Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Recent progress towards all-renewable electricity supplies

Nature Materials volume 15, pages 115–116 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor

Policies to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation will be crucial for negotiations at the UN climate conference (COP21) in Paris. In 2012, we presented data in Nature Materials on the contribution that photovoltaic (PV) power plants installed in Germany, Italy and the UK are making to reducing greenhouse emissions1. Here we update our analysis with three more years' worth of data, extending our study not only to other countries but also to wind power and bio-electricity generation. This analysis focuses mainly on the technical feasibility of an electricity supply based on all-renewable sources; more detailed cost considerations will be discussed in a forthcoming work.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Cumulative end-of-year installed renewable power for the countries indicated.

References

  1. Barnham, K., Knorr, K. & Mazzer, M. Nature Mater. 11, 908–909 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Technical Summary of the Combined Power Plant (Kombikraftwerk 2, 2007); http://go.nature.com/wzvIUh

  3. Barnham, K., Knorr, K. & Mazzer, M. Energ. Policy 54, 385–390 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Simulation of a 100% RES System (Kombikraftwerk 2, 2014); http://go.nature.com/FFHM1l

  5. Trends in Photovoltaic Applications (International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, 2014); http://go.nature.com/zw7iQX

  6. A Snapshot of Global PV Markets 2014 (International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, 2015); http://go.nature.com/XKasfZ

  7. Consultation on a Review of the Feed-in Tariff Scheme (Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2015); http://go.nature.com/Ja5y9l

  8. Tabella del totale dei risultati del Conto Energia (Gestore Servizi Energetici, 2014); http://go.nature.com/Wchi6M

  9. Renewable Sources of Energy: Chapter 6, Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) (Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2015); http://go.nature.com/WcbPVp

  10. Zeitreihen zur Entwicklung der erneuerbaren Energien in Deutschland, 1990–2014 (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, 2015); http://go.nature.com/DQ1YU8

  11. Renewable Power Capacity (International Renewable Energy Agency, 2015); http://go.nature.com/hV4dca

  12. Changes to onshore wind subsidies protect investment and get the best deal for bill payers. Department of Energy and Climate Change (18 June 2015); http://go.nature.com/avMLla

  13. Rapporto Mensile sul Sistema Elettrico (Terna Rete Italia, 2015); http://go.nature.com/rVowtJ

  14. Entwicklung von Energiepreisen und Preisindizes (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, 2015); http://go.nature.com/N7wSNm

  15. Barnham, K. The Burning Answer: A User's Guide to the Solar Revolution (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  16. IAEA Annual Report 2012 (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2013); http://go.nature.com/nLDcec

  17. IAEA Annual Report 2013 (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2014); http://go.nature.com/o2Cnv4

  18. IAEA Annual Report 2014 (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2015); http://go.nature.com/tNIxwu

  19. Energy Subsidies: Ninth Report of Session 2013–14 (House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, 2013); http://go.nature.com/VnMOlv

  20. Meeting Carbon Budgets – 2012 Progress Report to Parliament (UK Committee on Climate Change, 2012); http://go.nature.com/uHC442

  21. Nugent, D. & Sovacool, B. Energ. Policy 65, 229–244 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2BW, UK

    Keith Barnham

  2. Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology, Kassel, 34119, Germany

    Kaspar Knorr

  3. CNR-IMEM, Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, Parma, 43124, Italy

    Massimo Mazzer

Authors
  1. Keith Barnham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kaspar Knorr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Massimo Mazzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith Barnham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barnham, K., Knorr, K. & Mazzer, M. Recent progress towards all-renewable electricity supplies. Nature Mater 15, 115–116 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4485

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4485

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing