Energy solutions in sight - storing the sun’s energy

By Kevin B. Smith

Escalating concerns about energy security. Increased dependence on foreign oil. Climate change and pollution from burning fossil fuels. Environmental damage and lives lost due to coal mining and oil drilling activities. Unrest in oil-producing nations that influences US government policy and costs American lives. Ever increasing energy requirements to power today’s and tomorrow’s lifestyle demands.

These issues are now a part of our everyday lives – streaming across the internet and television news seemingly 24 hours per day.  Thirty years ago, these issues were supposed to be solved well before today.  Expectations of governmental action on significant changes in energy policy, energy efficiency and conservation, along with technology advancements such as “clean coal” and nuclear power that would be “too cheap to meter” were all seemingly within sight - or so we thought….

Unfortunately, the progress expected in these areas has yet to materialize.  Rather, one might say we’ve regressed in many respects relating to energy.  Since the 1970’s, our foreign oil imports have increased from approximately 35% of US demand to over 60% today, with no end in sight to our consumption.  Burning coal, which is by no means “clean,” still dominates our electricity generation mix at more than 50% of electrical generation.  Today the burning of coal, natural gas, and other fuels for electricity generation in the US creates more than 2.5 billion tons of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions each and every year.  Nuclear power, although enjoying a recent rebirth in consideration, has dramatically increased in price and, due to the dormant state of the nuclear industry over the last two decades, will require that much of the technology and equipment be imported from overseas suppliers if we decide to build new nuclear power facilities in the US. Along with the dramatic increase in the costs for new nuclear energy, the troubling issue of nuclear waste treatment and storage is still not anywhere close to resolution.  With all these challenges facing us, the US remains one of the few developed nations in the world without a clear policy and plan in place to address long-term energy issues.

In spite of the lack of clear federal energy policy in the US, there has, however, been significant advancement in the area of solar power.  With innovations in solar technology, solar power is having an impact on current energy supply options and future policy measures.  However, despite these significant advancements, policymakers have yet to provide the federal policy support needed to move solar power and other renewable energy technologies from a small contributor in the nation’s overall energy portfolio to one that can power us into the future.  Instead, policymakers continue to provide the majority of federal support in the form of energy subsidies to fossil fuels and fuel-burning technologies.  Currently, fossil fuels receive more than double the amount of subsidies provided to all of the renewable energy technologies combined, including solar, with the majority of renewable energy subsidies going to ethanol development and production.

Storing the Sun’s Energy

At SolarReserve, a California-based solar power technology and developer of large-scale solar energy projects, we’ve found a way that will help move our world to a brighter place. 

Solar power is not only the world’s most abundant energy resource, but it’s also free, clean, and infinite. The research and development in solar power technology over the last couple of decades has been focused primarily on the most efficient way of capturing this tremendous energy supply.  While many forms of solar technology have been developed, the majority of them unfortunately suffer the limitation of most other forms of renewable energy technologies – unpredictable operating profiles due to weather variations, often referred to as “intermittency of supply”. 

However, at SolarReserve, we’ve solved that problem with US-developed technology; technology that can also be manufactured in the US.  With the help of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), we are developing large-scale electricity projects with concentrating solar thermal technology to not only capture this infinite supply of clean energy, but also store the energy so that it can be deployed on-demand, day or night.  The energy storage system, which is provided to SolarReserve through an exclusive license with UTC subsidiary, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, is inherent to the system and provides the operating stability needed to solve the problem of intermittency of electricity supply.  Solar power with thermal storage is widely regarded as the future for renewable energy because, unlike many intermittent renewable resources such as wind energy and photovoltaic energy, it provides firm electrical capacity during peak utility demand periods along with ‘dispatchability’ characteristics – the ability to turn the facility on and off 24 hours per day to meet electricity supply and capacity requirements day and night.  This can all be achieved without the use of backup fuels, such as natural gas, resulting in renewable energy that is truly “zero emissions”. 

Unfortunately, decades of short-sided business and policy decisions have led us into our current energy mess: heavy dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil, climate change and pollution issues, and tremendous concerns about energy security.  Solar energy, and particularly solar energy with thermal storage, can help meet our energy challenges while at the same time stimulating the economy by creating solid jobs in the US.  With a clear solution readily available, we need the federal government to act on their commitment to support clean energy, to mitigating climate change, and to keeping our nation secure by reducing our reliance upon foreign oil.  Clear policy measures for renewable energy technologies like that developed by SolarReserve and UTC are required now.   

The rest of the world is taking action.  Europe is far ahead of the US in terms of government policy and technology implementation.  In 2009, China surpassed the US by almost two-fold in investment in renewable energy and is on the verge of becoming a world leader in renewable energy technology.  The US is capable of taking that world leading position, but in order to do so, critical action by the federal government - Democrats and Republicans alike - is essential.  In the words of one of our former US presidents: “If not us, who?  If not now, when?”

Biography

Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve, has held senior executive positions in a number of successful energy development and technology