My RE POV in April 2021
I’m now several months into my journey down the renewable path and too many levels deep in my growing digital mind map as I continue to explore this renewable energy space. I thought it would be useful to pause, to pull way back and to review what I’ve been able to piece together at this point.
The following point-of-view represents my current understanding of the renewable energy space as it is coupled to the larger Energy Transition movement and ultimately being propelled by the looming(!) climate crisis.
First: Climate change is impossible to ignore
My original intention was to mostly steer clear of all things climate science and try to focus on just the renewable energy parts of this space. I now see that as a foolish approach. Clean renewable energy would seem to be one of the major solutions to help directly address the climate crisis which means a future RE career would likely pull me into the climate change world. And as I explain here, one of the best things to happen to bring attention to and promote the growing investment in renewable energy is the momentum of the climate crisis itself.
Climate change resulting from harmful greenhouse gas emissions is driving a global movement to transition energy production to utilize sources that are ultimately cleaner and more renewable. Perhaps the easiest and most obvious place to start is the power sector itself as most people are now familiar with the hazards of burning coal and natural gas to produce electricity. It has become more feasible to supplement and someday replace fossil fuel power generation with solar, wind and a handful of 2nd tier options.
Renewable energy from solar panels and wind turbines is getting a boost from the increased urgency to replace fossil-fuel sources of electricity production.
Second: We need to electrify other large sectors too
Generating clean electric power for our homes and cities through large grids is not the full story. There are at least three other massive sectors of the global economy beyond our electric power grids that also need to be addressed - and these all lead back to renewable energy!
Industrial agriculture is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale. The short version is that large scale cattle farming and the prevalent use of chemical pesticides are major problem areas. Add to that the issue of mass deforestation to create more land for raising cattle and large-scale farming operations, which compounds the harmful effects: (a) stored carbon is immediately released from downed trees and (b) fewer trees overall means less carbon capture capability.
Transportation, namely our cars, trucks, buses, trains, ships and planes are burning liquid fossil fuels which also generate harmful gases for the atmosphere. Whether its gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel, the millions of vehicles we use to transport humans and goods around the world are having a negative impact on our planet.
Construction of buildings involves massive amounts of new steel and concrete which generates large amounts of CO2. These buildings can also contribute to wasteful energy consumption if they are not well-managed which introduces an entirely new area of exploration around energy demand and management.
It seems like the recognition of all these simultaneous contributing factors is what is driving the urgency to act quickly and on a global scale. What also seems to be happening is that there is growing consensus that we should be converting these other sectors off of fossil-fuel intensive methods of energy consumption to suitable alternatives.
One of the promising ways to address the looming climate crisis is to transition all of the hydrocarbon-based methods of production to clean, renewable energy, and more specifically to electricity.
Some early emerging alternatives
The Energy Transition is going to take a while, like decades. Many of the sectors mentioned here have been investing in optimizing their current methods for more than a century so it is unlikely that they will transition away overnight. But there is some good news on the renewable energy horizon. While we will continue to deploy solar panels and windmills to generate clean power for the electric grids, we are also starting to see some complementary alternatives emerge.
Image source here.
Perhaps the most immediate opportunity is to convince the entire world to abandon gasoline-powered cars & trucks in favor of using all-electric, zero-emission vehicles. Right now, you can have your pick from any of the dozens of full EVs being offered from well-known auto manufacturers or from a growing number of new automotive startups. Some buyers are choosing to slowly wade their way into these waters by first experimenting with partial EV and gas/electric hybrids.
This massive transition requires building out and supporting a new electric charging infrastructure that might parallel our existing network of traditional gas stations. Owning an EV also means learning how to charge at home or while at work which is part of a larger change in the way we think about car ownership overall.
The EV market is growing quickly because of the continuous advancements being made in lithium-ion batteries. This progress is expected to continue for some time which only further benefits EV owners as they look for faster charging times and longer range.
In a future article, I will explore the attractive potential of converting entire drayage fleets over to electric vehicles where the routes are short and more predictable.
But it would be a mistake to limit this EV discussion only to passenger cars. So called “off-road” vehicles can switch to electric too and here we’re talking about all the equipment used to move freight and materials around farms, warehouses and stockyards, i.e., not on the public roads.
And of course, all of this new, electric-powered mobility would need to be charged regularly - why not turn to clean, renewable energy transmitted over an efficient electric grid system fed directly by solar panels and wind-powered turbines? :)
And that’s not even the entire transportation story. Take cargo ships or airplanes. Airplanes that currently burn “dirty” jet fuel would not benefit from a move to battery-based electric power for practical weight-related reasons. But there are new clean, renewable alternatives to jet fuel being developed. I recently wrote an article about Manta Biofuel a company that is developing an algae-based biofuel option being tested as a substitute for powering planes.
Some other exciting options
And this is just scratching the surface of where the renewable energy space is going. As my own research continues, I expect to return with an expanded point of view which likely encompass topics such as hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, alternative battery options, vehicle-to-grid power and more!
Conclusion
One final note here to balance the rosy outlook a bit. When you step back and recognize the full magnitude of the (inevitable?) Energy Transition, it becomes obvious that it will take substantial HUMAN resources and cooperation around the world. There are good reasons to be skeptical about how the almost 200 countries will come together to achieve a set of common goals or look out for each other’s interests instead of simply fending for themselves.
The current COVID pandemic has set the world back a bit in terms of focusing on climate change but some have called it a dress rehearsal that shows how good or bad these countries are at working together to address a truly global crisis. Some estimates show that the climate crisis will require order of magnitude more coordination, innovation and action than the pandemic. I also intend to spend more time on this sobering realization in future articles.