Beginning of the End for Fossil Fuels?

After posting on this blog for nearly 3 months, I think it's about time for me to summarise my findings on renewable energy.

I set out to review the key renewable energy resources available at present, looking at both their benefits and limitations as well as understanding some of the significant advances in these energy sources.

I must admit, I had already had strong views on each energy resource; some of these opinions were firmly cemented with my research, such as the huge positives of wind and solar power, however many were challenged, and some even changed. One particular example is biomass energy. I felt strongly that this area shouldn't be significantly expanded due to its impacts on the environment and on future food security. However, this was completely changed when I saw the potential of algal biofuel. Although I still don't support other biomass options, algal biofuel seems to have huge potential and I'm really excited to follow the development of this resource.

Ivanpah Solar Thermal Farm, California. 
Five square miles of 350,000 computer controlled mirrors
Source: Daily Tech

So to conclude my posts from the past few months, I will give a rundown the five renewable technologies that I feel have the most potential in the fight to replace fossil fuels.

5.   See-through solar panels
I am excited to see this developed and brought to market because there is so much potential for this technology- from smart phones to windows of skyscrapers, this could be hugely beneficial on a range of scales.

4.   Pavegen Tiles
This is another technology that has massive potential. With significant financial backing and advice from sector experts, hopefully we will see some interesting and innovative installations in coming years.

3.   Algal Biofuel
As I said above, I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops and whether it has the potential to transform the transport sector in coming decades.

2.   Floating Turbines
With smaller environmental impacts than traditional offshore wind farms, and the ability to be located further offshore, not only should we be seeing more installations in future, but the size of these developments could be significantly larger and able meet greater energy demand.

1.   Solar Power
This is a fantastic renewable energy resource, with fewer environmental impacts than other resources and huge potential particularly in lower-latitude countries with high insolation, many of which are developing and would greatly benefit from reliable, clean energy. With costs rapidly decreasing and technological advances allowing for more flexible electricity production, solar power is increasing in popularity, this is the renewable resource that I anticipate will have the biggest impact in the replacement of fossil fuels. Below is a fantastic image to visually demonstrate the potential of solar power and the land use it realistically requires. 

The land required to power the world with Solar Energy
Source: Clean Technia 

I am a huge supporter of renewable energy, but I can see that improvements need to be made to allow for flexible energy production. Renewables rely on natural energy and the availability of this energy isn't always in line with human demand, therefore a number of areas need to be focused on:

- Development of batteries able to store renewable energy, something we are already seeing with the introduction of the Tesla battery.
- Countries need to install a range of renewable technologies that can respond at different times and  meet sudden high demand.
- Advances in technology that will ensure flexibility of production, already being seen with installations such as the Moroccan Desert Solar farm which produces energy even after the sun has set.

With the COP21 agreement signed, renewable energy is the future. In order to significantly limit emissions and prevent global warming rising above the dangerous 2°C limit, we must rapidly start replacing fossil fuels with clean energy. There should be huge investment, research and development in this area over coming years and I'm really excited to watch this happen.

Climate Change & Energy Vulnerability

A really interesting study was published in Nature Climate Change this week, assessing the vulnerability of energy production to climate change.

The research by van Vilet et al. (2016), highlighted that the projected impact of climate change on water availability is in turn likely to impact power stations requiring water for energy production. This covers hydropower plants as well as traditional thermoelectric plants (ie. fossil fuel or biomass burning plants and nuclear power stations) which require water for cooling. Collectively, these power stations contribute to 98% of global electricity generation. 

The study outlines that by the end of the century there is likely to be a worldwide reduction in usable capacity of 81-86% for traditional power stations and 61-74% for hydropower stations. This would result in mean annual decrease of 7-12% of electricity from traditional stations and 1-4% from hydropower stations. 

Hydropower plants have already tried methods to prevent water loss, with California testing a number of new methods to adapt to the prolonged and severe drought currently taking place. One such method is the release of black 'shade balls' into hydropower reservoirs to cover the water and reduce evaporation. 

'Shade Balls' covering a reservoir in California
Source: National Geographic

Adaptation of traditional plants is also likely to happen to ensure less water is required and wasted in the energy production process. However instead of spending time and financial resources adapting power plants to continue burning fossil fuels, these resources would be better spent investing in renewable technologies that don't release the emissions that caused this issue in the first place.