Risk Management on Solar Thermal vs. solar photovotaic system in the Dissertation - 1

Risk Management on Solar Thermal vs. solar photovotaic system in the Uk - Dissertation Example ulation Trend in UK 36 Appendix VIII – Trend of Oil and Gas Reserves 36 Appendix IX – Employment and Unemployment Trend in UK 37 Appendix X – Computation of 5 x 7 meters Solar Photovoltaic System Facing North, East, South and West 37 Introduction In UK, the renewable energy industry is rapidly expanding so as to minimize the volume of fossil fuels used in the production of electricity, and also reduce their associated carbon dioxide gas emissions for the purpose of reducing pollution to the levels or targets set by the governmental policy. As of 2008, the United Kingdom has been increasingly dependent over the use of renewable energy resources. In line with this, 5.5% (approximately 4.3 million tonnes of oil equivalent) of the total electricity that was generated in UK was produced from the use of renewable resources such as bio fuels (76.19%), wind power (14.29%), and hydroelectricity (9.52%) (Office for National Statistics, 2011). Even though the use of renewab le energy resources has been increasing, there is still a long way for the UK government to reach its goal of generating 30% of its electricity from renewable resources aside from decreasing its carbon dioxide emission by 40% by year 2020 (Department of Energy & Climate Change, 2011). (See Appendix I – Historical Trend of Electricity Generated by Renewable Resources in UK on page 22) It is a universal knowledge that the burning of oil and natural gas could produce and emit excessive carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide that could trigger global warming. To combat the global climate changes, the UK government decided to gradually shift from the use of non-renewable to renewable energy resources (Committee on Climate Change, 2010). Recently, the Committee on Climate Change announced that the Scottish Government will reduce the carbon gas emission by 3.5% annually between2020 to 2050 (Committee on Climate Change, 2011). As a result of increasing the use of non-renewable energy res ources, the annual emission of carbon dioxide throughout the United Kingdom decreased from 8.95 metric tons per capita in 1995 down to 8.6 metric tons per capita in 2007 (Federal Statistical Office Germany, 2010). (See Appendix II – CO2 Emission in UK on page 23) Renewable energy significantly contributes towards a low carbon economy and thereby, provides a secure supply of valuable energy. Numerous years of development and research in the field of the production of energy have introduced many renewable energy technologies however the progress of the renewable energy has been constrained by the various perceptions of the risk associated with such technologies. As of 2008, the Un