Science

1
Science Technology in Shaping the Energy
Future
Iskender Gökalp
Director Laboratoire de Combustion et Systèmes
Réactifs Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique 45071 Orléans cedex 2, France
2
Future of social spaces

• Societies are made of several superimposed or
  interacting spaces
• political
• economic
• ideological
• socio-technical
• The co-evolution of these spaces and their
  sub-spaces may not be homogeneous nor
  synchronous therefore their future may follow
  different dynamics they are however all
  interdependent
• Modern societies are more and more dominated by
  the socio-technical space its dual nature makes
  it very complex i.e. shaped by both social and
  technical factors or determinations and therefore
  contributing to shape the whole society

3
Energy the socio-technical space par excellence

• For humans and for their societies, different
  forms of energy are one of the essential life
  enabling factors
• The modern energy space is heavily science
  technology dominated it is also heavily shaped
  by society. This is why it is a socio-technical
  system, both society shaped and society shaping
• The future of the energy space is therefore an
  essential future

4
When is the Energy Space future ?

• The energy system (or space) of modern societies
  is today fossil fuel dominated (petrol, gas,
  coal)
• Its future is therefore directly determined by
  the depletion potential of these primary energy
  resources
• Predictions vary but, mid century is estimated
  coherently as the heavy trouble starting future
• This could even be optimistic given the
  uncertainties concerning the energy geopolicy,
  the climate change pressure related to CO2
  emission regulations, the world population and
  energy consumption trends, the world financial
  investment ability in fossil fuel production
  (estimated to 16000 billion USD until 2030 with
  the BAU scenario by IEA)

5
What is the Energy Space future ?

• The total world population of 9 billion people is
  consuming today 9Gtep, very unevenly distributed
  between developed and developing countries
• Demographic predictions indicate between 8 and
  10 billion Earth inhabitants for 2050. Realistic
  assumptions predict a total world energy
  consumption of 25 to 30 Gtep in 2050
• Fossil fuel based energy production estimates for
  2050 are about 12.5 Gtep (total for petrol, gas
  and coal).
• The non-fossil energy gap is therefore between
  12.5 to 17.5 Gtep

6
What is the future of the Energy Gap ?

• Renewable energy sources are believed to be the
  most prominent candidate to fill in the energy
  gap and to insure a post-fossil sustainable
  energy system for the world inhabitants
• Renewable energy sources include solar, wind,
  biomass, waste, hydraulic, geothermal, sea
  current, tidal energies
• Renewable energy conversion techniques and
  processes are several

7
What is the future of the Solar Energy

• The world surface receives an average solar
  energy of 6000 times today's total world energy
  consumption
• Solar energy can be used to (poly)generate heat,
  cold, electricity, and hydrogen
• Several solar energy conversion techniques and
  processes exist and are continuously developed
• Solar energy can be used both for centralized and
  decentralized polygeneration

8
What is the future of the Solar Energy (suite)

• Solar energy is unlimited for the future of human
  species
• Solar energy is clean
• It is relatively evenly distributed among the
  world energy consuming geographic areas
• It can be stored in various ways (electricity,
  hydrogen)
• It can be collected in space to avoid night and
  day intermittency
• Solar energy is the most natural energy resource
  for the humans and should be exploited to its
  full potential before aiming to generate
  artificial suns on the Earth

9
The role of Science and Technology to enable
renewables based sustainable energy systemThe
solar energy hydrogen example

• High efficiency solar cells
• Low cost organic solar cells
• High efficiency electrolysis systems for hydrogen
  generation
• High temperature concentrated solar energy based
  water decomposition for hydrogen generation
• Hydrogen generation by solar radiation water
  photocatalysis
• Solar energy based hydrogen generation from solid
  organic wastes
• Hydrogen conversion by internal combustion
  engines
• and fuel cells
• Hydrogen conversion by hybrid gas turbine fuel
  cell systems
• Large scale solar energy collection systems
• (on Earth or in space)

10
What is the future of Turkey in Renewable
Energies

• Turkey is the only European country possessing a
  significant potential in all the renewable energy
  resources solar, wind, biomass, hydraulic,
  geothermal
• Turkey has a huge human resources potential in
  all the enabling knowledge areas and technologies
  of renewable energies
• The comparative advantage generated by this twin
  potential is enormous in the perspective of
  contributing to Turkeys energy security and
  independence
• And to the European and world transition to a
  sustainable energy system and therefore to a
  sustainable development dynamics

11
The Energy Space future is ESSPERANS

• ESSPERANS
• Energy, Space, Solar Power, Environment
• Research Actions for a New Society

12
Rational (1)

• The necessity of a Sustainable Energy System for
  Europe (and for the Earth) is today well admitted
  by all interested parties
• This means that we have to prepare, now, the post
  fossil fuel area for the mid 21st Century
• Large scale socio-technical systems take several
  decades to be introduced, developed and accepted

13
Rational (2)

• The two energy vectors-carriers for the SES, we
  are able to imagine today, are electricity and
  hydrogen
• Both should be produced by sustainable means and
  in abundant quantities
• Therefore, the major challenge for the
  establishment of the European SES is the
  sustainable electricity and hydrogen cogeneration
  

14
Action (1)

• The ESSPERANS consortium proposes the intensive
  use of solar energy as the primary source for
  electricity-hydrogen cogeneration
• Earth based large scale solar energy platforms
  (LS-SEP) combined with space augmented LS-SEPs
  should be developed and demonstrated
• Space augmentation means the collection of
  solar energy in space beamed down to Earth based
  LS-SEPs (to avoid day-night intermittency,
  reduced storage, cloudiness)

15
Action (2)

• The ESSPERANS consortium should be made of
  partners from the energy sector and the space
  sector
• Both sectors have shared interests in solar
  energy, beamed energy, hydrogen generation and
  manipulation, large scale complex system
  management
• Both sectors are involved in global European
  security issues and should co-operate (FP6
  Priorities 4 and 6)

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ESSPERANS Roadmap

• Assessment, development, demonstration,
  installation, management of 10 MW to 1000 MW
  scale LS-SEPs network for the European SES for
  2050 horizon
• Implementation of the ESSPERANS idea in the
  Mediterranean basin

17
ESSPERANS-1 4 years RD IP Scientific
Technical Objectives (1)

• The ESSPERANS-1 project aspires to
• significantly enlarge the knowledge basic
• develop enabling technologies
• firmly assess the feasibility
• of large scale solar energy platforms as a
  viable, cost effective, renewable and clean
  option for abundant cogeneration of electricity
  and hydrogen.
• The goal of ESSPERANS-1 project is to develop the
  global ESSPERANS roadmap for the European
  implementation of LS-SEPs around 2050, and to
  firmly build its first block.

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ESSPERANS-1 Project Scientific Technical
Objectives (2)

• develop appropriate life cycle and risk
  assessment analysis methodologies for large scale
  solar energy systems, including electricity and
  hydrogen generation segments.
• develop a multi-criteria site selection
  assessment methodology to identify the best
  locations for European LS-SEP sites within the
  Mediterranean basin.
• enlarge the knowledge basis for low cost thin
  film solar cell technology and for flexible solar
  cells for increased overall efficiency
  electrolytic cells for energy and cost efficient
  (laser) photocatalytic H2 generation processes,
  for H2 generation by thermochemical water
  decomposition

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ESSPERANS-1 Project Scientific Technical
Objectives (3)

• development and installation of 0.5 MW solar
  electricity platforms in the selected sites
• assessment of the integration of PV electricity
  to the grid
• development of cost efficient solar cells
  realisation of large area PV devices using thin
  film solar cell technology
• development and use of low-cost transparent
  substrates which at the same time should protect
  against degradation
• cost reduction of the large area device based on
  the extension of the results to large scale
  production
• development of innovative PV cells based on the
  Insulated Metal Substrate technology, which may
  open the way to flexible PV cells
• development of increased efficiency laser power
  transmission
• exploit the synergy between the energy and space
  sectors for complex large scale system
  development and maintenance and for H2 generation
  and manipulation

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ESSPERANS-1 Project Activities (1)

• Life cycle analysis of large scale solar energy
  platforms for clean electricity and hydrogen
  cogeneration. Particular attention will be given
  to the cycles of water, H2, O2 and CO2
• Global system risk assessment analysis of
  LS-SEPs, including the safety assessment of the
  hydrogen production segment
• Multi-criteria assessment of LS-SEP site
  selection in the Mediterranean basin for
  electricity and hydrogen cogeneration

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ESSPERANS-1 Project Activities (2)

• System design, optimisation, and installation of
  0.5 MW PV platforms using energy and cost
  efficient solar cells in selected sites, in
  synergy with existing PV platforms such as those
  of the DLR in Almeria, Spain
• Assessment of the global feasibility of the
  space-augmented LS-SEP scenario including
  demonstration, by providing a pilot-type
  terrestrial laser transmission and PV energy
  reception/conversion facility, potentially using
  a lower-scaled airship representing a later SPS
  space platform
• Assessment of PV electricity integration to the
  grid, focusing on power balance, voltage control,
  short-circuit stability, dynamic stability,
  availability and reliability

22
ESSPERANS-1 Project Activities (3)

• Development of cost efficient solar cells
  realisation of a large area PV device
  development of innovative flexible PV cells based
  on the Insulated Metal Substrate (IMS) technology
• Increase the overall efficiency of electrolytic
  cells for hydrogen generation by water
  electrolysis by increasing the working
  temperature of the electrodes and the exchange
  surface during electrolysis. Use of IMS
  technology to design more efficient and longer
  lifetime electrodes
• Development of energy and cost efficient
  photoreactors for photocatalytic hydrogen
  production from water
• Theoretical and laboratory scale experimental
  activities for the assessment of hydrogen
  generation by thermochemical water decomposition
  using heat from solar energy

23
ESSPERANS-1 Consortium (1)

• The good idea for Europe that the ESSPERANS
  consortium is willing to promote is the
  establishment of a virtuous synergy between the
  European energy and space sectors to jointly
  propose, assess, develop and validate a future
  global, sustainable and independent energy
  scenario for Europe based on the large scale use
  of solar energy for electricity and hydrogen
  cogeneration. In order to insure continuous
  energy generation and reduce large scale energy
  storage, the development of a European SES based
  on a network of terrestrial and spatial LS-SEPs
  is proposed. To achieve this goal the ESSPERANS
  consortium needs to be truly interdisciplinary
  and multifaceted including

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ESSPERANS-1 Consortium (2)

• LCA and multi-criteria risk assessment
  specialists
• Specialists in the basic knowledge areas related
  to solar and electrolityc cells, water
  photocatalysis, laser power transmission
• SMEs capable of developing low cost, high
  efficiency solar cells, lasers, photocatalysis
  and electrolysis reactors
• Specialists in the global hydrogen risk
  assessment during its generation processes
• Energy infrastructure industry capable of
  building maintaining LS-SEPs
• Energy and hydrogen providers (as Shell Hydrogen,
  BP, Air Liquide, Total, etc.)
• Space infrastructure industry
• Local national authorities in the energy and
  environment areas

25
ESSPERANS-1 Consortium (3)

• The ESSPERANS consortium will be a fully
  integrated one,
• between
• large scale industrial partners, SMEs, energy and
  space sectors, large research institutes and
  universities, energy providers, EU15 and new
  member states, EU candidate countries
• Partnership with Mediterranean countries, Russia,
  Japan, USA and Canada will also be developed,
  namely to enlarge the knowledge basis of key
  enabling technologies

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ESSPERANS-1 Consortium (4)

• At this stage of the ESSPERANS consortium
  building, the key
• partners are
• CNRS, Orléans (F)
• EADS Space Transportation (FD)
• Alenia Spazio (I) Galileo Avionica (I) CISE (I)
• CILAS (F) Elettronica Gelbison (I)
  Photovoltaics Ltd (GR)
• DLR, Lampoldshausen (D)
• KEMA (NL) NRG (NL) ECN (NL)
• ENEA, Roma, (I) University of Roma (I)
  University of Naples (I) CNR-IRC, Naples (I)
• LIOS, Linz (AT)
• Athens Agricultural University (GR)
• ICS-UNIDO, Trieste (I) Mihailo Pupin Inst.
  Beograd (SB)
• A. Mickiewicz University, Poznan (PL)
• TUBITAK-MAM (TR), ITU (TR)

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ESSPERANSSome (difficult) key questions

• Is the full safety of the generalised Hydrogen
  society demonstrated today with a zero risk
  approach ?
• Once H2 generated abundantly and using
  sustainable means, is it necessary that it
  becomes the end use fuel or energy carrier and
  why not an intermediary to produce less risky
  synthetic liquid fuels (methane or methanol by
  treating CO2 with H2) ?
• Is it appropriate to attempt to change two major
  components of a given large scale system such as
  road transport its fuel and its engine
  simultaneously ? A more gradual approach could be
  envisaged, such as internal combustion engines
  running with H2. The same could be said for CHP
  gas turbines running with H2 rather than SOFC ?

28
ESSPERANSSome (difficult) key questions

• Are we taken enough seriously the future energy
  security of Europe which might be (or is already)
  the major Security issue for Europe ?
  Consequently, major sectors contributing to
  global European security, such as the space
  sector, the defence sector and obviously the
  energy sector should form a very strong
  integrated consortium around the future Energy
  security issue