Debate
Main articles: Renewable energy debate, Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy, Green job, and Intermittent power source
Further information: Climate change mitigation § Overviews, strategies and comparisons of measures
Most respondents to a climate survey conducted in 2021-2022 by the European Investment Bank say countries should back renewable energy to fight climate change.
Renewable electricity generation by wind and solar is variable. This results in reduced capacity factor and may require keeping some gas-fired power plants or other dispatchable generation on standby until there is enough energy storage, demand response, grid improvement, and/or base load power from non-intermittent sources like hydropower, nuclear power or bioenergy.
Solar power plants may compete with arable land, while on-shore wind farms face opposition due to aesthetic concerns and noise, which is impacting both humans and wildlife. In the United States, the Massachusetts Cape Wind project was delayed for years partly because of aesthetic concerns. However, residents in other areas have been more positive. According to a town councilor, the overwhelming majority of locals believe that the Ardrossan Wind Farm in Scotland has enhanced the area. These concerns, when directed against renewable energy, are sometimes described as “not in my back yard” attitude (NIMBY).
A 2011 UK Government document states that “projects are generally more likely to succeed if they have broad public support and the consent of local communities. This means giving communities both a say and a stake”. In countries such as Germany and Denmark many renewable projects are owned by communities, particularly through cooperative structures, and contribute significantly to overall levels of renewable energy deployment.
The market for renewable energy technologies has continued to grow. Climate change concerns and increasing in green jobs, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, oil wars, oil spills, promotion of electric vehicles and renewable electricity, nuclear disasters and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization.New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.
The International Energy Agency has stated that deployment of renewable technologies usually increases the diversity of electricity sources and, through local generation, contributes to the flexibility of the system and its resistance to central shocks.
In October 2021, European Commissioner for Climate Action Frans Timmermans suggested “the best answer” to the 2021 global energy crisis is “to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.” He said those blaming the European Green Deal were doing so “for perhaps ideological reasons or sometimes economic reasons in protecting their vested interests.” Some critics blamed the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and closure of nuclear plants for contributing to the energy crisis. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe is “too reliant” on natural gas and too dependent on natural gas imports. According to Von der Leyen, “The answer has to do with diversifying our suppliers … and, crucially, with speeding up the transition to clean energy.”
Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy
The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland
This section is an excerpt from Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy.
Whether nuclear power should be considered a form of renewable energy is an ongoing subject of debate. Statutory definitions of renewable energy usually exclude many present nuclear energy technologies, with the notable exception of the state of Utah. Dictionary-sourced definitions of renewable energy technologies often omit or explicitly exclude mention of nuclear energy sources, with an exception made for the natural nuclear decay heat generated within the Earth.
The most common fuel used in conventional nuclear fission power stations, uranium is “non-renewable” according to the Energy Information Administration, the organization however is silent on the recycled MOX fuel.Similarly, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory does not mention nuclear power in its “energy basics” definition.In 1987, the Brundtland Commission (WCED) classified fission reactors that produce more fissile nuclear fuel than they consume (breeder reactors, and if developed, fusion power) among conventional renewable energy sources, such as solar power and hydropower.[The American Petroleum Institute does not consider conventional nuclear fission renewable, but considers breeder reactor nuclear fuel renewable and sustainable, and while conventional fission leads to waste streams that remain a concern for millennia, the waste from efficiently recycled spent fuel requires a more limited storage supervision period of about thousand years. The monitoring and storage of radioactive waste products is also required upon the use of other renewable energy sources, such as geothermal energy.