Energy Post

Daily reports on the European and Global energy transition

New thermophotovoltaic cells turn heat into electricity more efficiently than a steam turbine

by

Over 90% of the world’s electricity comes from heat-generating power plants using coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, and concentrated solar energy. Steam turbines have always been the standard for converting that heat into electricity. On average they are only 35% efficient, with moving parts that cannot cope with temperatures above 2,000 degrees Celsius. Jennifer Chu at MIT describes new research, in collaboration with NREL, that has led to a … [Read more...]

Russia-Ukraine: modelling the consequences for the European electricity market to 2050

by , , and

Alex Schmitt, Christoph Kellermann, Calvin Triems and Huangluolun Zhou at Energy Brainpool have used their modelling tools to update their predictions of how the European electricity market will develop over the next 30 years, given a target of 99% emission-free generation in 2050. Projections are made on generation (mix and volumes) and price. The big change from their last predictions is the Russia-Ukraine war and Europe’s determination to ramp … [Read more...]

China tariffs: Biden’s plan to unblock domestic Solar manufacturing

by

The U.S. solar industry has been caught up in the wider tariff disputes with China, a key exporter of solar panels and components. The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates hundreds of projects have been cancelled or delayed, totalling more than 50GW (that’s over twice the total US solar installations of 2021), putting 100,000 jobs at risk (almost half the solar workforce). John Rogers at UCS explains what the Biden administration is … [Read more...]

Next-gen Solar farms that work at night, in the rain, and self-clean

by

With the worldwide roll-out of solar, raising the efficiency of energy conversion isn’t just about the materials science of PV cells. Douglas Broom, writing for the World Economic Forum, runs through three “add-on” innovations. Researchers have found a way to generate electricity in the dark as panels cool during the night. A low-cost thermoelectric generator works using the temperature difference between the cooling solar panels and the … [Read more...]

Manifesto: fit-for-purpose flexible grids for the clean electrification of Europe

by

The integration of new clean generation sources on top of the increase in electrification of industry, e-mobility, and heating and cooling means grid investment must be made a priority. Anything else will leave deployment-ready solutions waiting, slowing down the transition. The backdrop is that over one third of the EU’s grids are already more than 40 years old. Eurelectric has produced a manifesto, “Connecting The Dots”, that estimates … [Read more...]

Critical minerals: price spikes are affecting Wind, Solar, Batteries, EVs

by

A wide range of critical minerals are needed for the energy transition. Tae-Yoon Kim at the IEA summarises the reasons why we should expect this to be a year of price spikes due in the main to the Russia-Ukraine war and post-lockdown supply chain bottlenecks. So severe is the problem that the long record of declining costs in clean energy technologies like solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles is being reversed. Although these crises will … [Read more...]

Event Summary: “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 – Innovation”

by

Here are the highlights of our 2-day 4-session workshop “CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 - Innovation”, compiled by Sara Stefanini. It’s a quick and efficient way for readers to see the main points made by our expert panellists. Held at the end of May, it was the fourth of our EU-China workshops since the first was held in November 2020, produced for the EU China Energy Cooperation Platform (ECECP). As always, leading speakers from the EU, major … [Read more...]

How the U.S. can meet its target of halving emissions by 2030

by

Writing for Carbon Brief, John Bistline at the Electric Power Research Institute summarises his co-authored paper “Actions for reducing US emissions at least 50% by 2030”, the target set by the Biden administration. The paper provides detailed projections and actionable insights about the policies and technology deployment needed to achieve this near-term climate goal. Roughly 70-90% of emissions reductions by 2030 must come from the power and … [Read more...]

Reversible Hydrogen fuel cells: can H2 gas-to-power support the grid economically?

by

We know about making green hydrogen from excess intermittent wind and solar. We also know that that same intermittency means the gaps in wind and solar generation need filling. Green hydrogen is very expensive to make. But what if that green hydrogen could be economically converted back to power when needed? Writing for Stanford University, Edmund Andrews describes new research, in collaboration with the University of Mannheim in Germany, into … [Read more...]

Electricity markets with high shares of Wind and Solar will need Nuclear

by , and

When electricity markets have high shares of wind and solar – the goal of many regions around the world – is it more efficient to build a nuclear power plant instead of investing further in more renewable capacity? The answer is yes, according to a study by Machiel Mulder, Xinyu Li and Arjen Veenstra at the University of Groningen. In essence, it’s because nuclear benefits from the high (scarcity) prices when there’s little wind or sunshine. Here … [Read more...]

Latest U.S. modelling shows Battery Storage can support an 80% Renewables grid by 2050

by

NREL’s latest Storage Futures Study concludes that battery storage should be able to support an 80% renewables grid mix in the U.S. by 2050. Madeline Geocaris at NREL explains how they modelled hundreds of future scenarios to accurately represent the value of diurnal (<12 hours) battery energy storage. The high-storage scenarios made different cost and performance assumptions for storage, wind, solar PV, and natural gas. 15 storage … [Read more...]

Will China’s gigantic wind and solar “bases” mean targets met four years early?

by and

China will have doubled its 2020 installed wind and solar capacity by 2025, exceeding 1,100GW, according to government plans. That’s four years sooner than required to meet their target of peak CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Writing for Carbon Brief, Lauri Myllyvirta and Xing Zhang at CREA explain that the main driver is the creation of “clean energy bases”: large-scale concentrations of wind and solar power on deserts … [Read more...]

Record Renewables additions for 2021 and 2022 despite supply bottlenecks prove Solar & Wind’s resilience

by

Despite – or perhaps because of – global market and political turmoil, renewable power is set to break another record in 2022. That’s after 2021 also saw record new capacity from solar, wind and other renewables worldwide. It’s mainly driven by solar PV in China and Europe as governments around the world take advantage of renewables’ energy security and climate benefits, according to the IEA’s latest Renewable Energy Market Update. 295GW of new … [Read more...]

China’s impressive growth in Renewables and Transmission now needs Market innovation

by

***REGISTER NOW for CHINA: Carbon Neutral by 2060 - INNOVATION*** - China has the world’s largest power plant fleet for both coal and renewables. Together they make up most of the total power capacity of over 2,200 GW... STOP PRESS: China's Transition is the biggest single opportunity for managing climate change and also for those businesses who are ready with the innovations that will ensure the best possible outomes in an incredibly … [Read more...]

U.S. Solar breaks new records. What’s needed to keep the momentum?

by

The latest available data reveals it’s been a record breaking 2021 for U.S. solar. John Rogers at UCS runs through the highlights. Solar passed the 100GW milestone, with 23.6GW newly installed, up 19% on 2020 and 77% up on 2019. Solar was the biggest source of new electric generating capacity for the third year in a row. Residential, non-residential and utility-scale all performed well. Across the nation, solar accounted for 3.9% of total … [Read more...]