Net zero by 2050 – or not?

Net zero 2050 is the goal to achieve a balance with the emission of greenhouse gasses, mostly coming from burning fossil fuels, and their removal from the atmosphere. It is hoped that this goal is achieved by the year 2050. In this presentation by Theo Wolters from the Netherlands a serious attempt is made to see what this really implies for a country such as the Netherlands. This post is relevant for engineers and energy experts who are in the field of supplying the energy that we need every day. Theo has kindly given permission for his presentation to be used on other websites, provided that the source is mentioned.

The source is: https://mwenb.nl/symposium-towards-a-more-graceful-energy-transition/

Abstract:

Theo Wolters: Towards a new energy system based on wind, solar and nuclear energy
(Chairman of The Environment, Science & Policy Foundation)

With the transition from fossil to CO2 free energy sources, comes a major shift in electricity price from fuel costs to investment costs, or in general, from operational expenses (OPEX) to capital expenses (CAPEX).

Far more important for the electricity price however is the difference in system costs between on-demand electricity production, and sun and wind driven production.

The present electricity system relies on a merit order-based market, which has worked great for decades, but cannot cope with a substantial share of subsidized CAPEX driven production, in combination with a huge reduction of on-demand production. Without changing the system, we will end up with frequent and long black-outs, and a very high electricity price.

In my presentation I will compare solar and wind vs nuclear energy in an electricity system with a strongly reduced fossil fuel share on: production cost, backup cost, grid cost and net-stability cost (frequency-, inertia-, and reserve capacity).

I will propose a new electricity system, allocating the huge system costs to the sources that cause them. This which will restore market function, and deal with all  demands of low carbon electricity production, thus providing both maximum grid stability and lowest electricity cost.