From pv magazine Germany
There were “many new records in February,” according to tweets from Bruno Burger of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, after evaluating Germany’s net electricity generation for the month.
The first record: On a monthly basis, renewable energies accounted for more than 60% of the electricity mix that comes from the socket. According to preliminary data, Burger determined renewables had a 61.2% share (see graphic).
The next record: Wind achieved a share of more than 45% for the first time. According to Burger, it was 45.8% — or 20.8 terawatt-hours. Photovoltaic systems generated 4.2% of Germany’s electrical power. Biomass reached a share of around 8.3% and hydropower was 3%.
“The high proportion of renewable energy in February shows that the energy transition is technically feasible and that transmission system operators are able to stabilize the network and guarantee security of supply — even with high proportions of renewable energies,” said Burger.
But there was another record, which is also due to the high feed-in of wind power. At 11%, the share of lignite in net electricity generation was smaller than ever.
“In February, wind power replaced more than 50% of lignite power. This saved around 5 million tons of CO2 in lignite alone, ”explains Burger.
“Due to the low average day-ahead exchange prices for electricity of just $24.34/megawatt-hour, the generation of electricity from lignite was not profitable — since the CO2 certificates for lignite cost an average of around $28.22/megawatt-hour,” the Freiburg scientist noted.
It’s easy to observe the continuing “fuel switch” that started last year – away from coal and towards gas. The share of hard coal-fired power plants was 5.6% according to the evaluation. Gas power plants accounted for 10.2% of net electricity generation and nuclear power plants contributed 11.5%.
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Good! Now, lets move on to heating living spaces which usually comprises half of everybody’s utilty bills. Heating is mostly from natural gas used directly as well as dirty firewood , kerosone, etc. Increased numbers of EVs will require industrial generators to be installed behind fast charging stations , etc.. There is still so much more to be done.. Oil majors know that and they went ahead with heavy spending for more oil and gas for the future , anyway. Are we solving climate change ? Firewood is dirty and renewable only IF you cut trees down with manual tools and chop them , haul them with horses, etc.. If not, then firewood is the most carbon intensive energy around way above coal.. This is a FACT !! People still using firewood are making climate change far worse than necessary. It is way past time that environmentalists have to bite the bullet and ban firewood now! It is much better for climate if eveybody use natural gas or propane instead of firewood! This is true.. with few exceptions like if you have trees on your own properties that you can cut down and bring to your homes and not giving them away to friends, for example.
Firewood is very energy intensive to produce! It is fun to use but we have climate change so every Btu counts! Oil majors are flaring gas simply because we prefer to use firewood .. There is no demand for the flare gas.. that can be used to heat living spaces.. I know that PV is focused on electricity and it is difficult to heat living spaces with electricity alone.. Some uses electricity for heating, of course but the overwhelming majority still use natural gas, heating oil, and firewood. Whatever happens to the Sun for heating ?? Like sunrooms with mirrors to fold the sunlight several times to give some summer like warmth during wintertime? I have 100 sq ft of mirrors that bounces sunlight against the shaded (northern) sidewalls of my house where there is shade and the indoors is chillier than the sunny side.. It works very well! I have seen helicopters hovering over my property for up close views of my mirror arrays.. but nobody comes to knock on my doors for my idea! Most people are only after federal energy tax credits instead of climate change.. meaning ignoring everything else that doesnt come with the tax credits.. There is many more ideas that are without federal tax credits that can be used to combat climate change quite effectively! We are after #$$$$$$$#### not the climate change at all..
I just finished cutting the firewood for heating my house next year. I use about a 1-1/2 gallons of gas, for my chain saws and about 1 gallon of bar oil in a year. I split all of the wood by hand, and transport it with my Polaris EV Ranger (the Ranger is charged with solar). The wood is burned in an EPA certified clean wood stove insert, essentially this stove burns the wood, and then has a secondary combustion for the smoke. The wood is harvested in a sustainable way and new trees are planted as dead or sick trees are removed. Of course this is not an option for everyone, but if you live in an area with access to a sustainable source of trees, I wood (hahaha) contend this is a very responsible way to heat your house.