DEMAND MANAGEMENT AND ENERGY STORAGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

DEMAND MANAGEMENT AND ENERGY STORAGE - Essay Example Decreasing generation would technically increase the dependency on conventional resources and that it will not entail additional costs. The third section explores the optimal combination of different renewable energy sources for Scotland. Although a national report says that there is not right mix that would work best for the country, the combination of wind and marine power is recommended nevertheless. Finally, the fourth section discusses the importance of energy storage for renewables. It further explores additional storage facilities that Scotland would need to effectively accommodate future demand. This report concludes that fully realizing the potential of Scotland will make the country one of the largest sources of renewable energy, thereby affecting demand in the global scale. II. Scenarios for Generating Renewable Energy: Impact on Demand Management A. Background Renewable energy is a major potential alternative to moderating the effects of climate change. However, renewable energy sources only account for 19.6% of global electricity and 13.5% of global energy demand (IEA, 2004 cited in Neuhoff, n.d.). While they are indeed limitless and reduce costs of operations in energy generation, renewable sources produce an unreliable energy supply since the weather, on which renewables greatly depend, can become very unpredictable so that its generation may not come in consistently large quantities that meets demand. Generation of renewable energy relies on several technical, economical, and social and environmental factors (Kopacek & IFAC, 2006). Much of the carbon emissions come from conventional electricity consumption and transportation but renewable energy sources encourages a harmless ecological exploitation because they do not give off hazardous byproducts (e.g. carbon dioxide) upon consumption. In the United Kingdom, Scotland generates 50% of country’s renewable energy chiefly from wind, hydropower, marine and biomass sources (Great Britain House of Lords, 2008). As a matter of fact, Scotland has approximately 60 GW of raw renewable electricity sources that could make the country a world leader in renewable energy generation (Scotland, 2009). The country can generate renewable energy five times more than it consumes (McDermott, 2010). But the challenge remains, however on the transmission of this energy potential in which regulatory, financial, logistical, and environmental factors should be taken into account especially in improving the grid network and the policy considerations (Scotland, 2009). The Scottish Government, in response to its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by at least 42% in 2020, aims to â€Å"flex generation [of electricity] to meet demand, and ...flex demand to meet generation† (Scotland, 2010a). Taken from a national report, the following scenarios present how RE generation affect demand management in Scotland. In all three scenarios, demand levels are satisfied. In the second and third scen arios, supply will exceed demand with transmission upgrades, constraints approaches , and reduction of demand in consideration. B. Scenario 1 The Scottish Government had recently increased its renewable target to 80% for 2020 due to the expansion in wind power through which renewables may be