An assessement of global energy resource economic potentials

TL;DR

This paper evaluates global natural energy resources' economic potentials using a comprehensive methodology, providing a detailed database with uncertainty analysis for energy system modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a unified framework and computational method for assessing and comparing natural energy resources' economic potentials globally.

Findings

Cost-supply curves for renewable energy sources

Quantitative estimates of fossil and nuclear resources

Uncertainty analysis incorporated into resource assessments

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of global economic energy potentials for all major natural energy resources. This work is based on both an extensive literature review and calculations using natural resource assessment data. Economic potentials are presented in the form of cost-supply curves, in terms of energy flows for renewable energy sources, or fixed amounts for fossil and nuclear resources, with strong emphasis on uncertainty, using a consistent methodology that allow direct comparisons to be made. In order to interpolate through available resource assessment data and associated uncertainty, a theoretical framework and a computational methodology are given based on statistical properties of different types of resources, justified empirically by the data, and used throughout. This work aims to provide a global database for natural energy resources ready to integrate into models of energy systems, enabling to introduce at the same time uncertainty over natural resource assessments. The supplementary material provides theoretical details and tables of data and parameters that enable this extensive database to be adapted to a variety of energy systems modelling frameworks.