Low-carbon technology developments

5G-based smart grids

The next generation of 5G wireless technology is almost here. 5G is expected to allow the Internet of Things with much lower latency, higher capacities and speed than today’s 4G, and in particular more power efficiency. The technology will allow large complex smart grids to wind turbines and solar panels.

Processing the big data alongside local weather predictions based on artificial intelligence ensures that each watt of renewable energy, depending on the fast-changing power prices, can be used as cheaply and efficiently as possible.

Green hydrogen

Hydrogen is a colourless non-toxic gas, even when it’s called green hydrogen. If renewable energy such as solar panels is used to produce electricity for water electrolysis, green hydrogen can be produced without harmful emissions.

Electrolysis may help with decarbonisation in low-cost renewables parts of the world over the next ten years or where carbon storage is not feasible. The electrolysers used in the development of green hydrogen can work dynamically, which only takes seconds for maximum power. In addition, for long periods, hydrogen can be stored in tanks to be sold, integrated into the gas network or used for power cells in industrial applications. 

Many green hydrogen technologies are in different maturity stages, and each alternative is facing technological and economic challenges. Its density also means that hydrogen cannot be transported easily, but it can make green hydrogen important energy of the future by offering a diversity of resources and long-term storages.

Modular floating wind

The new turbine technologies are now designed to reach stronger and more consistent wind. Such innovations are maturing rapidly, and the prices are dropping dramatically. Floating winds are expected to become cheaper in the coming years than onshore wind farms.

The incredible size of off-shore wind turbines offers enormous power generating potential, giving them access to powerful winds. In contrast, they are dwarfing onshore turbines due to components restrictions with road transport logistics, such as bridge and tunnel height restrictions. Floating wind systems are still in their infancy.

Broad-spectrum solar

A lot of progress still needs to be made to increase panels efficiency. The on-going solar improvements made on silicon photovoltaic (PV) panels are the most striking. The crystalline standard polysilicon panels that absorb the red portion of the visible light spectrum more than the green part, while the infrared light of 53% of the energy of the solar light is not captured more than half of that. Systems that can use the entire light spectrum provide much greater efficiency. This could be accomplished through the use of various silicon materials like perovskite or through the use of lenses that concentrate light or by installing filters to absorb a broader range of light.

Carbon-negative technologies

The method of pyrolysis may also be used to extract CO2 from the soil, not methane alone. Biomass such as wood and grass captures CO2 as it grows. When it is used to generate heat and power in pyrolysis furnaces, it turns that CO2 into solid carbon which can be spread to increase conservation of water or easily stored at sites like unsued coal mines in soil. 

The direct air collection technology that is inefficient and power-hungry to scrub CO2 from air using carbon sponges or CO2-absorbing fluids. But such CO2-negatives could be required on a long-term basis, especially as industries such as agriculture, and long-distance aviation could be too hard to decarbonise by 2050.