Wind Energy And Solar Power - 40% By 2050?

 

The International Scientific Congress on Climate Change is currently taking place in Copenhagen. The congress has received almost 1,600 scientific contributions from researchers from more than 70 countries, including Australia. 

Among the submissions and presentations is research from the Helsinki University of Technology's Advanced Energy Systems that states renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power could supply 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050.

According to the University's Peter Lund, the findings show that with global political support and suitable investment, previous estimations for the potential for renewables making up a much smaller fraction of world demand were wrong - the issue is simply one of prioritisation. All the renewable energy industry needs is the same level of support as provided to fossil fuel and nuclear power generation industries.

Reported on BusinessGreen, Peter Lund said that if wind and solar were given the same government attention and financial backing as nuclear was in the 1970s and 80s, wind energy will achieve price parity with traditional electricity generation by 2020-2025 and solar power by 2030. After the break even point,  these technologies will be cheaper that nuclear and coal fired power generation.

The research estimates that global financial support of just AUD $19.7 billion to AUD $39 billion annually would be all it would take to see wind and solar energy as mainstream technologies. This is a tiny amount compared to some of the recent spending on stimulus packages and bailouts.

The results of the conference will be presented to world leaders later this year in Copenhagen for the post-Kyoto negotiations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15).

Quick Charging Battery Technology Breakthrough

 

Deep cycle batteries can store large amounts of power - but they are rather bulky - for example, a 260 amp hour deep cycle battery may weigh as much as 70 kilograms. Lithium-ion batteries, such as those found in notebook computers, are much lighter and able to store significant levels of energy too - but they can take a long time to recharge.

A new battery technology developed by MIT engineers dubbed "beltway battery" gets around this problem and may help propel Lithium-ion technology into the wind and solar related energy storage market much sooner than expected.

It was previously thought that  lithium ions , along with electrons, that carry charge across a battery were just moving too slowly through the material. However, computer calculations of lithium iron phosphate made by the team  predicted the material's lithium ions should actually be moving very rapidly. Further calculations found  that lithium ions can indeed move very quickly into the material but only through tunnels accessed from the surface - and the lithium ion at the surface must directly in front of a tunnel entrance.

Members of the team then created a new surface structure allowing the lithium ions to move quickly around the outside of the material, much like a beltway around a city; hence the name. They then made a small battery that could be fully charged or discharged in 10 to 20 seconds; compared to the 6 minutes  it takes to fully charge or discharge a cell made from the unprocessed material.

An additional major benefit is unlike other battery materials, the new material does not degrade as rapidly when repeatedly charged and recharged. This could lead to smaller and far lighter batteries for deep cycle applications as less material is needed for the same result.

News for Wednesday 11 March, 2009

 

• Victoria's $1 billion Solar Energy Initiatives
  


• Liquid Deep Cycle Battery On The Horizon?
  

View all news for Wednesday 11 March, 2009 on one page

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