Renewable energy capability to save carbon emissions

The present R&D approach to new renewable energy sources includes a drawback which could negate their environmental significance. New renewable energies are affected by a technical limitation because of the random intermittent nature of their power generation which hinders them from fully expanding into the electricity market. As a consequence, the contribution which renewable electric energy sources make is just significant in terms of world electricity generation and only marginal in terms of total energy consumption. Thus, in spite of expectations, the practical achievable amount of environmental benefits arising from new renewable energy would not be enough to counteract the environmental crisis. It is known that the intermittence of energy supply can be removed by implementing grid-tied power systems, adding a further stage aimed to chemically store the intermittent solar energy by producing clean synthetic fuels. Until now this chance was considered of little importance, on the contrary, it should become a compulsory solution so that renewable energy can acquire an actual and environmentally consistent significance. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.