全世界都在競相提高可再生能源的產能

儲能正迅速成為可再生能源拼圖中的關鍵部分

開發長期的、可擴展的、環境友好的能源儲存的競賽已在全球開始

據油價網11月22日報道，可再生能源正在全球范圍內爆炸式增長。世界各國正在以極快的速度增加清潔能源生產能力，與時間賽跑，以加強能源安全和應對氣候變化。盡管環保人士和經濟學家幾十年來一直在警告，能源行業——事實上，全球經濟——的未來在于可再生能源，而不是化石燃料，但行業和政策領導人一直在緩慢地適應，直到現在。  

近期全球經濟遭受的沖擊(疫情和軍事沖突)的規模和影響之大，對能源市場、消費者的銀行賬戶和生計造成了毀滅性打擊。在冬季，僅英國就有2600萬人預計將陷入能源貧困，而在發展中國家，其后果將更加嚴重。但在當前的全球能源危機中，也有一線希望。事實證明，這些沖擊的毀滅性程度是推動世界克服頑固的以碳為基礎的經濟所固有的巨大慣性和阻力的動力。 

因此，全球許多領導人正在抓住時機推動綠色能源議程。截至今年，福布斯2000強企業中有40%的企業承諾實現凈零排放目標。這是去年的兩倍。與此同時，三分之二的歐盟國家(27個國家中的18個國家)在2022年5月至8月期間創造了太陽能發電的新紀錄。根據Statkraft的預測，他們才剛剛開始。預測顯示，到2030年，歐洲的太陽能發電能力將平均每年增加45吉瓦至52吉瓦，比去年的預測大幅增加。

雖然全球可再生能源行業發展迅猛對地球來說是個好消息，但脫碳議程面臨著一些重大的成長煩惱。只有在可再生能源基礎設施能夠跟上的情況下，新增的可再生能源產能才是有用的。清潔能源不僅僅是風力渦輪機和太陽能電池板，它還涉及到電網容量和靈活性的提高。

歸根結底，可再生能源的增長都是關于能源儲存的。

事實上，一個凈零排放能源的未來需要6太瓦時的巨大能源儲存。一份新的報告預測，在2022—2026年期間，全球離網儲能系統市場預計將增加62.2億美元，增速為7%。問題是，目前，可再生能源行業在很大程度上仍依賴于鋰離子電池的儲能。這是一個問題，因為這些電池只能儲存幾個小時的能量，而且它們需要有限的、不可再生的稀土元素，而這些稀土元素在未來將變得越來越稀缺。 

由于鋰離子電池的主要缺陷，目前全球正在競相開發新的、更好的、長期的、可擴展和環境友好的儲能技術。大量資金被投入到尋找最好的電池來為脫碳運動提供動力，包括來自《通貨膨脹削減法案》的主要激勵措施。

雖然有一長串有前途的能源儲存選擇，但最新的發展之一也是最令人興奮的是二氧化碳電池。 這款意大利發明的電池正式進入美國市場，這要歸功于夏威夷和海灣地區投資氣候技術部署的Elemental Excelerator公司的資金。這種電池只使用水、二氧化碳和鋼鐵，而且效率高、價格實惠，而且不受地緣政治影響。根據電池制造商Energy Dome的網站，“這個儲能過程只包括兩種熱力學轉換：一種是壓縮，一種是膨脹。這允許RTE高于75%“，這意味著電池可以高效工作幾十年而不泄漏到大氣中。  

二氧化碳電池可能是，也可能不是能源儲存的未來，但它們是一個非常有前途的發展?，F在迫在眉睫的問題是，這種技術能以多快的速度被大規模采用，以幫助可再生能源行業快速、可靠地發展，而不會使那種對不穩定的能源供應鏈的依賴持續下去，而正是這種依賴造成了當前的能源危機。 

李峻 編譯自 油價網

原文如下：

Energy Storage Is The Backbone Of The Renewable Revolution

·     The world is racing to ramp up renewable energy capacity.

·     Energy storage is quickly emerging as a key piece of the renewable energy puzzle.

·     The race is on to develop long-term, scalable energy storage that is environmentally friendly.

Renewables are exploding. Countries around the world are adding clean energy production capacity at a breakneck pace in a race against the clock to shore up energy security and beat climate change. While environmentalists and economists alike have been warning for decades that the future of the energy industry – and, indeed, the global economy – lies in renewable energies and not fossil fuels, industry and policy leaders have been slow to adapt. Until now. 

The massive scale and reach of the recent shocks to the global economy (Covid-19 and the war) have been devastating to energy markets and to consumers’ bank accounts and livelihoods. 26 million people in the United Kingdom alone are expected to sink into energy poverty over the winter months, and the outcome will be even more devastating in the developing world. But there is a silver lining to the current global energy crisis. The crushing magnitude of these shocks has proven to be the push that the world needed to overcome the massive inertia and resistance built into a stubbornly carbon-based economy.

As a result, many global leaders in both the public and private sectors are seizing the moment to catalyze the green energy agenda. As of this year, 40% of Forbes 2,000 companies have committed to a net-zero target. That’s twice as many as last year. Meanwhile, two-thirds of countries in the European Union – 18 out of 27 – set new records for solar power generation between May and August of 2022. And according to projections from Statkraft, they’re just getting started. Predictions show that European solar capacity will see an average increase of between 45GW and 52GW each year leading up to 2030 – a massive increase over last year’s pre-war projections.

While it’s great news for the planet that the global renewable energy sector is going gangbusters, the decarbonization agenda faces some major growing pains. Added renewable energy capacity is only useful if renewable energy infrastructure can keep up with it. Clean energy isn’t just about wind turbines and solar panels; it’s also about increased grid capacity and flexibility. And at the end of the day, renewable growth is all about energy storage.

In fact, a net-zero energy future will require a whopping 6TWh of energy storage. A new report projects that the global off-grid energy storage system market is expected to grow by $6.22 bn during 2022-2026, accelerating at a rate of 7%. The problem is that, at present, the renewable energy industry is largely dependent on lithium-ion battery storage. This is an issue because these batteries can only hold onto energy for a matter of hours and they require finite, non-renewable rare Earth elements which are going to become increasingly scarce in the future.

Due to the major pitfalls of lithium ion batteries, there is currently a race to develop new and better energy storage technologies that are long-term, scalable, and environmentally friendly. Big money is being invested in finding the best kind of battery to power the decarbonization movement, including major incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. 

While there are a litany of promising options for energy storage, one of the newest developments is also one of the most exciting: the CO2 battery. The Italian-invented battery is officially entering the U.S. market thanks to funding from Hawaii and Bay Area-based Elemental Excelerator, which invests in climate tech deployment. The battery uses just water, carbon dioxide, and steel, and is efficient, affordable, and scalable without geopolitical stickiness. According to the website of battery-maker Energy Dome, “the process comprises only two thermodynamic transformations: one compression and one expansion. This allows for RTEs of above 75%.” This means that the battery can operate efficiently for decades with no leakage to the atmosphere.

CO2 batteries may or may not be the future of energy storage but they are an extremely promising development in a field of almost nothing but extremely promising and exciting developments. Now the pressing issue is how quickly such a technology can be adopted at scale to help grow the renewable sector quickly and reliably without perpetuating the kind of reliance on volatile energy supply chains that created the current energy crisis.