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The US plays a key role in shoring up European energy security and this is unlikely to change dramatically after the November 2016 elections. However, the outcome could compound longer term risks to an internationally engaged US energy policy, affecting European energy security and diplomacy.
In terms of energy policy, the Trump presidential campaign is largely aligned with mainstream Republican positions, evoking independence and deregulation. However, Trump's rhetoric and personality might inject uncertainties into long-term energy policies, increasing the risk inherent in energy related businesses.
Hillary Clinton's campaign has stressed her continuity with Obama's energy policy on key aspects such as decarbonization of the US economy, technological innovation and global cooperation. However, policy reforms to deliver long-term climate goals might be out of reach in a highly divided Congress.
Combining silicon and other materials in tandem solar cells is one approach to enhancing the overall power conversion efficiency of the cells. We argue that top cell partners for silicon tandem solar cells should be selected on the basis of their spectral efficiency — their efficiency resolved by wavelength.
Solid-state batteries have recently attracted great interest as potentially safe and stable high-energy storage systems. However, key issues remain unsolved, hindering full-scale commercialization.
The framing of funding programmes can sustain existing ways of conceptualizing particular problems, as well as create new ones. Yet, without more prominent roles for social sciences and humanities, the techno-economic conceptualization of energy consumers could hinder long-term low-carbon aspirations.
Scholars and practitioners have advocated for greater public participation in decisions about renewable energy technologies. Nonetheless, many questions remain regarding the role of the public and the scope, purpose and openness of these decision processes.
Solar power is increasingly economical, but its value to the grid decreases as its penetration grows, and existing technologies may not remain competitive. We propose a mid-century cost target of US$0.25 per W and encourage the industry to invest in new technologies and deployment models to meet it.
Energy modelling has a crucial underpinning role for policy making, but the modelling–policy interface faces several limitations. A reinvention of this interface would better provide timely, targeted, tested, transparent and iterated insights from such complex multidisciplinary tools.
Energy storage will play a key role in increasing the use of variable energy sources. Nonetheless, storage is not the only balancing option and the overall design of power systems will incorporate a range of flexible generation, storage and grid-balancing options of different types and scales.
The past five years have seen substantial cost reductions and greatly increased uptake of photovoltaics. Growth is being driven by ongoing improvements in both silicon solar cell costs and performance, making the commercialization of new technologies increasingly difficult.
Climate change mitigation requires gigatonne-scale CO2 removal technologies, yet few examples exist beyond niche markets. The flexibility of thermochemical conversion of biomass and fossil energy, coupled with carbon capture and storage, offers a route to commercializing carbon-negative energy.
