Revisiting the Terawatt Challenge

In addition to economic development around the world, we expect that the energy intensity will be affected by transitioning the energy system to a low-carbon system, possibly increasing or decreasing the overall energy intensity substantially through use of inherently inefficient energy-storage or a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MRS bulletin 2020-03, Vol.45 (3), p.159-164
Main Authors: Kurtz, Sarah R., Leilaeioun, Ashling Mehdi, King, Richard R., Peters, Ian Marius, Heben, Michael J., Metzger, Wyatt K., Haegel, Nancy M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied and Technical Physics
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Charging
Departments
Economic development
Efficiency
Electric rates
Electric vehicles
Electricity
Electrification
Energy consumption
Energy industry
Energy management
Energy Materials
Energy storage
Energy utilization
Fossil fuels
Heat pumps
Heating
Infrastructure
Materials Engineering
Materials Science
Nanotechnology
photovoltaics
Power efficiency
Power plants
Regenerative braking
SOLAR ENERGY
terawatt challenge
Wind power generation
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Summary:In addition to economic development around the world, we expect that the energy intensity will be affected by transitioning the energy system to a low-carbon system, possibly increasing or decreasing the overall energy intensity substantially through use of inherently inefficient energy-storage or adoption of energy-efficient technology, respectively. [...]we next discuss opportunities to reduce the energy intensity by using electrification as well as developments that could increase the overall energy intensity (e.g., using seasonal energy storage) as the energy transition proceeds. Figure 2. (a) Energy (kWh) used to drive 1 km by an average 2018 US internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicle (left bar), by an electric vehicle (EV) with regenerative braking charged by electricity generated from fossil fuels (middle bar), and for an EV charged directly by solar-generated (or wind-generated) electricity (right bar). (b) Energy used for heating: a 100% efficient gas furnace compared with a heat pump (HP), with a coefficient of performance equal to three, driven by fossil-generated and solar-generated (or wind-generated) electricity. The middle bar indicates the energy needed for a heat pump using fossil fuel electricity generated by a 38% efficient power plant. Decreased efficiency from need to store energy In a fossil-fuel-free world, the need to balance supply and demand for electrical energy at all hours of the day is likely the biggest barrier to using variable sources such as solar and wind electricity to meet the TW Challenge.
ISSN:0883-7694
1938-1425
DOI:10.1557/mrs.2020.73