Thread by @AssaadRazzouk

A brand new scientific paper (474 references) reviews all published research on 100% renewables to show, unequivocally, that 100% renewable energy “can power all energy in all regions of the world at low cost”

It’s such good climate news: high time we get on with it!

THREAD

Main conclusion: 100% renewable energy systems CAN power all energy in all regions of the world at low cost and we do NOT need to rely on fossil fuels in the future.

End of

2/n

Turns out there are 739 papers including 666 peer-reviewed articles, 44 articles discussing generic questions + 38 articles reviewing the field of 100% RE system analyses

Main conclusion (repeat): 100% renewables CAN power all energy in all regions of the world at low cost

3/n

Consensus: Solar PV and wind power will dominate the future energy system

Important and positive and certainly worth fighting (very, very hard) for: “This gives us the key to a sustainable civilization and the long-lasting prosperity of humankind”

4/n

100% renewable energy systems are defined as:
>solar energy
>wind energy
>hydropower
>bioenergy
>geothermal
>and ocean energy (tidal, wave, ocean current, ocean thermal)

5/n

100% RE scenarios also use power-to-X tech, eg power-to-heat and power-to-hydrogen

Hydrogen can be further converted to synthetic electricity-based fuels such as e-methane fuels, e-ammonia and e-methanol - in chemical industry or for long-distance marine and aviation

6/n

Fossil fuels to produce electricity have heat losses of over 50%, and 75% in cars. Prioritize:
>Direct electricity eg heat pumps and EVs
>Low temperature heat
>Then efficient hydrogen solutions
>Use hydrogen-to-X for e-fuels and e-chemicals where other solutions impossible

7/n

Conversation about storage is open and shut

“Batteries can supply efficient short-term storage, while e-fuels can provide long-term storage solutions. Other examples: pumped hydro energy storage and compressed air energy storage and thermal energy at various temperatures”

8/n

For those still skeptical: “detailed regional and local grid simulations have been done for more than a decade.” And they work.

9/n

Flexible energy demand systems are core and one of the first resources to use to optimally design an energy system largely using solar and wind

10/n

Of all the 100% RE studies, most investigated countries:
>US (45 articles)
> Denmark (39)
> Germany (35)
> Australia (30)
> China (17)
> UK (14)
>Finland, Japan, Portugal and Sweden(13)
>Croatia and Spain (11)
>Greece and Italy (10)

11/n

75% of all studies feature 100% renewable energy systems with more than 80% of all electricity from wind and solar energy

12/n

On the #circulareconomy nature of renewables: “It is also noteworthy that in most cases, the scarce materials used in RE technology are in bulk form and can be recycled with relative ease in comparison to materials used in dispersed form”

As they are and will be

13/n

Loved the polite digs at the IEA and the IPCC, institutions that have a hard time, sometimes, not to be bullied to play to the choir (aka the fossil fuel lobbies and the governments in their pockets)

14/n

At the end, it’s really quite simple: voices still questioning the feasibility of 100% renewables, and the absolute necessity to implement these with speed and scale everywhere are either (unintentionally or perhaps intentionally) uninformed or Big Oil stooges

15/n

Here’s the paper: "On the History and Future of 100% Renewable Energy Systems Research"

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