What is the future of energy? The future of energy is about Asia, electrons, biology, nanoscale materials science and inter-dependence. The great challenge for the energy industry seems to be meeting global demand while trying to overcome production and distribution challenges suitable for a planet of 6 to 9 billion people. The future of energy must be abundance.
[What about 'green energy'?
'Green' cannot and should not be ignored. But defining 'green' can be complicated given the range of mixed agendas, and I see no real 'resolutions' being widely accepted. Even if the industry transformed itself- becoming totally carbon-neutral, Planet Earth is still destined to be transformed by human activity in the next century. Even if you flood India, China, America and Europe with 'green' energy - the end result for global ecosystems and planetary resource supplies is NOT neutral. Asia's middle class consumption patterns will transform the planet- whether they get power from coal or solar. There are second and third levels of implications to sustainability that must be resolved after we create a CO2 energy industry. But that is a conversation for another post!]
Global demand is expected to double in the next twenty-five years. All aspects of the energy industry should expand. All ‘primary inputs’ (hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear), all ‘conversion methods’ (biological, combustion, electrochemical) and all ‘carriers’ (electricity, hydrogen). Everyone grows…
Meanwhile groups and agendas compete for attention and emotions. Wind people dismiss clean coal; battery people dismiss fuel cells; others say expand nuclear before solar. And oil must deal with the most criticisms from energy independence folks and those watching the peaking of production. Adding to the confusion, there is still no agreement over timelines for expecting industry changing innovation or whether we pass a tipping point of climate change or managing resource depletion.
The most forward-looking strategies include greening hydrocarbons, commercializing bio energy, expanding renewables and nuclear, and pushing forward hydrogen fuel cells for transportation and micro-power markets. H2 packets could emerge as a ‘leap frog’ energy business model for delivering electricity to billions of people who are not connected to modern electricity grids.
So what breakthroughs happened in ‘07 that could make this possible?
This is a longer more tech-science post of research advanced during 2007:
#1 Nano-bio Research / Bio-energy – nanowires plugged into hydrogenase, graphene sheets couple enzymes, controlling enzymatic activity, bio energy from bacteria/algae
#2 Nanostructured Catalysts – Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuels, green chemistry, biomimicry, role of carbon, Greening Hydrocarbons – desulphurization
#3 Growing Solar – Challenges to growth, photocatalysts for H2, artificial photosynthesis, graphene sheets and nanotubes, fundamentals of photosynthesis
#4 Hydrogen storage – advances in solid state storage (absorption/adsorption strategies); liquid carriers
#5 Hydrogen production with nanostructured catalysts (photo-, electro-, and bio-)
#6 Batteries – Real world challenges of ‘plug in’ battery vehicles
[Fuel cells - I am going to write a separate post on micro-fuel cells and vehicles…]
