The Remarkable Progress of Renewable Energy

[lpetrich]

China is building two-thirds of new wind and solar globally, report says | Reuters

Almost two-thirds of big wind and solar plants under construction globally are in China, where surging renewable capacity has squeezed coal's generation share to new lows, research released on Thursday showed.

China is building 339 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale wind and solar, or 64% of the global total, a report from U.S.-based think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found. That is more than eight times the project pipeline of the second-place U.S., with 40 GW.

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China generated 53% of its electricity from coal in May, a record low, while a record 44% came from non-fossil fuel sources, indicating its carbon emissions may have peaked last year if the trend continues, according to the analysis conducted by Lauri Myllyvirta, senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute.

Coal's share was down from 60% in May 2023.

Solar rose to 12% of power generation in May and wind to 11% as China added large amounts of new capacity. Hydropower at 15%, nuclear with 5% and biomass at 2% made up the rest of the non-fossil fuel power.

The increased renewable generation led carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector, which make up some 40% of China's overall emissions, to fall 3.6% in May.

Very welcome. Good that China is on a path to becoming less of an excuse to do nothing about CO2 emission.

 

[lpetrich]

Hype Cycle Assessment Of Emerging Technologies For Battery Production

While breakthroughs in battery technology are regularly announced, the actual merits of the technologies and the potential remain uncertain until commercial deployment. The aim of this paper is to systematically identify upcoming breakthroughs and announced innovations to provide an overview of promising battery technologies that companies should focus on to enable the planning of resilient and sustainable production systems. Hence, a hype cycle assessment following Gartner was adopted as the underlying approach to evaluate battery technologies for deployment in electromobility and mass production.

They identify this hype cycle:

1. Innovation trigger
2. Peak of inflated expectations
3. Trough of disillusionment
4. Slope of enlightenment
5. Plateau of productivity

They discuss not only alternative battery chemistries but also alternative production techniques, like improved drying and improved coating techniques, and alternative designs, like all-solid-state batteries. Here are the chemistries, all competitors with Li-ion, as of mid-2023:

• Al-air - Peak - TRL 3-4 - Medium - >= 10 yr
• Al-ion - Peak - TRL 5-6 - High - >= 10 yr
• K-ion - Trigger - TRL 3-4 - Medium - >= 10 yr
• Li-air - Trough - TRL 3-4 - Transformative - >= 10 yr
• Li-S - Trough - TRL 3-4 - High - 5-10 yr
• Mg-S - Trigger - TRL 3-4 - High - >= 10 yr
• Na-ion - Peak - TRL 7-8 - Transformative - 5-10 yr
• Zn-air - Peak - TRL 5-6 - High - >= 10 yr

Chemistry - position on hype cycle - technology readiness level - technology potential - time to market

Yes, they are working on potassium-ion batteries in addition to sodium-ion ones. Abundances of the elements (data page) - Wikipedia - K is almost as common as Na on our planet's surface, and both are much more common than Li.

By TRL alone,

• 7-8: Na-ion
• 5-6: Al-ion, Zn-air
• 3-4: Al-air, K-ion, Li-air, Li-S, Mg-S

So Na-ion is in the best position to challenge Li-ion.

No mention of flow batteries, however.

 

[lpetrich]

The  Technology readiness level is originally from NASA and  Spacecraft propulsion uses that assessment on a variety of technologies, from speculative technologies like nuclear-pulse engines and the Bussard ramjet to technologies with a history of successful flight like chemical and ion engines.

• Technology Readiness Levels - NASA
• Definition Of Technology Readiness Levels
• Technology Readiness Levels - NASA Earth Science and Technology Office - for both hardware and software

NASA's list:

1. Basic principles observed and reported
2. Technology concept and/or application formulated
3. Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof-of concept
4. Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment
5. Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment
6. System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment (ground or space)
7. System prototype demonstration in a space environment
8. Actual system completed and "flight qualified" through test and demonstration (ground or space)
9. Actual system "flight proven" through successful mission operations

For batteries, the TRL values seem to be

• 3-4: Laboratory experiments
• 5-6: Successful tests under laboratory conditions
• 7-8: Successful tests under real-world conditions

 

[lpetrich]

Somalia opens tender for off-grid solar-plus-storage plants – pv magazine International - "Somalia’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources has launched a tender for off-grid solar-plus-storage power plants to serve 46 education facilities in the southeast of the country. The deadline for bids is August 1."

South Australia's renewable triumph is stunning proof that Dutton's nuclear plans are a folly | RenewEconomy
Port Augusta and Whyalla

Now the two cities are host to thriving renewable energy hubs, new green industries and technologies that will help propel the state into a clean energy future.

And it is remarkable how little is actually known about the achievements of South Australia beyond its borders. Already it is at an annual average of 70 per cent renewables, and by 2027 it intends to be the first in the world to reach 100 per cent net renewables primarily through wind, solar and storage.

Just to be clear, that does not mean that it will consume only renewables. “Net” means that the amount of power it produces from wind and solar during the year will be equivalent to the amount it consumes. But it will still export and import as needs must.

...
Let’s remember that the Coalition and the conservative media’s nuclear arguments are based almost entirely around the assumption that wind and solar cannot power a modern economy.

South Australia proves them wrong, emphatically so. The grid is reliable, wholesale power prices are falling, and will continue to do so as it free itself from the yolk of fossil gas. Legacy industries are being revived by the growth of wind and solar, new industries are being established, and big business with big loads are being attracted to the state.

...
South Australia is already at the stage where enough rooftop solar is generated in the middle of the day to meet all local demand. That will soon occur in other states too, including Western Australia, effectively eliminating grid demand and requiring storage or new load or exports to soak up the excess.

As every major utility in Australia makes clear, the era of always-on base-load power is well and truly passed in such grids. South Australia has not just shut down its last coal generators, and is closing down its remaining combined cycle gas plants, which perform a similar role. The gaps will be filled by facilities that are fast and flexible. There is simply no room in the grid for an always-on nuclear plant.

Being net zero means exporting electricity in the daytime and importing it in the nighttime, it seems. With fossil-fuel powerplants being phased out, SA will have to invest heavily in batteries, preferably cheaper ones and ones with less resource constraint like sodium-ion ones and flow ones.

 

[lpetrich]

Labour’s ‘rooftop revolution’ to deliver solar power to millions of UK homes | Solar power | The Guardian - "Ed Miliband sets new rules on solar panels and approves three giant solar farms as Labour seeks to end years of Tory inaction"

Keir Starmer’s Labour government unveils plans for a “rooftop revolution” today that will see millions more homes fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and tackle the climate crisis.

The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also took the hugely controversial decision this weekend to approve three massive solar farms in the east of England that had been blocked by Tory ministers.

The three sites alone – Gate Burton in Lincolnshire, Sunnica’s energy farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border and Mallard Pass on the border between Lincolnshire and Rutland – will deliver about two-thirds of the solar energy installed on rooftops and on the ground in the whole of last year.

Homeowners associations in Michigan say yes to rooftop solar | Grist - "A new law makes it difficult for HOAs to say no to sun power."

 

[lpetrich]

Agrivoltaics Conserve Precious Water For Arizona Farmers - CleanTechnica

“You are getting significant water savings,” said Greg Barron-Gafford, the UA professor leading the effort. A study led by him found that when irrigating every other day on an agrivoltaic plot, soil moisture remained 15% higher than on a nearby plot without solar panels.

Some plants actually produced more with less water. Cowpea beans, for example — also known as black-eyed peas — had a higher crop yield when grown in the shade of solar panels. Full sun required twice as much water, it turned out. “Agrivoltaics actually helped us get even more bean production because now we were providing the shade, so they were less stressed,” Barron-Gafford said.

Another New Twist On Agrivoltaics: Friendly Solar Powered Robots

Agrivoltaics is the solar industry’s answer to critics who argue that solar panels take valuable farmland out of service. It can, but agrivoltaics offers an alternative. Researchers are finding that a solar array can double as a productive area for livestock grazing and pollinator habitats, at minimum.

With some fancier tweaks, row crops can be grown between solar panels. Shade from the panels creates a cooling micro-climate that conserves soil and moisture, and protects crops from excess heat.

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“Aigen’s Element robotic fleet can autonomously navigate, weed, and analyze row crops without any chemicals or diesel fuel,” Aigen explains. “Offered as a service and powered 100% by solar and wind, Aigen’s vehicles reduce farmers’ workload and their reliance on fossil fuels, while increasing their crop and soil health.”

Agrivoltaics To Save US Farmland From Buildings

Solar arrays on farmland have provoked a firestorm of controversy in some parts of the US. Partly fueled by misinformation about climate change, opponents argue that solar power is not an appropriate use of arable land. Lost in the shuffle is a more significant loss of farmland due to residential and commercial development. Against that backdrop, agrivoltaics — the dual use of farmland with solar arrays — can be the solution to farmland loss, not the cause.