Solar Energy and Renewable Alternatives in Greece's Crisis

Overview of Renewable Energy Alternatives

A general definition of alternative energy provided by Kramarae and Spender (2000) states that this term includes systems such as hydroelectric power plants, wind generators, solar power, and biomass (in the form of wood fuel, crops, municipal and industrial waste, and animal manure). In many ways, these alternative energy sources are certainly not new but have been used by humankind for thousands of years. In this regard, Kramarae and Spender note that "from time immemorial the power of the sun, forests, wind, tides, and water has been harnessed. Only since the industrial revolution have the energy-hungry nations of the world used large quantities of coal and oil in their raw states to generate the quintessential modern fuel: electricity. Coal and oil are now considered the mainstream sources of energy and are used to power the economies of the industrialized world" (2000, p. 41).

Fossil fuels such as coal and oil, though, are finite in supply, while alternative energy sources are renewable and can be sustained over time. Indeed, many experts predict that peak oil — the point at which oil supplies will begin to be permanently depleted — may arrive as soon as the mid-21st century (Rosentreter, 2000) or between 2070 and 2120 in a best-case scenario (Nath, Hens, Compton, & Devuyst, 1999). In this regard, Gresser and Cusumano emphasize that "despite years of generous government subsidies and continuing worldwide investments by the global oil industry to accelerate technological innovation, the rate of discovery of new oil sources began declining decades ago and has never recovered" (2005, p. 20). As a result, the rush to identify replacements for an increasingly energy-hungry world has driven research into alternative energy resources.

During periods of relatively cheap oil and gas, the corresponding interest and investment levels in alternative energy resources tend to diminish. For example, Farrell cautions that "the problem is that our default mode appears to dictate a halt in the development of alternative technologies as soon as the price of a barrel of oil falls within tolerable parameters. This inevitable knee-jerk response to an easing of an oil crisis has got to go" (2008, p. 6). Despite the waxing and waning of interest in alternative energy resources over the years, some progress has been made (Nath et al., 1999). Solar, biomass, and wind power are all making a positive contribution to global energy needs (Nath et al., 1999), and these alternative energy resources are discussed further below.

Solar Energy: History and Technology

Solar power is probably the oldest renewable energy resource available to humankind today. The sun's energy has been harnessed for millennia to light fires and passively heat dwellings, but significant progress in the use of solar power has been achieved over the course of the last 200 years or so. According to Katsioloudis, Bondi, and Deal, "although Swiss scientist Horace de Saussure is credited with making the first solar collector in 1767, the first person to patent solar thermal electric technology to produce power from the sun's thermal energy was Robert Sterling in 1816 in Edinburgh, Scotland" (2009, p. 12). Moreover, in 1839, French experimental physicist Edmund Becquerel determined that solar power could be used to generate electricity — an accomplishment that predated the introduction of internal combustion engines by nearly half a century (Rosentreter, 2000). During the 19th century, solar power was also used to generate hot water throughout the United States (Rosentreter, 2000).

Despite this extensive use of solar power, it was not until 1954 that scientists at Bell Laboratories developed the first photovoltaic cells, which allow the conversion of sunlight into electricity (Katsioloudis et al., 2009). According to Rosentreter, "considering that photovoltaic cells have been the exclusive power source for satellites since the 1960s, and how rapidly television evolved during an era known as the Atomic Age, it is a wonder that solar technology hasn't advanced further" (2000, p. 8). Researchers at NASA and their Russian counterparts have traditionally viewed solar power as a stopgap measure while searching for more powerful sources of renewable energy for satellites and other space missions (Katsioloudis et al., 2009). Recent innovations in nanotechnologies and organic materials that can be used in solar cell arrays, however, may provide superior performance of these systems in the near future (Cunningham, 2007).

Although commercial solar-powered plants are still costly to implement initially, their costs are lower during the later operating life of the plants (McKee, 1999). According to McKee, "therefore, solar power is more attractive to municipal utilities. The relative attractiveness of solar power is substantially influenced by fuel escalation [and] solar power is now economically competitive for municipal utilities. Solar power is a backstop technology and, as such, oil and gas price increases will be moderated by the existence of this new, relatively cheap energy source" (1999, pp. 122–123). While solar energy is a relatively reliable resource — though the sun does not always shine and some regions receive far less sunlight than others — biomass systems represent an additional reliable resource, discussed further below.

Biomass and Wind Power

Biomass is an umbrella term used to describe any type of organic substance that can be used to generate energy, including industrial, commercial, and agricultural wood and plant residues, municipal organic waste, animal manure, and crops grown specifically for energy-generation purposes (Cleveland & Morris, 2006). Like solar energy, biomass energy has been in use for some time. "Biomass energy," Cleveland and Morris advise, "was utilized in 1860 to meet over 70 percent of the world's total energy needs, mainly through the conventional combustion of wood fuel for heating and cooking. By 2000, the percentage contribution of biomass energy to the world's energy demands had decreased to about 10 percent" (2006, p. 42). Innovations in technology using advanced combustion, gasification, and liquefaction processes have made biomass systems more efficient in recent years (Cleveland & Morris, 2006). Because the organic sources of biomass production ultimately rely on sunlight, it is reasonable to relate this alternative energy approach to solar power in a broader sense.

Wind power is also a significant alternative energy resource. As Elliott explains, "the winds are an indirect form of solar power and they have been used for centuries as a source of energy. More recently wind power has become one of the more successful renewable energy technologies" (1999, p. 88). Hollander similarly reports that "as a renewable resource, wind power has much to commend it. The large wind farms can supply significant amounts of electricity to the main grid systems when the wind blows, while smaller turbines can be used by farms, homes, and businesses in windy locations, such as along coasts, and also can be used in remote areas to which bringing power lines would be prohibitively expensive" (2003, p. 149).

Wind turbines are increasingly being grouped together in so-called "wind farms" so that connections with the power grid, control systems, and road access can be shared. These installations have been developed throughout the United States and Europe, providing a substantial contribution to regional energy needs (Elliott, 1999). According to Elliott, "typically a separation of between 5 and 15 blade diameters is needed between individual wind turbines, to prevent turbulent interactions in wind farm arrays. This means that wind farms can take up quite a lot of space, even though the machines themselves only take up a small fraction of it, and this has led to some objections" (1999, p. 89). Although wind farms have notable attributes — they require no fuel or water to operate and generate no pollutants, greenhouse gases, or toxic wastes — their downsides include significant space requirements, noise, aesthetic objections from nearby residents, and potential threats to migrating birds (Hollander, 2003).

Notwithstanding these disadvantages, some regions of the European Union are particularly well suited to wind farm installation. For example, a 5-megawatt wind farm featuring 10 wind turbines with 500 kW capacity each has already been constructed in Crete (Greece: Renewable Energy Fact Sheet, 2007, p. 3). Although this facility is generating electricity, it is also serving as an experimental operation using two kinds of wind turbines provided by different manufacturers, with the aim of assessing their efficiency and identifying other suitable locations in Europe.

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