In tackling
climate change, solar power must be at the forefront of research into
non-carbon energy sources
The Guardian, David King and Richard Layard, The Observer, Sunday 29 September 2013
![]() |
Rays of hope: the solar power tower outside Seville, Spain. Photograph: Denis Doyle/Getty Images |
Last
Friday's report from the United Nations confirms the huge danger from our
continued dependence on fossil fuel. But one simple thing can break this
dependence. It needs to be cheaper to produce non-carbon energy than it is by
digging up coal, gas or oil. Once this happens, most of the coal, gas and oil
will automatically be left undisturbed in the ground.
To make
non-carbon energy become competitive is a major scientific challenge, not
unlike the challenge of developing the atom bomb or sending a man to the moon.
Science rose to those challenges because a clear goal and timetable were set
and enough public money was provided for the research. These programmes had
high political profile and public visibility. They attracted many of the best
minds of the age.
The issue
of climate change and energy is even more important and it needs the same
treatment. In most countries, there is at present too little public spending on
non-carbon energy research. Instead, we need a major international research
effort, with a clear goal and a clear timetable.
What should
it focus on? There will always be many sources of non-carbon energy – nuclear
fission, hydropower, geothermal, wind, nuclear fusion (possibly) and solar. But
nuclear fission and hydropower have been around for many years. Nuclear is
essential but faces political obstacles and there are physical limits to
hydropower. Nuclear fusion remains uncertain. And, while wind can play a big
role in the UK, in many countries its application is limited. So there is no hope
of completely replacing fossil fuel without a major contribution from the power
of the sun.
Moreover,
the sun sends energy to the Earth equal to about 5,000 times our total energy
needs. It is inconceivable that we cannot collect enough of this energy for our
needs, at a reasonable cost. The price of photovoltaic energy is falling at 10%
a year, and in Germany a serious amount of unsubsidised, solar electricity is
already being added to the grid. In California, forward contracts for solar
energy are becoming competitive with other fuels and they will become more so,
as technology progresses.
But time is
desperately short and there are two even bigger scientific challenges. The
first is to make solar power available on a 24-hour basis, when the sun shines
only part of the day and can be obscured by cloud. This requires a major
breakthrough in the storage of electricity.
The second
is to reduce the cost of transmitting electricity from areas of high luminosity
and low land value to the major population centres of the world. Better storage
requires major breakthroughs in the science of batteries; better transmission
requires new materials that are much better at conducting electricity without
loss of power. In all these cases, the solution requires new disruptive
technologies.
So here is
our proposal. There should be a world sunpower programme of research,
development and demonstration. The goal would be by 2025 to deliver solar
electricity at scale to the grid at a cost below the cost of fossil fuel. All
countries would be invited to participate. Those who did would commit, in their
own countries, to major new programmes of research, internationally
co-ordinated, and to share their findings for the benefit of the world.
Each
country would have the goal of demonstrating bulk supply of unsubsidised solar
electricity in scale to the grid by 2025. At the world level, the target would
be for solar electricity to be at least 10% of total energy supply by 2025 and
25% by 2030. Countries' contributions to this target would be closely watched.
The
programme would be truly broad. It would cover non-grid solar as well as grid
electricity. And it would be of value to wind electricity as well, through
improving storage and transmission.
Unlike
fossil fuel, solar produces no pollution and no miners get killed. Unlike
nuclear fission, it produces no radioactive waste. It harnesses the power of
the sun, which is the ultimate source of most energy on Earth. And it can
strike the imagination of a people and therefore of their politicians.
A central
role of governments is to promote new public knowledge. Surely the most
important knowledge of all is how to preserve human life as we know it. In
2015, the nations of the world will meet to agree their commitments on climate
change. Whatever else they agree, they should go for a major sunpower
programme.
Sir David
King will be the foreign secretary's special representative on climate change
from 1 October. Lord Layard is former founder-director of the Centre for
Economic Performance at the LSE.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.