is interesting to follow the trends of increasing days with 100% RER. Some time in the future, I hope that we can see that all 365 days in a year we can depend on 100% on RER at least in some countries.

Several countries put solid targets to increase the use of RER and decrease air pollution. For example, check with these news stories "Norway to completely ban petrol powered cars by 2025" and "Netherlands closes in on 2025 petrol and diesel car ban". I hope the number of countries taking strict incentives increase soon.

But this is not sufficient. If all countries without any exception can cooperate, we human beings can take a faster pace towards 100% and 365 days RER utilization. Unfortunately, we cannot succeed this currently. We can see that some countries are not willing to sign international agreements related to this subject. If we cannot find the way to cooperate and succeed this target, some they we see that some inhabitable places will be uninhabitable.

I often imagine that once upon a time, some planets like Mars had life and inhabitable and suddenly or over some time, something went wrong and the whole planet became uninhabitable. If this were true, I am afraid like so many people the earth may have same destiny. I hope not...

Sincerely,

Muharrem Keskin

Mustafa Kemal University, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316701334_Preface_Energy_Investments_An_adaptive_approach_to_profiting_from_uncertainties

In my new book - Energy Investments: An adaptive approach to profiting from uncertainties - I argued that energy transitions from fossil fuel to renewable energy dominated systems would tend to be a recursive process. There are opposing outcomes, with its social and economic costs, in single-mindedly pushing for a 100% renewables system as an ideal.

Here are some realities that would serve as food for thoughts:

1. Policy push approach, such as providing generous subsidies, often results in outcomes that opposes policy objectives of wide scale renewables deployment. Instead, it perpetuates a green paradox.

2. Renewables volume growth - particularly wind and solar - is expanding rapidly, albeit from a  low base with the exception of markets such as Germany, some US states, China lately, and previously Spain. However, such "explosive" growth rates do not necessarily translate into flourishing firms. In fact, bankruptcies are more common. the few that are financially viable are firms such as Iberdrola by virtue of their taking a portfolio approach in their supply strategy.

3. A day or two or even weeks on ends supplied by 100% renewables is interesting. It may indicate "progress" in renewables' journey towards becoming a mainstream power supply but insufficient to base a long term strategy of delivering reliable and affordable energy supplies to consumers and customers.

Portfolio of fossil fuel and renewables is a more viable approach, as I argued in my book.

4. Germany's Energiewende is a case in point. With a single-minded push for 100% renewables, the policy weakened financially the two major power generators to the point of casting doubts on their long term viability. Implications? Consumers and taxpayers will most likely absorb the pains and excessive costs of the transition without ensuring the future reliability of the German system.

5. Once subsidies are cut, as Spain, Germany, UK, and many other countries have done, renewables' ventures fall like a pack of cards. In my book, I questioned the media's contradictory reporting on renewables' viability (in particular, solar):

As in point (3), media heralded the dawn of a renewables' future given that they have become more "competitive" than fossil fuels-based power supplies. The same media reports on the "evils" and "disastrous" consequences of cutting subsidies.  

Well, we cannot have it both ways:

a) If renewables have achieved competitiveness as to replace fossil fuel.based supplies, surely no subsidies are required?

b) If renewables continue to rely on subsidies, perhaps they are not as competitive as the media presented them to be?

The proof of the pudding is in the eating: I struggle to find solar power companies - either as producers of panels, systems or developers - that are considered financially viable without subsidies. May be I have missed out on the "party"?

In summary, the question is not whether or not a 100% renewables system is feasible or even desirable. There are systems that rely mostly on hydro power (as Norway does) or geothermal (as in Iceland's case). Rather, the question is, whether or not this achieves a reliable and affordable power system.

The reality is, we may operate hybrid systems for years to come where fossil fuel and renewables complement each other as part of a supply portfolio. When this is appreciated, the energy conversation would see fossil fuel and renewables-based power supplies as part of a technology continuum. This replaces the presumption of an artificial dichotomy where fossil fuel is seen as "bad" or "evil", while renewables are "good" and serve as the basis for humanity's survival. 

Data Preface: Energy Investments: An adaptive approach to profiti...

Dear Muharen,

As mentioned above, conventional resources are depleting, we dont have any option but use 100% renewable energy. Yes I believe in near future we unlock the mistry about storage issue, we will figure it out a devices that very efficiently utilize electric power. Our motors and generators will be compact, light weighted with very high power and torque density when we find a way how to produce high capacity magnets (actually it is already on research to do this from super conductive material at nano scale) and these changes everything more than you imagine. 100% electric aircrafts, automobiles and ships will be common to see in a couple of decades.

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Dear Arnulf,

Thank you for your informative answer. I completely agree with you. The problem is as you mentioned: "the incumbent energy suppliers, based on fossil energy sources and nuclear will not give up easily their profits and influence". I hope there will be a good solution for this and a dependence on 100% RER be possible in the near future for a sustainable world. "The world is not given by our fathers, but borrowed from our children".

Best regards,

Muharrem Keskin

Renewable energy is an excellent approach which needs to be sustainable in order to meet the energy demand of future generations. However, there are challenges including production cost, market, lack of information, access to raw materials, mass awareness, etc. that may hinder the sustainability of renewable energy sources. These challenges if appropriately addressed would help achieve the goal of renewable energy thus to reduce emissions, mitigate climate change and provide a clean energy for all and future generations

dear

i think yes it is

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your comments and contributions and letting me learn new things from your responses.

Sincerely,

Muharrem Keskin

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/index/tech/why-renewable-energy.html

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/renewable-energy/public-benefits-of-renewable-power#.WiEWGFVl_X4

Article Security aspects of future renewable energy systems–A short overview

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/alternativeenergysources.php

https://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ozturk-2014-Working-Paper.pdf

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-the-world-run-on-renewable-energy/