Unprecedented fuel price hikes, energy extortion between nations, up to 7
million air pollution-related fatalities annually, and a slew of
climate-related catastrophes are all happening at once throughout the world.
Critics claim that switching to renewable energy would exacerbate these
issues by causing unstable electrical systems and raising costs. A recent
analysis from my research team at Stanford University, however, found that
these issues can be resolved in each of the 145 nations we looked at without
blackouts and at a reasonable cost utilizing practically all currently
available technology.
The study finds that these issues may be resolved without the use of
miraculous technology. We can produce secure, affordable, and reliable
energy everywhere by electrifying all energy sectors, generating electricity
from clean, renewable sources, converting that electricity into heat, cold,
and hydrogen, storing that electricity, heat, cold, and hydrogen, expanding
transmission, and rescheduling some electricity use.
A clean, renewable energy system consumes a lot less energy than a
combustion-based energy system, which is the main factor for the cost
decrease. In reality, an all-electric system fueled by clean, renewable
sources reduces the amount of energy that people actually need by almost 56%
globally. The drop is due to five factors, including the efficiency of
electric cars compared to combustion vehicles, the effectiveness of
electrified industries, the elimination of the energy required to produce
fossil fuels, and efficiency gains that went above and beyond
expectations.
Additionally, a new method lowers the price per unit of energy by an
additional 12% on average, bringing global energy costs down by 63 %
annually. Energy expenses + health costs plus climate costs added together
result in a 92 percent decrease in societal costs as compared to the
existing system.
Only onshore and offshore wind electricity, solar photovoltaics for
electricity on rooftops and in power plants, concentrated solar power, solar
heat, geothermal electricity and heat, hydroelectricity, along with small
amounts of tidal and wave electricity are taken into consideration as
energy-producing technologies. Batteries were the most crucial kind of
electricity storage that was taken into account, although pumped
hydroelectric storage, existing hydroelectric dam storage, and concentrated
solar power storage were all included. We discovered that no batteries with
a storage capacity of more than four hours were required. Instead, by
connecting batteries with four hours of storage together, long-duration
storage was achieved. In a sensitivity analysis, we discovered that overall
costs would only increase by 3.2% above their base estimate even if battery
prices were 50% higher.
We also took into account the seasonal heat storage beneath the soil as
well as the temporary heat storage beneath water tanks. District heating can
benefit from seasonal heat storage. With district heating, heat is generated
and stored centrally before being conveyed through hot water to buildings
for the purpose of heating both the air and the water. Using heat pumps in
each building is an alternative to district heating. The study discovered
that the availability of district heating made it simpler and more
affordable to maintain the stability of the electric grid since it
eliminated the requirement for batteries to immediately power heat pumps.
Batteries are more costly than heat storage in the earth.
According to our research, it would cost over $62 trillion to replace all
of the energy used in the 145 nations that account for 99.7% of global
carbon dioxide emissions. However, the payback period for the new system is
shorter than six years because of the $11 trillion in yearly energy cost
reductions.
The new system may also result in the creation of nearly 28 million more
long-term, full-time employment than are lost globally and the need for only
0.53 percent of the world's land, the majority of which will be vacant space
between wind turbines on land with multiple uses. As a result, we discovered
that the new system may use less energy, be cheaper, and generate more
employment than the old one.
Another intriguing discovery was that, in a system powered entirely by
renewable energy, charging battery-electric vehicles during the day was less
expensive for the grid than charging them at night since day charging
complemented solar electricity output effectively.
The study "tells us that for the 145 nations investigated, energy security
is within reach, and more significantly, how to acquire it," according to
Anna von Krauland, a Stanford Ph.D. student who participated in the
study.
It's crucial to emphasize that we excluded technologies that didn't tackle
energy security, global warming, and air pollution all at once. Bioenergy,
natural gas, fossil fuels, bioenergy that captures carbon dioxide, direct
air capture of carbon dioxide, blue hydrogen, and nuclear power were not
included. We came to the conclusion that these technologies are unnecessary
and offer less advantage than the ones we did.
Finally, our research suggests that each nation should convert to 100%
clean, renewable energy by 2035, and at the latest by 2050, with an 80
percent shift taking place by 2030.
