What Is Renewable Energy?

Renewable electricity enables grid integration of solar, wind, and hydro via power electronics, inverters, and converters; optimized by SCADA, EMS, and storage for frequency regulation, reliability, decarbonization, and resilient microgrids across transmission.

What Is Renewable Electricity?

Renewable electricity is grid power from solar and wind, enabled by power electronics, storage, and control systems.

✅ Power converters and inverters synchronize renewables to the AC grid.

✅ Energy storage mitigates intermittency and supports frequency regulation.

✅ SCADA, protection relays, and EMS ensure stability and safety.

Renewable Electricity Renewable electricity (RE) policy is an important subset of industrial and energy policy, and thus needs to be aligned with the energy policy priorities of sustainability, competitiveness, and security. Our common and only long-term natural advantage in the energy sector stems from renewable electricity resources such as wind, biomass, and ocean energy. For a concise overview, see what is renewable energy for context.

Climate change mitigation and security of supply have become the focus of many recent national electricity policies. Renewable energy resources can play an important part in addressing both of these concerns. Additional background on key renewable energy sources can clarify technology options.

Against this background of increasing fossil fuel prices and remarkable energy growth demand, this page focuses on renewable electricity. Readers can also learn the facts about renewable energy to understand policy implications.

Consumers demand secure, dependable and competitively priced electricity and producers must be responsive to these market requirements. Well-designed renewable energy systems help meet these expectations.

The combination of increased demand for renewable electricity and security of supply is a very powerful driver of major power sector change worldwide. Currently, for example, about 50 per cent of energy demand is met with imported fuel and there are projections that this could rise to about 70 per cent in future decades. Economic development and increasing consumption of electricity-consuming equipment will increase the demand for future electricity. Comparative insights into renewable alternative energy highlight pathways for reducing import dependence.

Alongside electricity demand and security of supply issues, climate change also poses a global threat. Large scale decarbonisation of electricity generation and many other sectors will have to occur if the planet is to stay within the 2 degree C target for limiting global warming effects. Scaling clean renewable energy remains central to achieving these targets.

The key components of such a vision are:

• A regional power system based on a SuperSmart Grid;
• The rapid scaling up of all forms of renewable power, with the ultimate goal of decarbonising electricity generation in Europe and North Africa;
• A unified European power market that is united with the North African one, allowing for the free trading of electricity between all countries;
• The production of renewable electricity at the most suitable sites by the most suitable renewable electricity technologies

   

  Renewable Electricity Resources

  Resources and technological applications that may qualify as a source for Clean or Renewable Electricity production are listed below:

  In many markets, renewable energy credits support project economics and tracking of environmental attributes.

  Biogas Energy - refers to renewable electricity produced from a plant that mostly captures biogas for conversion to electric power. Biogas refers to the gaseous constituents (mostly methane and carbon dioxide) are produced from solid organic waste. Facilities producing biogas fuel include municipal garbage landfill sites, common sewage treatment facilities, and anaerobic deterioration of organic waste processing plants.

  Biomass Energy - refers to renewable electricity generated from the burning of organic materials. Biomass includes, but is not limited to:

  • Clean wood biomass, which translates into
  • wood residue
  • wood leftover debris from logging activities
  • organic residue from pulp and paper production plants
  • timber infectedd with mountain pine beetle
  • Liquid fuel that comes from biomass sources such as bio-oil, ethanol, methanol, etc.
  • Dedicated energy crop sources such as corn
  • Clean burning and organically sourced material which has been separated from municipal solid waste

  Energy Recovery Generation (ERG ) - refers to renewable electricity generated from the recovery of industrial waste energy that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere. ERG represents a net environmental benefit relative to existing energy production because it uses the waste output of other industrial processes to generate electricity. Therefore, all energy output from an ERG plant is considered renewable.

  Geothermal Energy - refers to renewable electricity produced using the natural heat of the earth, including steam, water and water vapour as well as all materials dissolved in the steam, water or water vapour.

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Renewable energy credits certify MWh-scale green generation, enabling GHG accounting, Scope 2 reductions, RPS compliance, and PPA hedging via registries like WREGIS, GATS, and M-RETS for grid decarbonization and utility procurement strategies.

What Are Renewable Energy Credits?

Tradable 1 MWh certificates for renewable generation, used in Scope 2 accounting, RPS compliance, and decarbonization.

✅ Verifies MWh via meter data and ISO/RTO registry tracking

✅ Enables Scope 2 reductions for facilities and microgrids

✅ Supports RPS compliance and PPA procurement strategies

Renewable Energy Credits, otherwise known as Renewable Electricity Certificates, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are tradable, non-tangible energy commodities that represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource (renewable electricity). For context on how clean generation is delivered and tracked, see renewable electricity fundamentals and related attributes.

Renewable Energy Credits can be sold and traded or bartered, and the owner of the REC can claim to have purchased renewable energy. While traditional carbon emissions trading programs promote low-carbon technologies by increasing the cost of emitting carbon, RECs can incentivize carbon-neutral renewable energy by providing a production subsidy to electricity generated from renewable sources. It is important to understand that the energy associated with a REC is sold separately and is used by another party. The consumer of a REC receives only a certificate. These market incentives often complement policies such as renewable energy tax credits that influence project financing.

In states and provinces that have a REC programs, a green energy provider (such as a wind farm) is credited with one REC for every 1,000 kWh or 1 MWh of electricity it produces (for reference, an average residential customer consumes about 800 kWh in a month). A certifying agency gives each REC a unique identification number to make sure it doesn't get double-counted. The green energy is then fed into the electrical grid (by mandate), and the accompanying REC can then be sold on the open market. Understanding the range of renewable energy systems that can issue RECs helps stakeholders assess performance and eligibility.

Renewable energy power companies benefit from RECs because they serve as an incentive. Many non-renewable energy sources are subsidized, making it difficult for green energy companies to survive. By being able to sell the power and RECs, the company can afford to thrive in the market. Prices for RECs vary widely, just like other commodities, and they are available for sale in numerous locations. Price signals can also vary with the mix of local renewable energy sources and transmission constraints.

By purchasing Renewable Energy Credits, consumers can claim that they are supporting green energy. While a consumer would ideally also purchase renewable energy for his or her home, this is not always possible. RECs allow companies and individuals to support power in areas which do not offer it directly. Consumers should also, of course, practice conservation and work to get green power in their area, but RECs are a good place to start. For companies, they are an important part of doing business responsibly, while thinking about future generations. For households unable to procure green tariffs, RECs align with broader clean renewable energy practices and ongoing efficiency efforts.

Along with carbon offsets and other incentive programs, Renewable Energy Credits are part of a growing movement which acknowledges that even small changes make a big difference. By supporting green energy, consumers show that there is a demand for it, and companies can build more plants or accelerate production with the funds raised through the sale of RECs. Organizations which promote programs like this hope to eventually see everyone's ecological footprint, meaning the amount of resources and space needed to support a particular lifestyle, greatly reduced. Clear explanations of what is renewable energy empower buyers to request credible products and disclosures.

What's the difference between a REC and a Carbon Offset?

All RECs from qualifying new generators represent the environmental attributes of renewable power, principally the fact that producing that power causes less, or no, pollution. When you buy an amount of wind-generated Renewable Energy Credits equal to your electricity consumption, you are legally entitled to claim that you are wind powered, and that your electricity use does not contribute to global warming. In other words, all wind Renewable Energy Credits can convert your electricity to wind power. However, for a REC to be used to offset emissions from driving, flying or heating your home, it must be from a project that would not have been implemented without the opportunity to realize revenues for the carbon reductions (in other words, it must be "additional" to business-as-usual - see "what's the importance of additionality, below"), and not all renewable energy projects can say that. To evaluate such claims confidently, consult resources that present renewable energy facts and common verification methods.

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Renewable power sources deliver clean energy via solar PV, wind turbines, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass, enabling grid integration, power electronics, smart inverters, and energy storage for efficient, low-carbon electricity generation and resilient distribution.

What Are Renewable Power Sources?

Systems that convert solar, wind, hydro, and biomass into electricity via inverters, power electronics, and grid ties.

✅ Power electronics: MPPT, converters, and smart inverters for PV and wind.

✅ Grid integration: protection, frequency/voltage control, and stability.

✅ Energy storage: batteries, supercapacitors, and power quality management.

Renewable Power Sources involve a wide range of modern technologies that do not rely on fossil fuels or non-renewable energy sources to generate electricity

For a broader overview of policies, technologies, and market adoption, the field of renewable power continues to evolve rapidly worldwide.

The following technology risks have been identified for various renewable power sources. The descriptions are based on the outputs from the Needs Assessment, and the results of the Technology, Market and Sustainability analyses.

Understanding these risks also requires situating each technology within the wider ecosystem of renewable energy sources that shape supply, demand, and policy trajectories.

• Wind Power: Wind turbine power generation is a well-developed technology, especially in the medium/large-sized range. Small units of less than 100 kW to very large units of more than 2MW require further technological research and development. Wind turbine technology is generally finding its most effective application in large scale wind farms with turbines greater than 2MW and whcih are grid-connected.

Grid integration and ancillary services markets are central to scaling wind, as demonstrated by best practices in delivering reliable renewable electricity across diverse regions.

As wind technologies near full market commercialization,the financial and market risks become more important. Specifically,the price point for the produced power, as well as the regulatory acceptance (through appropriate codes and standards) is the key issue. Capital costs are high ($1200-$1500/kW) relative to conventional electricity generation,which are <$1000/kW. Those technologies which help address the cost-competitiveness will be of interest. Comparative analyses of learning curves and procurement models show how renewable power generation can achieve competitive levelized costs under supportive frameworks.

In general, wind power is considered a medium-to-low risk proposition, compared to the other technologies being considered. Given the substantial amount of Canada's energy needs that can be met by wind on our current electrical grid without a major technical challenge, SDTC's wind investment efforts are likely to be weighted towards large-scale technologies. This does not preclude investments in small-scale, non-grid-connected systems, but the net environmental and economic impact would need to be considered.

These considerations also inform deployment pathways alongside microgrids and storage in remote provinces, where flexible alternative energy power solutions can complement existing infrastructure.

• Solar PV Power: Solar panel development has become quite refined, so the current challenge is to improve the production techniques of the panels in order to reduce overall costs,and the environmental impacts of production. Investments in improved production technologies may still be considered a high risk proposition because few such technologies have so far been identified. In terms of the market, there is fairly wide acceptance of solar technologies, but application is fragmented (residential and remote users), and there is little acceptance and integration on a grid scale. Solar systems are harder to justify economically as major generation sources, so many are being used in individual residential and small commercial applications. Consequently,there are growing aesthetic issues (solar panels on roofs and lawns are facing the same issues that large satellite dishes once had).

Manufacturing innovation and policy incentives continue to shape alternative energy development for PV, influencing supply chains, permitting, and workforce training.

Solar power is not a stand-alone solution for large-scale electricity generation:it requires a form of energy storage or baseload generation. However, in certain niche applications, solar power is quite acceptable. Such solar power applications are likely to have the greatest environmental and economic benefits in the short term. Over the longer term, when time-of-day rates are implemented, peak-shaving applications will become more attractive. Canada should be seeding early applications that demonstrate the benefits of peak-shaving in various classes and installation locations.

On balance, the high financial and market risks result in an overall high risk rating for solar PV for the generation of grid-scale power.

• Bio-electricity Power: Bio oil and Bio gas technologies are well into the development cycle,but there are only a few major players at this point.Financially,the technology has not yet been proven as a primary power generation source. However,the value proposition shows good potential if the co-products of the technology (heat and downstream bio products) are factored into the financial equation. While there is no evidence of an integrated market infrastructure at this point,the costs and complexities of creating such infrastructure are not considered to be as high as for other forms of renewable energy. This is largely because such systems could be considered as a means to improve efficiency in the agricultural and waste management areas (bio gas) and offer an attractive alternative for power generation in remote communities.

When aligned with waste valorization and district heating, integrated projects contribute meaningfully to renewable alternative energy outcomes that strengthen both resilience and community benefits.

• Stationary Fuel Cell Power (Hydrogen): Fuels cells still face very high developmental risk as a source of electricity generation (the world's largest installed pilot project of 250 MW is experiencing ongoing technical problems. Material costs are still very high (owing largely to the rare earth materials-mainly platinum-required to make them work), and the market infrastructure is still considered to be in its infancy. This results in an overall high risk rating for power stationary fuel cells that are going to be connected to the power grid. Less expensive hydrogen fuel supply and greater market availability are expected in the future.

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What is renewable energy? Electricity from solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal converted via generators and power electronics, integrated with grid infrastructure, energy storage, and smart controls to deliver sustainable, low-carbon power with reliability and efficiency.

What Is Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy is electricity from renewable sources using electronics, storage and controls for low-carbon power.

✅ Sources: solar PV, wind turbines, hydro, geothermal generation

✅ Integration: grid codes, inverter control, frequency and voltage support

✅ Enablers: power electronics, energy storage, microgrids, SCADA

What Is Renewable Energy? Renewable Energy is popularly considered as any source of sustainable energy that has as its source the renewable, natural environment. Most souces of renewable energy include wind energy, solar energy, water energy and biomass energy, as well as geothermal energy. In most cases, renewable energies are replenished by the natural environment. Non renewable energy resources, such as fossil fuels, cannot be replenished. After all, it took eons of time to create deposits of fossil fuels sources and these deposits are in very limited supply and cannot be replaced. For a deeper overview of definitions and key concepts, see this guide on what renewable energy is and why it matters today.

Wind energy, solar energy, water energy and biomass and geothermal energies comprise most of the plantet's renewable energy sources. Solar energy can be turned into electric power through the use of photovoltaic panels. This electric power can be consumed by many electrical appliances. To explore the main types and how they work, review these detailed summaries of renewable energy sources across different technologies.

What Is Renewable Energy? These are systems that are a key part of the portfolio of electricity solutions. For example, today, traditional biomass represents the most important source of power in the developing world, with a 36 per cent share of total electricity consumption. Used in a sustainable way, biomass and other RE sources do not generate additional greenhouse gas emissions. For context on how clean generation is integrated into modern grids, learn more about renewable electricity and its role in power systems.

RE solutions offer many advantages. Since they use indigenous energy sources like wind, the sun, and rivers of water, they contribute to supply security by reducing reliance on electricity imports. There are a variety of national situations in terms of needs and resources, but renewable ernergy resources are largely available in most developing and developed countries. Creating an enabling environment which contributes directly to local economic development. Renewable energy installations bring jobs, capital, and sources of revenue to local communities, often to rural areas where these benefits are needed most. If you are comparing options beyond conventional fuels, this overview of renewable alternative energy explains pathways for communities and planners.

In certain remote locations, where electricity and/or fossil fuel infrastructure does not reach, RE systems can be the only cost effective option. In addition, modern renewable energy systems generate far less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than fossil energy systems thus reducing the threat of climate change and health risks. Depending on the installation, renewable ener gy projects may be smaller in scale and not as technically complex to operate and maintain as conventional energy projects. For all of these reasons, renewable energy is a valuable resource in addressing the world’s growing electricity needs. These benefits are central to the case for clean renewable energy as a public health and climate solution.

RE form a relatively small part of the commercial energy portfolio today, but the costs of developing, installing, and delivering renewable energy to consumers have been falling, due largely to improvements in system designs and manufacturing techniques. In many applications, particularly in those instances where gaining access to conventional energy systems is difficult or costly, the market share of RE has been growing steadily in recent years. As deployment scales, modern renewable energy systems are becoming more efficient and accessible for diverse users.

What Is Renewable Energy? Characterising the impact of cost reductions and market share increases is the “learning curve.” Simply speaking, RE manufacturers and developers gain valuable experience with each new installation. The level of industrial experience with conventional energy systems is many decades longer than that for renewable energy systems. With modern research, development, and technology transfer techniques at their disposal, the RE industries have achieved progress. But because of this relative immaturity of some ernergy sources, many industry analysts expect cost reductions and performance improvements to continue at a faster pace in the RE sector, thus gaining greater competitiveness and increasing the likelihood that RE uptake will expand in the future. This accelerating experience base is steadily improving renewable power performance, reliability, and competitiveness.

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Renewable energy projects optimize power systems with grid integration, solar PV, wind turbines, battery storage, inverters, and power electronics, enhancing smart grid reliability, microgrids, transmission, and distribution through modeling, protection, and control engineering.

What Are Renewable Energy Projects?

Projects that design, integrate, and control solar, wind, and storage for reliable, efficient electric power systems.

✅ Grid integration studies: load flow, stability, and protection schemes.

✅ Power electronics and inverter control for MPPT and grid codes.

✅ SCADA, forecasting, and storage optimization in microgrids.

Renewable Energy Projects seem to have survived the first cycle of the world economic recession. In fact, late 2008 and all of 2009 seemed better than many economists had recently expected. After a slowdown in world investment activity at the end of 2008, sustainable energy projects enjoyed a rebound during the final three quarters of 2010. For readers seeking a concise overview, the concept of what renewable energy is underpins these investment trends today.

The result was total new investment in worldwide Renewable Energy Projects reached about $162 billion in 2009, down slightly from the revised target of $173 billion for 2008. This was still the second highest annual figure ever recorded and nearly four times the total investment level of 2004. This performance demonstrated that Renewable Energy Projects were certainly not a typical bubble created by the so-called "credit boom", but was rather an investment story that will continue to be important for years to come. Understanding the mix of renewable energy sources helps explain the durability of capital flows in this sector.

The visual underscores how renewable power markets can rebound quickly when financing conditions stabilize.

While many policy-makers have increased their focus on encouraging the growth of Renewable Energy Projects, (partly to stimulate job creation and and offset the forces of recession) projects received new support. From the financial crisis of autumn 2008 until the spring of 2010, the world's chief economies set aside about $188 billion of “green stimulus” programs for Renewable Energy Projects. And since that time, the money has started to be spent. The United States recently announced a large grant scheme to assist the financing of renewable energy projects, and other countries followed the example of Germany, Spain and other European countries by commencing feed-in tariff programs to encourage and stimulate investment in Renewable Energy Projects.. Such measures are pivotal as governments scale clean renewable energy deployment across sectors and regions worldwide.

The major development banks, led by Germany’s KfW and the European Investment Bank, also became important actors in helping Renewable Energy Projects to weather the storm and expand into new markets. However, Renewable Energy Projects have often to cope with a bumpy path.

Blended finance vehicles increasingly target diverse renewable power sources to spread risk and accelerate grid integration across emerging markets.

The story of 2009, however, was one of resilience for Renewable Energy Projects. While there were areas of weakness such as project development in the US and finance for biofuel plants, there was also a decisive shift in the balance of investment towards developing countries and particularly China. Renewable Energy Projects in China was the strongest feature of the year by far, although there were other areas of strength in the world in 2009 such as offshore wind investment in the North Sea and the financing of power storage and electric vehicle technology companies. There was also a marked improvement in the cost competitiveness of renewable power generation compared to fossil-fuel electricity generation. These shifts align with fundamentals described in renewable energy facts that clarify cost trends and technology learning curves.

New investment in Renewable Energy Projects in 2009 was $162 billion, down from a revised $173 billion in 2008. The 7% fall reflected the impact of the recession on investment in Europe and North America in particular, with renewable energy projects and companies finding it harder to access finance:

• China saw a surge in investment in Renewable Energy Projects. Out of $119 billion invested worldwide by the financial sector in clean energy companies and utility-scale projects, $33.7 billion took place in China, up 53% on 2008. Financial investment in Europe was down 10% at $43.7 billion, while that in Asia and Oceania, at $40.8 billion, exceeded that in the Americas, at $32.3 billion, for the first time.
• Clean energy share prices rose almost 40% in 2009, reversing around a third of the losses they experienced in 2008. The WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, or NEX, which tracks the performance of 88 sustainable energy stocks worldwide nearly doubled to 248.68 from its low of 132.03 reached on 9 March 2009.
• Major economies began to spend some of the estimated $188 billion in Renewable Energy Projects they announced in the months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. However the wheels of administration take time to turn, and even at the end of 2009, only some 9% of the money had been spent. Larger proportions of the stimulus funds are likely to be spent in 2010 and 2011.
• Total investment in Renewable Energy Projects by venture capital funds was $2.7 billion in 2009, down 36% on 2008. VC players found it harder to raise new money, because of general investor caution and because exits were hard to achieve given the weakness of stock markets.

Amid these fluctuations, the long-term outlook for renewable electricity remains strong given policy support and improving economics.

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Renewable power generation harnesses solar PV, wind turbines, and hydroelectric resources, using inverters, MPPT, and energy storage for grid integration, power quality, reliability, and decarbonization across smart grids and distributed generation.

What Is Renewable Power Generation?

Electrical generation from wind, solar, and hydro via grid-tied systems, inverters, and storage to cut emissions.

✅ Includes solar PV, wind turbines, and hydroelectric plants

✅ Employs inverters, MPPT, and converters for power quality

✅ Integrates storage, microgrids, and smart grid control

Renewable power generation is one of the most important subjects in today's electricity production industy and in the future will dominate the agenda to remove power generation from the use of fossil fuels As priorities shift, a clearer understanding of renewable energy sources helps frame policy and investment decisions.

Of all the energy currently consumed in Canada, about 3,700 PJ (46%) is used to generate electricity. Canada has approximately 112 GW of installed electricity generation capacity, and produces approximately 561,805 GWh of electricity annually11 , resulting in a $27 B/yr business12 . Most electricity generation, transmission and distribution have traditionally been handled by vertically integrated provincial monopolies. This resulted in the construction of large-scale centralized power generation facilities and massive transmission systems owned by the same generator. The market is currently evolving under new deregulation guidelines. These shifts are framed by national discussions on renewable electricity policy and markets that influence provincial planning across Canada.

There are currently five main sources of power generation in Canada: natural gas, oil, coal, hydro (larger systems), and nuclear. The smallest component is from "other" sources (<2%), which includes renewable power generation. The National Energy Board estimates that "other" renewable power generation sources will reach 5.5 GW of installed capacity under the Business As Usual scenario, or 16.1 GW under the Techno-Vert scenario13, by the year 2025.Projection figures vary considerably throughout the industry and among government departments and jurisdictions,but are sufficient to provide a range from which to make some reasonable assessments. Contextualizing these categories against the spectrum of renewable power sources clarifies where incremental capacity is most likely to emerge.

Renewable Power Generation

Building on this theme, many jurisdictions measure progress by how much renewable power can reliably contribute during peak demand conditions.

Each sub-sector is examined for its potential to produce electricity and displace conventional fossil fuel electricity generation. Some of the fuels may have other - or even better - applications involving renewable power generation. Cross-sector comparisons with broader renewable alternative energy pathways can highlight complementary uses and integration strategies.

• Wind generated electricity
• Solar energy converted into electricity
• Stationary Fuel Cell technology that generates electric power
• Electric power generated from bio energy sources

• Wind Power: Wind power is becoming the leading non hydro-electric renewable energy source of North American electricity generation. The wind power industry, like the larger renewable power generation industry, has benefited from many years of public and private investment and technology improvements from countries around the world. As a result,some wind installations in Canada are now cost-competitive with (and even less expensive than) conventional electricity generation-even without the Wind Power Purchase Incentive (WPPI) program. Because there is lots of rural property in with suitable wind potential, it means there are many suitable locations which can support renewable power generation. The current focus of the wind power industry is to erect wind turbines and make them operational in time to meet future electricity demand.

• Solar PV Power: Solar energy is traditionally classified in three ways:Photovoltaics (solar electricity,or PV),Solar Thermal (heat) and Passive Solar (displacing the need for active heating or cooling). Most residential, commercial and industrial buildings require both electricity and heat (hot water,space heat,etc.). At this time,this report only focuses on Solar PV. If required,a full treatment of solar thermal (or the combined use of PV and solar thermal) may be conducted in a future analysis.
• Bio-electricity Power: Biofuels encompass all forms of renewable energy derived from bio-based matreials. Ttwo of the four types of renewable power generation from bioenergy sources are bio oil and bio gas. Bio oil can also be converted to electric power in means other than boiler combustion. Generally, bio-renewable power generation involves feedstock collection, fuel production and electricity generation.
• Stationary Fuel Cell Power (Hydrogen): Hydrogen as a possible renewable power generation source opens up a broad application area from alternative energy fuels in transportation to renewable power generation using special hydrogen fuel cells.While the application area for hydrogen is large,the specific focus of this report is on the use of hydrogen fuel cells for the delivery of renewable power generation to electricity grids.

Solid Biomass combustion is the most prominent form of biomass use in Canada. Biomass co-generation is already used widely in the pulp and paper industry for power, space and process heating. It is an established technology which needs improvement, but has not been a strong focus of biotechnology research and development. Advances in controls and co-firing are improving the competitiveness of biomass within the wider alternative energy power landscape for industrial sites.

The top five near-term investment opportunities for renewable power generation include:

Targeted pilots and standards can accelerate alternative energy development while de-risking capital for utilities and independent producers.

• Expanded Feedstock for Bio-electricity - To be successful, electrical generation (fuel conversion) equipment must be able to use a wider range of biomass feedstocks beyond the high quality sources that are currently used. Further, new logistics (collection, harvesting, refining) and conversion processes must be developed to supply a steady and reliable source of these additional raw materials for the emerging biofuel processes and bio-electricity facilities. Examples include technologies that go beyond corn-based ethanol8 and white-wood based pyrolysis.
• Wind Power Grid Integration Hardware - Connecting wind farms to the grid in a standardized,cost effective, and reliable way involves both new technology solutions and policy development. While grid connection is largely a policy issue, there are emerging technologies that can increase wind system power quality and reliability, which will help them gain acceptance among utilities.
• Liquid Biomass ( "Bio Oil") Plant Scale-Up - Demonstrations are required to validate the technical and economic viability of bio-processing plants as they scale from prototype to commercial sizes: ie: wood pyrolysis has progressed to the point of full production and needs to prove its value based on the many products that are derived.
• Large Wind Turbine Component - The wind power industry requires larger wind turbines to achieve energy economies of scale. However, to remain competitive in the renewable power generation business, certain ways must be explored to decrease the weight/power output ratio of wind turbines while at the same time increasing equipment life. It is being learned that new investments are required in the research and development of lighter, stronger and more cost-effective wind turbine components and tower designs.
• Solar PV Building Integration - Similar to wind, solar PV systems in Canada require greater access to the power grid.In the residential, commercial and industrial building markets there is the technical potential to fully integrate solar components within the structure and have it replace and reduce power demand from current sources. The cost of the solar power systems and their integration into renewable power development needs to be addressed. Many technological solutions and new energy policies may be required.

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