The Future of Renewable Energy — Study Notes

1. Key Definitions

• Renewable energy: Energy from sources that naturally replenish, such as sunlight, wind, water, geothermal heat, and biomass.
• Solar photovoltaic (PV): Technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity.
• Wind energy: Electricity produced by turbines that convert the kinetic energy of moving air.
• Hydropower: Energy generated by moving or falling water.
• Geothermal energy: Heat from inside the Earth used for electricity generation or heating.
• Biomass: Organic material used as fuel or converted into biofuels.
• Energy storage: Technologies that save energy for later use, including batteries, pumped-storage hydropower, and thermal storage.
• Grid: The network that transports electricity from producers to consumers.
• Smart grid: A grid using digital controls, sensors, and data to balance supply and demand efficiently.
• Intermittency: Variation in renewable output caused by changing weather or time of day.
• Dispatchable energy: Electricity generation that can be increased or decreased when required.
• Capacity factor: The ratio of actual electricity produced to the maximum possible output over a period.
• Green hydrogen: Hydrogen produced through electrolysis powered by renewable electricity.
• Sector coupling: Connecting electricity with transport, heating, and industry to use renewable power across the economy.
• Distributed generation: Small-scale electricity production near the point of consumption, such as rooftop solar.
• Net zero: A state in which greenhouse-gas emissions released are balanced by emissions removed.
• Levelized cost of energy (LCOE): The average lifetime cost of producing one unit of electricity.
• Power-to-X: Conversion of renewable electricity into another energy carrier or product, such as hydrogen, heat, or synthetic fuel.

2. Major Future Trends

Solar and Wind Expansion

Solar