|
| Technology | Feasibility
| Costs (2006 prices and costs)
| Time to market |
Reliability | Carbon footprint
|
|
| Onshore Wind | Proven technology.
1.8 GW deployed.
| Large high wind—£62/MWh
Large low wind—£74/MWh[177]
| Being deployed. | Availability of >75% and improving with greater deployment and experience.
Capacity factor[178]:
Large high wind—31%
Large low wind 26%
| The energy payback of wind farms has been estimated at 3-10 months[179]
|
| Offshore Wind | Currently only commercially viable with extra support via the RO and continued support to drive down costs. 304MW deployed.
| £91/MWh[180]
| Early deployment. | As with other emerging technologies, early projects have experienced problems but it is hoped that solutions will be found as deployment increases.
Capacity factor[181]:
31%
| The energy payback of wind farms has been estimated at 3-10 months[182]
|
| Photovoltaics | Proven technology but needs high levels of support for commercial operation.
14MW deployed[183]
| £635/MWh[184]
| Being deployed, but "new" products required for mass market on commercial terms
| Capacity factor[185]:
16%
| The energy payback of PV has been estimated at 3-4 years[186].
|
| Hydrogen and Fuel Cells | Technical feasibility has been demonstrated, but significant techno-economic barriers need to be overcome. This requires R&D breakthroughs—it is not just a question of economies of scale.
| Some niche markets are cost-competitive now, but mainstream applications such as stationary power generation and transport require a reduction of 1-2 orders of magnitude.
| Niche applications—1-2 years;
Stationary (distributed) power generation/CHP—from 2010 ;
Transport (internal combustion engine) replacement—from 2020
| For commercialisation, need >5,000hrs for passenger cars and >40,000hrs for distributed power generation. This has not yet been demonstrated but technical progress is being made.
| It all depends how the hydrogen is produced. Fuel cells can show carbon reductions even when operated on conventional fuels such as natural gas, but the real benefits will only be obtained with low carbon methods of producing hydrogen.
|
| Wave | Early stage demonstration not yet commercially proven at large-scale
| £199/MWh[187]
| Small scale arrays planned. The long-term commercial prospects still uncertain.
| Capacity Factor: 30%[188]
| Dependent upon individual device but expected to be relatively short.
|
| Tidal-stream | Early stage demonstration not yet commercially viable.
| £181/MWh[189]
| The long-term commercial prospects still uncertain. But MW scale tidal- stream protégés planned to be installed in 2007.
| Capacity Factor: 35%[190]
| Dependent upon individual device but expected to be relatively short.
|
| Bioenergy | Proven technology. Commercially viable under current regime where affordable fuel supplies are available.
| Co-firing regular—£90/MWH
Co-firing energy crop—£67/MWh
Biomass regular—£90/MWh
Biomass energy crop—£122/MWh
Biomass CHP—£135/MWh[191]
| Being deployed. Although research and development still required for advanced conversion technologies and second generation biofuels.
| Capacity Factor[192]:
Co-firing regular—90%
Co-firing energy crop—90%
Biomass regular—80%
Biomass energy crop—80%
Biomass CHP—80%
| This is dependent on the type of biomass used, the conversion efficiency, the end use and any co-products involved.
|
| Ground Source Heat Pumps | Proven technology.
| £800-£1300 per kW depending on geology and building application[193]
| Being deployed | No comparable data available.
| The electricity used to drive a GSHP system means that there are some carbon emissions associated with its use.
|
|
