Merit - An evaluation tool for 100% renewable energy provision

Born, F. J. and Clarke, J. A. and Johnstone, C. M. and Smith, N. A. V. (2001) Merit - An evaluation tool for 100% renewable energy provision. In: Renewable Energies for Islands Conference, 2001-06-14 - 2001-06-16. (http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/Documents/merit.pdf)

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Abstract

Islands represent an interesting challenge in terms of energy supply. A great deal of work has been carried out to look at specific aspects of this issue on different islands. Unfortunately, results from one study cannot be easily applied to other islands due to island-specific resources and energy-use profiles. A quantitative evaluation tool (MERIT) is presented here, which is able to match half-hourly energy demands (heat, electricity, hot water and transport) with local supplies. The program examines the energy balance on any scale, from an individual building through to an entire country, thereby providing a powerful and generic aid to decision making. This paper demonstrates the generality and usefulness of MERIT by using it to analyse the options for creating an energy-autonomous community on a typical, small island off the west coast of Scotland. Results are presented showing the feasibility of accomplishing 100% renewable provision on this island using available local resources.

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