The imperative case for a renewable energy future

Here’s a frightening thought. The world’s easily-exploited fossil fuels are no longer available – we’ve

used them up.

That means our current fossil fuel sources require an already-advanced technological society just to

extract them. If we haven’t perfected renewable power generation by the time fossil fuels are no

longer viable, the next industrial revolution on earth might be tens of millions of years away (when

the next batch of easy-to-reach oil is cooked).

The legacy of the fossil fuel era should be that they have given us a leg-up to become advanced

enough to exploit the stupendous quantities of energy provided daily by the sun (in the form of

wind, hydro, and direct solar power).

Energy from the sun – at least on the earth’s surface – is diffuse and unsteady, so when we consider

using solar power, storage should be front of mind.

Ironically enough we have been using stored solar energy for years in the form of the combustible

carbon in coal and oil, produced millions of years ago by photosynthesis.

But solar energy can be stored in other ways: as pressure wherever rainwater is held behind a dam,

as hot water in insulated tanks, as high temperature molten salts in large-scale solar thermal plants

and as chemical energy in our most ubiquitous form of energy storage – batteries.

Renewable energy storage is essential because we can’t wait for the sun to be shining before we

turn on our appliances. But because the amount of solar energy available is so enormous, it is easily

possible to design solar power storage solutions to store enough during the day to use whenever the

sun isn’t shining.

So how much solar energy falls on the earth? Well, in full sun, it’s about one BTU per square foot

every 8 seconds (or one kilowatt per square meter).

But there’s a more useful way to think about it. The Energy Information Administration calculates

that total US electricity demand over a year is a sizable 15 quadrillion BTUs (or about 16 exa-Joules).

The area of solar panels required to capture this much energy (taking into account inefficiencies and

energy storage – batteries or other methods) is about 10,000 square kilometers, which is the size of

Hawaii’s main island, or three times the size of Long Island, New York. Big, but not that big. We’ve

built far bigger – for instance it’s about one third of the current area of roofs in the US (using US

Department of Agriculture figures).

Combining solar sources and renewable energy storage we have not just the opportunity, but the

responsibility now to leave our fossil fuel past behind us and embrace the power of the sun.

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Resource Box/Author Box:

Ecoult delivers complete energy storage solutions and modules powered by the breakthrough

UltraBattery technology – a hybrid lead-acid energy storage device containing both an Ultracapacitor

and a battery in a common electrolyte. Ecoult’s storage solutions manage intermittencies, smooth

power and shift energy in a safe, reliable and environmentally sound way – the energy storage of

choice for grid ancillary services, wind and solar farms, remote Microgrid Energy Storage, dual

purpose and diesel microgrid efficiency applications.

For more details regarding our energy storage solutions visit our website or

call us at our toll free number +61 (02) 9241 3001.