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Atlantis Brief
The potential amount of clean energy on our planet far exceeds our energy requirements. We have the essential technology to capture, store,
transport, and utilize this energy. Simply, we must prioritise the transition to clean energy through direct investments in these clean energy
systems
- Solar: More energy from sunlight strikes the Earth in one hour than all the energy consumed on the planet in an entire year
- Wind: Land-based wind turbines could supply over 40 times the current worldwide consumption of electricity
- Geothermal: The Earth's surface, within 10,000km down, is estimated to contain 50,000 times more energy than all oil and gas resources combined
- Costs 2021: 62% of solar photovoltaic & onshore wind projects power generation costs lower than the cheapest fossil fuel options
- Hydrogen: Ultimate solution for both energy storage and transport
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Indepth Study
Current State of Our Energy Transition
As we showed in The Situation section, the trend for using
fossil fuels does not seem to be slowing, even with all the talk of billions in investment and new clean energy installations being built.
As the world’s energy demand continues to rise, the number of clean energy plants being built isn’t sufficient to keep up with this consistent demand.
This leaves us with the begging question, what is the solution?
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So What Can We Do?
1. Recognising the abundance of clean energy
The availability of energy should never be an issue. Our planet naturally is equipped to provide us with enough energy to fulfil our energy needs
for the rest of human history, without using fossil fuels.
Sunlight has the largest potential of all truly clean energy sources. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more energy from
sunlight strikes the Earth in one hour than all the energy consumed on the planet in an entire year
[2]
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| Map of Direct Normal Irradiance. Source: World Bank Group, ESMAP and Solargis (2019): EIA Government Report [1] |
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| Annual wind energy potential country by country. (A) Onshore. (B) Offshore. National Academy of Sciences Jul 2009 [3] |
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Wind is another great source of energy. According to a 2009 Harvard study, a network of land-based wind turbines restricted to non-forested,
ice-free, nonurban areas could supply over 40 times the current worldwide consumption of electricity and over 5 times total global use of energy in
all forms.
Add in the possibility of offshore wind turbines and there is no doubt that wind alone could easily meet all of society's energy needs
This graph shows the price per kWh of electricity for four clean production systems and how the cost has dropped over the last 10 years, falling in
to and below the grey price band which represents the average cost for fossil fuel electricity production. This proves that the costs of clean
energy is at a competitive level with fossil fuels, removing the obstacle of financial strain in the transition to clean energy.
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Although there is abundant potential in wind and solar alone, we can also utilise geothermal as another clean energy source.
According to a 2017 Report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the amount of heat within 10,000 metres of the Earth's surface
is estimated to contain 50,000 times more energy than all oil and gas resources combined.
[5]
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| Global map identifying areas suitable for geothermal power plants. Institutes: Cnr-Isti & Cnr-Igg [4] |
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2. Harnessing and utilizing this energy
So we know that all of this clean energy exists right here on Earth. Why aren’t we using it? Why haven’t we been able to switch away from these
toxic fossil fuel sources? The answer is simple: As a Global community we haven’t cared to prioritize environmental health nor have we put enough
pressure on our government to properly invest in the construction of these systems.
In order to compete with the immense power of the fossil fuels industry, we must emphasise investment in clean-technologies and infrastructures.
For a smooth transition, we must ensure a steady flow of investment to maintain low costs related to four key elements: capture, conversion,
storage and transport.
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| 6. International Renewable Energy Agency: Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019: Irena [6] |
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According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, costs associated with capture and conversion of wind and solar energy have dramatically
decreased over the past 10 years. In fact, 62% of solar photovoltaic and onshore wind projects commissioned for 2021 have power generation costs
lower than the cheapest fossil fuel options (USD 0.05/kWh).
With concentrated solar power also projected to land within the fossil fuel cost range by 2021, there is absolutely no reason any government or organization should continue investing in fossil fuel infrastructures. If they instead invested in these 100% clean energy options, not only would the environment benefit, but overall power generation costs would also continue to decrease (due to economies of scale).
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The figures discussed in the “capture and conversion” section do assume that most of the captured solar and wind energy would be immediately converted
and used as electricity. However, according to the International Energy Agency, in 2017 electricity made up only about 20% of final global energy
consumption. The remaining 80% of the energy is simply stored, transported, and burned in its original form.
Critics may argue that although capturing and converting clean energy is cheaper than ever, storage and transport costs are still extremely high.
In the end, they are right; fossil fuels and biofuels continue to be used on such a large scale because of the ease with which they can be stored and
transported. Furthermore, nearly a century of investing in fossil fuel infrastructures has ensured that associated costs stay extremely low.
If we want to truly transform the energy industry, we must ultimately be competitive in this sense. We must find and invest in ways to cheaply store and transport energy derived from clean sources.
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| World energy consumption (Total Final Consumption, TFC), year 2017: WorldEnergyData.org [7] |
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| EU Support for Energy Storage Briefing Paper, April 2019: European Court of Auditors [8] |
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Currently, there is a variety of options being utilised to store energy. However, not many of these options are easily transportable.
Batteries for examples, though able to store energy for various lengths of time, are often heavy and not practical for use as a method of energy
transportation.
Instead, they are mostly used as a means to store energy until it can be converted back to electricity and fed into the grid. This leaves us with the
original problem of how to store AND transport energy without relying simply on conversion to electricity.
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Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Additionally, it is a 100% clean fuel carrier, emitting no emissions when burned for energy.
When it comes to the ideal solution for both energy storage and transport, the potential of hydrogen is limitless:
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| Power-to-X: The secret to a 100% renewable energy system: Deutsche Welle (DW) [9] |
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Data Sources
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