On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research
Research on 100% renewable energy systems is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was initiated in the mid-1970s, catalyzed by skyrocketing oil prices. Since the mid-2000s, it has quickly evolved into a prominent research field encompassing an expansive and growing number of research groups...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2022-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9837910/ |
| _version_ | 1798001664924319744 |
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| author | Christian Breyer Siavash Khalili Dmitrii Bogdanov Manish Ram Ayobami Solomon Oyewo Arman Aghahosseini Ashish Gulagi A. A. Solomon Dominik Keiner Gabriel Lopez Poul Alberg Ostergaard Henrik Lund Brian V. Mathiesen Mark Z. Jacobson Marta Victoria Sven Teske Thomas Pregger Vasilis Fthenakis Marco Raugei Hannele Holttinen Ugo Bardi Auke Hoekstra Benjamin K. Sovacool |
| author_facet | Christian Breyer Siavash Khalili Dmitrii Bogdanov Manish Ram Ayobami Solomon Oyewo Arman Aghahosseini Ashish Gulagi A. A. Solomon Dominik Keiner Gabriel Lopez Poul Alberg Ostergaard Henrik Lund Brian V. Mathiesen Mark Z. Jacobson Marta Victoria Sven Teske Thomas Pregger Vasilis Fthenakis Marco Raugei Hannele Holttinen Ugo Bardi Auke Hoekstra Benjamin K. Sovacool |
| author_sort | Christian Breyer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on 100% renewable energy systems is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was initiated in the mid-1970s, catalyzed by skyrocketing oil prices. Since the mid-2000s, it has quickly evolved into a prominent research field encompassing an expansive and growing number of research groups and organizations across the world. The main conclusion of most of these studies is that 100% renewables is feasible worldwide at low cost. Advanced concepts and methods now enable the field to chart realistic as well as cost- or resource-optimized and efficient transition pathways to a future without the use of fossil fuels. Such proposed pathways in turn, have helped spur 100% renewable energy policy targets and actions, leading to more research. In most transition pathways, solar energy and wind power increasingly emerge as the central pillars of a sustainable energy system combined with energy efficiency measures. Cost-optimization modeling and greater resource availability tend to lead to higher solar photovoltaic shares, while emphasis on energy supply diversification tends to point to higher wind power contributions. Recent research has focused on the challenges and opportunities regarding grid congestion, energy storage, sector coupling, electrification of transport and industry implying power-to-X and hydrogen-to-X, and the inclusion of natural and technical carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches. The result is a holistic vision of the transition towards a net-negative greenhouse gas emissions economy that can limit global warming to 1.5°C with a clearly defined carbon budget in a sustainable and cost-effective manner based on 100% renewable energy-industry-CDR systems. Initially, the field encountered very strong skepticism. Therefore, this paper also includes a response to major critiques against 100% renewable energy systems, and also discusses the institutional inertia that hampers adoption by the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as possible negative connections to community acceptance and energy justice. We conclude by discussing how this emergent research field can further progress to the benefit of society. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:39:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-43bb91d0a95d4d5ca43ba619af76e686 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:39:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-43bb91d0a95d4d5ca43ba619af76e6862022-12-22T04:25:51ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362022-01-0110781767821810.1109/ACCESS.2022.31934029837910On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems ResearchChristian Breyer0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7380-1816Siavash Khalili1Dmitrii Bogdanov2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7136-4803Manish Ram3Ayobami Solomon Oyewo4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5297-0103Arman Aghahosseini5Ashish Gulagi6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3440-1577A. A. Solomon7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4611-9712Dominik Keiner8Gabriel Lopez9Poul Alberg Ostergaard10Henrik Lund11Brian V. Mathiesen12Mark Z. Jacobson13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4315-4128Marta Victoria14https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1665-1281Sven Teske15Thomas Pregger16Vasilis Fthenakis17Marco Raugei18https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5026-8556Hannele Holttinen19https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1383-0735Ugo Bardi20Auke Hoekstra21Benjamin K. Sovacool22School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandSchool of Energy Systems, LUT University, Lappeenranta, FinlandDepartment of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, DenmarkDepartment of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, DenmarkDepartment of Planning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USADepartment of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkInstitute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW, AustraliaGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Networked Energy Systems, Stuttgart, GermanyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, New York, NY, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, New York, NY, USARecognis Oy, Vantaa, FinlandDipartimento di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, ItalyDeprtment of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Business Development and Technology, Center for Energy Technologies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkResearch on 100% renewable energy systems is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was initiated in the mid-1970s, catalyzed by skyrocketing oil prices. Since the mid-2000s, it has quickly evolved into a prominent research field encompassing an expansive and growing number of research groups and organizations across the world. The main conclusion of most of these studies is that 100% renewables is feasible worldwide at low cost. Advanced concepts and methods now enable the field to chart realistic as well as cost- or resource-optimized and efficient transition pathways to a future without the use of fossil fuels. Such proposed pathways in turn, have helped spur 100% renewable energy policy targets and actions, leading to more research. In most transition pathways, solar energy and wind power increasingly emerge as the central pillars of a sustainable energy system combined with energy efficiency measures. Cost-optimization modeling and greater resource availability tend to lead to higher solar photovoltaic shares, while emphasis on energy supply diversification tends to point to higher wind power contributions. Recent research has focused on the challenges and opportunities regarding grid congestion, energy storage, sector coupling, electrification of transport and industry implying power-to-X and hydrogen-to-X, and the inclusion of natural and technical carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches. The result is a holistic vision of the transition towards a net-negative greenhouse gas emissions economy that can limit global warming to 1.5°C with a clearly defined carbon budget in a sustainable and cost-effective manner based on 100% renewable energy-industry-CDR systems. Initially, the field encountered very strong skepticism. Therefore, this paper also includes a response to major critiques against 100% renewable energy systems, and also discusses the institutional inertia that hampers adoption by the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as possible negative connections to community acceptance and energy justice. We conclude by discussing how this emergent research field can further progress to the benefit of society.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9837910/Climate safetyenergy transitionpower-to-X100% renewable energysector coupling |
| spellingShingle | Christian Breyer Siavash Khalili Dmitrii Bogdanov Manish Ram Ayobami Solomon Oyewo Arman Aghahosseini Ashish Gulagi A. A. Solomon Dominik Keiner Gabriel Lopez Poul Alberg Ostergaard Henrik Lund Brian V. Mathiesen Mark Z. Jacobson Marta Victoria Sven Teske Thomas Pregger Vasilis Fthenakis Marco Raugei Hannele Holttinen Ugo Bardi Auke Hoekstra Benjamin K. Sovacool On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research IEEE Access Climate safety energy transition power-to-X 100% renewable energy sector coupling |
| title | On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research |
| title_full | On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research |
| title_fullStr | On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research |
| title_short | On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research |
| title_sort | on the history and future of 100 x0025 renewable energy systems research |
| topic | Climate safety energy transition power-to-X 100% renewable energy sector coupling |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9837910/ |
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