Energy Transition

 

An energy transition

An energy transition is a significant structural change in a system of producing and consuming energy. An energy transition throughout the world to sustainable energy is taking place primarily in order to reduce climate change. In 1992 and 1993, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed and it took effect in 1994. The Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the UNFCCC takes place annually. CoP21 in 2015 resulted in the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a commitment signed by 195 states to limit climate change to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050 and to adopt measures domestically, realised, measured and reported by NDCs or Nationally Determined Contributions, to achieve that goal. It entered effect in 2016.

Why is there an energy transition?

1. Climate Change

Habitat destruction, dangerous and destructive weather, unknowns and uncertainty about the future of the planet are some of the impacts of climate change.

The Marion du Fresne, a southern ocean research vessel, extracts samples of sediments from the seafloor that reveal climatic variations over the Earth’s history. From layers of sediment up to 6,500 metres deep, obtained using a core drill, scientists can reconstitute the climate of the earth over hundreds of thousands of years.

 

When marine life dies in the southern ocean, it sinks to the seabed and is compressed into the strata. The last 10,000 years of geological history are the Holocene period, characterised by a relatively warm, mild climate. When the earth's climate was much colder, the sea ice around Antarctica extended much further north, resulting in different and fewer forms of life thriving at these latitudes.

Since 1880, the Earth’s average surface temperature has risen by approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius.

Burning fossil fuels releases ‘greenhouse gases’ into the atmosphere, gases such as carbon dioxide, which are formed by the reaction of carbon with oxygen, and trap heat in the atmosphere.

2. Resource scarcity

Fossil fuels were created by compacting of carbon matter, before the existence of some of our decomposing life forms, such as fungi, began recycling dead carbon into new forms of life. That is why the earth has not produced any new fossil fuels for 3 billion years. Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas and petroleum.

Sustainable energy

• Changing how we generate energy is the most fundamental part of the energy transition. Hydro, wind and solar projects are helping to reduce our reliance on coal, gas and oil for power generation. Demand is growing for electric vehicles which run on a rechargeable electric battery instead of gasoline.

• Another aspect of the energy transition is changing where we generate electricity. Most electricity today is generated in large, remotely located power stations, from which it is transmitted over long distances to consumers through power lines. This model of electricity production and consumption is called a 'centralised electricity grid.' The photo at the top of this post shows the typical appearance of centralised energy. Energy experts say that where power will increasingly be generated will be local to where it is consumed. This type of generation is called ‘distributed energy resources,’ because the resources to produce power are distributed among users rather than at central power plants serving an enormous grid.

Energy sharing

• Distributed energy resources are giving rise to ‘microgrids,’ groups of energy producers and users who share power amongst themselves with a 'smart network.'

• The energy transition is also part of the global sustainable development goals (SDGs), which include bringing power to energy-poor communities as well as protecting the environment. The implementation of microgrids in villages in undeveloped areas in developing countries is allowing children to study at night with electric light, and bringing business and entrepreneurship to poor communities. Electric power supports health services and can improve access to clean water, and it can reduce the burden of domestic chores, freeing women from traditional gender roles so they can seek work.

Concerns about wider impacts

• As important and promising as the energy transition is, there are also negative impacts we need to be aware of. The processes of building wind turbines and hydroelectric turbines draw on large amounts of electricity, which today still comes predominantly from fossil-fuelled power plants.
  
  

• There are a wide variety of materials that can be used to make batteries for energy storage and electric vehicles, but the most common ones in use today use cobalt and lithium. Most of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC cobalt industry is not a safe environment for workers. Workers suffer from toxic exposure to cobalt in hand-dug mines and some of those workers are children. The largest lithium extraction occurs in salt flats in the Andes. In the “lithium triangle” (Bolivia, Argentina, Chile), indigenous communities are protesting because they are losing control of their land and their scarce water supply is being depleted by the lithium-extraction business. At the same time, there are local economic benefits.

An opportunity

The energy transition is almost certainly going to be challenging and complex. To limit climate change, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and consumption and transport. New technologies and ideas for harnessing power and bringing power to people are opportunities for growth and development. 

However, there is a need for research into the processes and materials used to produce effective, reliable, ethical, sustainable energy.