Renewable Energy from Finite Resources: Example of Emerging Photovoltaics
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Authors
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2020
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Collections
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Chimia
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Series
Series number
Volume
73
Issue / Number
11
Pages / Duration
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft
Place of publication / Event location
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Programming language
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Abstract
Renewable energies, such as sunlight, wind and geothermal heat, are resources that are replaced rapidly by natural processes. However, wind, hydro and solar installations strictly require raw materials that are, in fact, not renewable. Many raw materials are already facing a supply shortage which cannot be easily overcome. This work reviews the problem of critical raw material (CRM) use in photovoltaics (PV) as an example and explains why supply cannot be easily increased to meet demand. We discuss whether there is indeed a 'struggle for elements' in a Darwinian sense, which ultimately leads to a 'survival of the fittest' race in renewable energy technology. In the case of PV, the perception of the definition of 'fittest' needs to change from that considering energy conversion efficiency alone to that which holistically considers net energy produced per emission under the premise that sufficient environmentally and socially acceptable raw material supply exists for renewable energies and all other sectors.
Keywords
Clean technologies, critical raw materials, secondary sources, thin film photovoltaics
Subject (DDC)
Event
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ISBN
ISSN
2673-2424
0009-4293
0009-4293
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
License
Citation
Schmidt, F., Schaeffer, A., & Lenz, M. (2020). Renewable Energy from Finite Resources: Example of Emerging Photovoltaics. Chimia, 73(11). https://doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-2007