Lecture

Future Energy Scenarios

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

In course

CH-421: Catalysis for energy storage

This course covers the fundamental and applied aspects of electrocatalysis related to renewable energy conversion and storage. The focus is on catalysis for hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution, and CO2 reduction reactions. Both homogeneous and heterogeneo ...

Description

This lecture discusses the current and future energy landscape, focusing on the World Energy Assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change data. It covers energy reserves, resources, and the business-as-usual model, emphasizing the need for carbon-free energy sources like solar and fusion. The lecture explores renewable energy potentials, biomass, and nuclear power scalability. It also delves into carbon sequestration, energy storage technologies, and the challenges of solar fuel production through photosynthesis and artificial means.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

Xile Hu

Xile Hu was born in 1978 in Putian, southeastern China. He entered the Peking University in Beijing in 1996. Besides learning too little chemistry, his biggest regret in the college was not able to correct his southern accent in Mandarin. After graduated from PKU, he went to the United States and began his doctoral studies at the University of California, San Diego. In December 2004, he finished with a Ph.D. in chemistry and some fond memories of the beautiful city of San Diego. He then moved to the Los Angeles area and become a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology. There he enjoyed numerous stimulating scientific (and other) discussions with friends and colleagues. He also made plenty of friends outside the campus and was a frequent in many local Chinese restaurants. In 2007, after two pleasant visits to Switzerland, he decided to move across the continent one more time and join the faculty of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He now directs the Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis and is interested in developing chemistry for synthesis, energy and sustainability.

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Grid energy storage

Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexpensive (especially from intermittent power sources such as renewable electricity from wind power, tidal power and solar power) or when demand is low, and later returned to the grid when demand is high, and electricity prices tend to be higher.

Energy storage

Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in multiple forms including radiation, chemical, gravitational potential, electrical potential, electricity, elevated temperature, latent heat and kinetic. Energy storage involves converting energy from forms that are difficult to store to more conveniently or economically storable forms.

Fusion power

Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2023, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time to create a plasma in which fusion can occur.

Carbon sequestration

Carbon sequestration (or carbon storage) is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon sequestration is a naturally occurring process but it can also be enhanced or achieved with technology, for example within carbon capture and storage projects. There are two main types of carbon sequestration: geologic and biologic (also called biosequestration). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes.

Renewable energy commercialization

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy.

Related lectures (64)

Renewable Energies: Technologies and Transition

Explores renewable energy technologies, transition dynamics, and storage solutions for a sustainable future.

Decarbonization: Energy Transition & Sustainability

Delves into the feasibility of decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2050 using renewable energies, emphasizing economic competitiveness and sustainability.

Renewable Energy: Technologies, Economics, and Geopolitics

Explores technologies, advantages, and challenges of renewable energy sources, focusing on solar, wind, and geothermal energy, energy storage, and the geopolitical and economic aspects.

Mitigating CO2 Emissions: Strategies and Challenges

Explores challenges and strategies for mitigating CO2 emissions, covering energy supply, economics, nuclear fission, renewable energies, and the impact of agriculture and meat production.

CO2 Sequestration: Transport, Storage, and Utilization