Bourscheid, Luxembourg / © Marc Marchal / Unsplash
Researchers at Stanford University have calculated what it would cost for the Grand Duchy to switch to using only renewable technology such as wind, hydro, and solar energy. The measure would pay for itself in four years.
A major new study from researchers based at Stanford University in the United States has calculated what it would cost to switch to renewable energy in 145 countries worldwide.
In Luxembourg, the authors estimate that the measure would cost around 16 billion US dollars (14.2 billion euros), or almost 22% of Luxembourg’s overall GDP.
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However, this cost would be outweighed by financial savings due to cheaper and more efficient energy usage.
Annual energy costs for all sectors would be 3.9 billion dollars (3.8 billion euros) cheaper, meaning the measures would pay for themselves in just over four years.
The researchers think the benefits are greater than this, in terms of reduced air pollution and a reduction in global warming.
For instance, they estimate that if current energy usage was continued through to 2050, there would be 103 deaths per year from air pollution in Luxembourg. Switching to fully renewable energy would eliminate these deaths.
Yet ubiquitous renewable energy would require changes in land use. 150 km2 of Luxembourg’s land area (5.8% of total area) would be used up by the placing of renewable technology such as solar panels and wind turbines.
A further 27 km2 of land (1%) would be required for the spacing of equipment, although some of this land could also be used for other purposes such as farming.
While some jobs would be lost as people switched from legacy fossil fuel industries, the authors conclude that overall over 16,000 more employment opportunities would be created than lost in Luxembourg. This includes around 12,500 jobs required for ongoing maintenance of equipment.
Globally, the researchers calculate that 61.5 trillion dollars (58.4 trillion euros) would be required to shift the planet’s energy systems to wind, hydro, and solar.
While this seems like an astronomical sum, the researchers reckon that the measure would pay for itself in under six years.
However, the financial benefits to end users would be enormous, with average annual energy costs falling by 92%. In addition, the authors expect large social savings, for instance from reductions in healthcare costs due to less air pollution.
When energy is generated but not needed immediately, it would be stored using existing battery technology. The researchers estimate that if battery costs rose 50%, this would only increase the cost of using green technologies by 3.2%.
Globally, comparatively little land would be required for a switch to fully renewable energy. / © Stanford University / Royal Society of Chemistry
The figures assume all energy globally will be generated by onshore and offshore wind, solar power, solar heat, geothermal electricity and heat, hydroelectricity, and some tidal and wave electricity. They assume no nuclear power, hydrogen, bioenergy or carbon capture technologies. For countries such as Luxembourg, the figures are adjusted for what forms of energy generation are feasible.
The study states that 95% of the required technology is already commercially available. The authors hope that by adopting renewable energy globally by 2035, there will be large benefits in reducing air pollution, global warming, and energy insecurity.