Hundreds of scientific studies have shown that 100% renewable energy systems can be achieved at global, regional and national levels by 2050 or earlier. The number of published studies has grown by 27% annually since 2010 and continues to grow every year.
“A rapidly growing number of researchers conclude that the demand for the entire energy system can be met with renewable energy sources and that it is cheaper in the long term and at the same time meets the requirements of sustainable development,” the professor. Christian Breyer LUT University decides.
The key pillars of this new energy system are solar and wind energy, energy storage, sector coupling and the electrification of all energy and industrial sectors, which requires power-to-X and hydrogen-to-X solutions, complemented by future decarbonisation to help stabilise. climate. The current review is called “On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research” and published in IEEE Access.
“According to the UN, more than 160 companies with $70 trillion in assets have committed to decarbonizing the global economy, which means phasing out fossil fuels by 2050. Our research has shown that we have the technologies to implement a global energy supply based entirely on renewable energy production. energy,” says Dr. Sven TeskeAssociate Professor, University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
“Science clearly shows that global 100% renewable energy is technically and economically possible. The next step is for our research to be included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports, which are based on currently outdated energy scenarios,” continues Teske.
“Strong skepticismโ is long gone
At first, research into 100% renewable energy systems was met with strong skepticism. Now, leading researchers in the 100% renewable energy systems research community have combined their vision. The article reflects the development of the research field, the current state, criticism of the past and provides an insight into future research needs. More than 20 authors from 15 organizations and 9 countries participated in this collaborative study.
“Many young people are depressed because they feel that climate change cannot be stopped. We want to offer them hope by showing that our world can get all its energy needs from renewable energy sources at a lower cost than fossil fuels. When we first proposed this we were laughed at, but this paper shows that our ideas are now in the scientific mainstream,” says Auke Hoekstra from Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Important criticisms of the 100% Renewable Energy System Research Center on renewable energy return on investment (EROI), system variability and stability, costs, feedstock demand, and community disruption. These aspects are addressed directly, and it is shown that they are either things of the past, or that there are solutions so that none of these aspects should be considered a precedent.
“In particular, the oft-repeated claim that renewables do not and cannot possibly provide a higher energy return on investment than fossil fuels because fossil fuels are currently still needed to manufacture and install them is fundamentally flawed – the same flaw. logically, coal could never have become a viable source of abundant “grid” energy as it was originally ignited by lower EROI animal energy (ie human muscle and horse carts had to be used to extract and transport the mines)”, adds Macro Raugeifrom Oxford Brookes University in Great Britain and Columbia University in New York in the United States.
According to the article’s researchers, however, considerable institutional inertia can be observed at the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which makes it difficult to introduce progressive 100% renewable energy system solutions. The transition could be faster, leading to a more affordable energy system to achieve a higher level of sustainability, if international institutions adopted the latest insights from research into 100% renewable energy systems.
New research is still needed
Research into 100 percent renewable energy systems has fueled corresponding policy goals, which in turn is leading to new research in the field. The broad discussion has led to various emerging research areas, such as sector connections and smart energy systems, material criticality, annual resource fluctuations, system reliability and safety, and negative CO2 emissions for faster handling of the climate emergency.
“The technologies already exist. The significant evidence presented is also empirical evidence in several regions and countries. The ability to exploit synergies between energy efficiency, electrification, district heating and electric fuels has certainly been proven. Now decision-makers must stop all new investments in fossil fuels and focus on smart energy systems based on renewable energy to creation”, says Brian V. MathiesenAalborg University, Denmark.
These 15 leading universities, businesses, NGOs and governments must work together to promote the public engagement needed to implement distributed sustainable energy systems. Researchers say that local ownership, governance and market models need to be developed to fit different contexts and cultural traditions around the world.
HT
Source: LUT University
Source: The Nordic Page