Solar Energy

Tripling renewable energy by 2030 ‘ambitious but doable’

Published

9 months ago

November 30, 2023

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Tripling renewable energy by 2030 ‘ambitious but doable’

By Catherine HOURS

Paris (AFP) Nov 30, 2023

Host United Arab Emirates wants nearly 200 nations attending the COP28 climate summit starting Thursday to commit to tripling installed renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030, a goal experts say is “ambitious but achievable”.

If the UN forum sets that target in stone, it could become a key marker of COP28’s success, especially if coupled with a pledge to drawn down fossil fuel use.

– Why triple renewable energy? –

In September, the G20 — accounting for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — broke new ground in endorsing the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.

The club of major economies remained silent, however, on the need to reduce fossil fuel use, which will also be on the table during the two-week meeting in Dubai.

For Dave Jones, an expert with think tank Ember, the G20’s statement has helped push renewables back to centre stage.

“We were too busy worrying about hydrogen and carbon capture,” he told AFP. “Those technologies are going to help solve the problem, but they are not going to be the driving force behind the solution.”

All credible pathways for achieving global carbon neutrality by mid-century depend on massively scaling up wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable energies, such as biomass.

This is “the single most important lever” for reducing carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, and capping warming under the Paris Agreement threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with the pre-industrial period, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

“Achieving net zero emissions from the energy sector by 2050 rests on the world’s ability to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030,” the intergovernmental body said in a recent report.

Doing so would avoid some seven billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over the next seven years, putting a big dent in the 37 billion tonnes that the world currently emits every year.

Rapid expansion of renewables would cover skyrocketing demand for electricity linked to transport, heating and especially air conditioning.

It would also cut in half the amount of electricity generated by coal, the number one source of CO2.

– How much energy? –

“Concretely, we’d need to increase from 3,600 gigawatts (GW) from renewables at the end of 2022 to 11,000 GW in 2030,” explained Jones.

That would mean adding 1,500 GW of new installed capacity every year by 2030, up from 300 GW in 2022 and an estimated 500 GW in this year.

Progress is visible. Between 2015 and 2022, renewable capacity increased 11 percent per year, on average.

Against a backdrop of soaring oil prices and energy insecurity linked to the war in Ukraine, the IEA forecasts unprecedented growth of about 30 percent in 2023.

China could reach its 2030 target of 1,200 GW capacity from photovoltaics five years early. A surge in the supply of components — mostly from China — could help ensure an additional 1,000 GW of solar capacity by the end of next year, Jones said.

Wind power, however, has hit obstacles in the form of rising costs and interest rates.

Not all countries will have to make the same efforts to slash emissions. Of 57 nations analysed, more than half were on track to meet or exceed their 2030 targets, the Ember analysis points out.

But other large emitters such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and United Arab Emirates still have lots of room for improvement.

– How can this be achieved? –

Last year, 1,000 GW of wind and solar power capacity in the pipeline failed to materialise due to underdeveloped electricity grids and obstacles to permitting, according to the Ren21 research network.

Another bottleneck is finance. Wind and solar are the cheapest way to generate energy and are quick to deploy, but require investment to get off the ground, particularly in emerging and developing countries.

And yet only two percent of energy transition investment between 2000 and 2020 went to Africa, where half the population still lacks electricity, according to the Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).

“We need four trillion dollars a year and we’re a long way from that,” said Ren21 director Rana Adib. “We know that the energy transition also means stopping new investment in fossil fuels”.

In 2022, hydrocarbons were subsidised twice as much as in 2021 to the tune of nearly $1.3 trillion in G20 countries alone, according to BloombergNEF.

This “could have financed 1,900 GW of solar power plants, or ten times the capacity installed by the G20 last year,” the energy think tanks calculated.

The consequence of this situation is clear, insisted Adib, with oil, gas and coal still accounting for more than 80 percent of the world’s final energy consumption, a rate that has not changed for years.

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Solar Energy

Argonne to lead National Energy Storage Research Hub

Published

2 days ago

September 6, 2024

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Argonne to lead National Energy Storage Research Hub

by Clarence Oxford

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Argonne National Laboratory to lead the newly established Energy Storage Research Alliance (ESRA), a national hub focused on advancing energy storage technologies. The ESRA, co-led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is one of two new Energy Innovation Hubs announced by the DOE.

Bringing together nearly 50 leading researchers from three national laboratories and 12 universities, ESRA aims to address the most critical challenges in battery technology, such as safety, high-energy density, and the development of long-duration storage solutions using cost-effective and abundant materials. The initiative is designed to push the boundaries of energy storage science, fostering innovation and strengthening the competitive edge of the U.S. in this crucial field.

“The demand for high-performance, low-cost and sustainable energy storage devices is on the rise, especially those with potential to deeply decarbonize heavy-duty transportation and the electric grid,” stated Shirley Meng, ESRA director and chief scientist at the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science. “To achieve this, energy storage technology must reach levels of unprecedented performance, surpassing the capabilities of current lithium-ion technology. The key to making these transformative leaps lies in a robust research and development initiative firmly grounded in basic science.”

Leveraging decades of investment in fundamental science, ESRA will focus on transformative discoveries in materials chemistry, a deeper understanding of electrochemical processes at the atomic level, and establishing the scientific foundations necessary for major advancements in energy storage technology.

“ESRA creates an energy storage research ecosystem with the mission to rapidly innovate, shorten the time between basic discovery and technology development, and train the next-generation workforce,” commented Bryan McCloskey, ESRA deputy director for scientific thrusts and a faculty engineer at Berkeley Lab.

The success of ESRA’s efforts will lead to the development of high-energy batteries that are fire-resistant, capable of providing long-duration storage for multiple days, have a lifespan of several decades, and are constructed from low-cost, widely available materials.

“ESRA will pave the way for innovative energy storage solutions that drive both U.S. prosperity and security,” said Argonne Director Paul Kearns. “As the lead laboratory for ESRA under the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Argonne takes pride in spearheading this collaborative effort that unites world-leading experts and taps the impressive scientific resources available in national labs and academia.”

The DOE has committed up to $62.5 million in funding for ESRA over the next five years.

In addition to its research goals, the Argonne-led hub will prioritize training a diverse, next-generation battery workforce to meet future manufacturing demands. This will be achieved through innovative training programs that involve industry, academia, and government partnerships.

“Cultivating a diverse workforce dedicated to safeguarding America’s energy resilience is key to ESRA’s mission,” noted Wei Wang, ESRA deputy director for crosscuts and director of the Energy Storage Materials Initiative at PNNL. “Through our strategic equity and inclusion initiatives, we plan to create a robust training ground for energy storage science from the undergraduate to postdoctoral levels.”

With Berkeley Lab and PNNL as co-leads, the ESRA collaboration brings together comprehensive expertise across the energy storage spectrum. Their state-of-the-art capabilities in technology discovery, modeling and simulation, and materials synthesis and characterization complement those of Argonne, setting the stage for significant advancements in energy storage.

Argonne is joined by 14 partners in this initiative, all of whom are deeply involved in ESRA’s scientific endeavors, governance, strategic development, and the training of the next generation of battery scientists and engineers. This collaboration among national laboratories and universities is vital for discovering new materials, accelerating the development of technology, and commercializing new energy storage innovations.

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Solar Energy

UN’s Guterres says China-Africa ties can drive ‘renewable energy revolution’

Published

2 days ago

September 6, 2024

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UN’s Guterres says China-Africa ties can drive ‘renewable energy revolution’

by AFP Staff Writers

Beijing (AFP) Sept 5, 2024

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told African leaders Thursday that expanding ties between China and the continent could “drive the renewable energy revolution”.

Guterres and more than 50 African leaders are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media.

Guterres told the gathering that “China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise”.

“It can be a catalyst for key transitions on food systems and digital connectivity,” he said.

“And as home to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, Africa can maximise the potential of China’s support in areas from trade to data management, finance and technology,” Guterres added.

Guterres also told the leaders it was time to correct “historic injustices” against the continent.

“It is outrageous… that the continent of Africa has no permanent seat on the Security Council,” he said.

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Solar Energy

Major Qatari plant to double solar capacity by 2030: minister

Published

5 days ago

September 2, 2024

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Major Qatari plant to double solar capacity by 2030: minister

by AFP Staff Writers

Doha (AFP) Sept 1, 2024

A large new solar plant planned in Qatar will double the Gulf emirate’s previously projected renewable energy capacity by 2030, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced on Sunday.

The photovoltaic farm, which will be built in the Dukhan area some 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital Doha, will increase the gas-rich state’s solar production capacity to four gigawatts by the end of the decade, Kaabi said.

The plant “that will be established in Dukhan area will produce 2,000 megawatts, which is twice more than the capacity of Qatar’s production of solar energy of the current projects,” the minister, who is also chief executive of state-owned QatarEnergy, said.

In October 2022, Qatar inaugurated its first large-scale solar farm at al-Kharsaah, west of Doha. The emirate announced in August of the same year another solar project with two plants at Ras Laffan in the north.

Through the combined projects, including at Dukhan, Qatar would achieve “4,000 megawatts of clean energy by 2030”, Kaabi said.

This will “constitute 30 percent of the total production of energy of the state of Qatar” with a yearly reduction of “4.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions,” he added.

Kaabi said the existing projects should produce 1.7 gigawatts of energy “in first quarter of next year, or early next year”.

The energy minister also announced plans to more than double Qatar’s urea production making the country the largest producer of the fertiliser in the world by the end of the decade.

He said Qatar would “maximise the production of chemical fertilisers” through “a complex with global standards” which would “increase our production capacity from 6 million tonnes annually to more than 12.4 million tonnes annually”.

Qatar is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. Natural gas is a major ingredient in urea manufacturing.

In February, Qatar announced plans to expand its output from its North Field project, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.

Over the past year, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni among others.

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