Renewables + Energy Efficiency + Circular Economy a Sustainable world!

As the world races towards energy transition, abandoning fossil fuels left, right and
Centre, we take a look at some of the key renewable’s technologies and whether or not
they are really sustainable.

In our desire to next zero, we don’t forget to keep a check on all aspects of the renewables
value chain, minimizing environmental and human impacts as much as possible.

How much sustainable is solar?

Solar panels have revolutionized the energy sector, providing massive decarbonization gains
across the board. However, there is more to solar than simply erecting the panels and waiting
for the sun to shine. We have to consider where PV panels come from and what happens to
these panels once their lifecycle comes to an end.

According to renewableenergyhub.com, in order to make a solar panel, several elements are

required, such as Silver, Copper, Nickle, Amorphous silicon, Cadmium telluride and Copper
indium gallium selenideone. These minerals need to be extracted and chemically separated,
processes that lead to emissions.
Polysilicon is a semiconducting material used in the production of solar panels. It’s refined from
quartzite, a dense rock created when sandstone is crushed between tectonic plates. The
material is baked in giant ovens and treated with chemicals until it condenses into ingots of
near-pure polysilicon. Those ingots are sliced into wafers using diamond-edged saws, and then
cut into squares to make solar cells that transform sunlight into electricity.

Polysilicon can become a problem as many countries lack regulatory controls concerning the
dumping of waste silicon tetrachloride, a by-product of polysilicon processing. Normally the
waste silicon tetrachloride is recycled but this adds to the cost of manufacture.

And what happens when a solar panel dies? According to Wired, by 2050, the International
Renewable Energy Agency projects that up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have
reached the end of their life, and that the world will be generating about 6 million metric tons of
new solar e-waste annually. Proper recycling procedures are needed to ensure the valuable
elements are extracted and the toxic elements, like lead, don’t leak out in landfills.

And it’s not just about recycling and reducing emissions…In terms of the impact on wildlife,
increased numbers of bird deaths have been associated with solar farms. Utility-scale solar
farms around the US may kill nearly 140,000 birds annually, possibly the result of the glare
generated by the panels.

Clearly, solar power has a lot to offer the energy industry in the future however, it is clear that
governments and industry need to collaborate on sustainability strategies around the
deployment and decommissioning of PV.

The impact of Wind Energy?

One of the most important features of wind energy, of course, is the emissions free power it
produces, vital in today’s emissions sensitive climate.

Building and erecting wind turbines requires hundreds of tons of materials — steel, concrete,
fiberglass, copper, as well as neodymium and dysprosium used in permanent magnets,
resulting in a carbon footprint yet to be fully understood.

However, one of the more salient concerns around wind turbines is the impact on local fauna.
Here are three examples in this regard:

1. According to a report published in the journal Ecology and Evolution by a team of

researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim, birds
and bats are indeed at risk from turbine blades in motion. The planning stage must
emphasize the avoidance of habitats to minimize avian deaths.
2. Regarding offshore wind farms, scientists are still studying the potential impact on
marine ecosystems. DW.com suggests that certain species of sharks and rays that
 use electromagnetic fields to navigate and hunt for food; could react to electric
energy leaking from offshore wind installations.
3. Marine biologist and consultant Victoria Todd believes the loud sound pulses during
the construction phase can affect some species for up to 12.5 miles. For up to six
weeks, construction can push out marine mammals from large areas of their habitat,
Todd said, although the animals return reasonably quickly once construction ceases.

It is clear that when constructing wind farms, whether on- or off-shore, the environmental impact
must be accounted for and mitigated from the planning phase as far as possible.

How sustainable is biomass?

Opposite of nuclear on the power generation spectrum is Biomass. This benign, environmentally
friendly, and reliable source of renewable energy can effectively reduce waste and emissions. It
seems like a winning recipe of feedstocks. However, collecting, transporting and storing that
waste has its own carbon footprint and biomass for large-scale energy production requires a
great deal of land.

Besides that, unsustainable biomass practices can result in deforestation over time, as some
companies clear forests to create feedstock for biomass power production. According to
energysage.com, “clearing plants and organic material from the earth can also impact the health
of surrounding soil that requires biomass for compost and fertilization”. These practices, in turn,
negatively impact or deplete natural habitats for animals and birds.

Companies that grow crops for the sole purpose of biomass can also pack an environmental
punch. The water and irrigation needed can upset water balances causing drought in other
areas. This has led to the need for a balance to be achieved between growing crops for energy
and crops for food.

But what about emissions? The process can release pollutants into the air, such as carbon
dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Not only could this cause an unwanted
smell, coupled with the smell of the feedstock (depending on the waste product being used) but
could also result in the presence of pests and bacteria.

How sustainable is tidal power?

When it comes to the environmental impact of tidal power, not much is actually known. The
manipulation of this potent force of nature for the production of energy is still in its infancy, and
although some studies have been conducted, scientists are only now starting to scratch the
surface.
What we do know for sure, however, is that the scientific community is looking closely at two
main causes of concern: noise and vibration, and the impact on sea life. A good example is the
2010 report commissioned by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and
titled Environmental Effects of Tidal Energy Development, which identifies several
environmental effects. These include the “alteration of currents and waves”, the “emission of
electro-magnetic fields” (EMFs) and its effects on marine life, as well as the “toxicity of paints,
lubricants and anti-fouling coatings” used in the manufacturing of equipment. Unfortunately, this
is but one report, when a lot more research needs to be done in order to properly understand
the full impact. And it seems that only time will tell what impact the development of these
projects will have on marine ecosystems.

How sustainable is Hydrogen?

Many people are getting tired of the ‘H’ word however, it is undeniable that green hydrogen
holds great potential in supporting the planet’s decarbonization.

But what exactly is the carbon footprint associated with hydrogen production? The answer to
that is determined by the fuel used to produce the hydrogen.

Until clean hydrogen can be scaled up, producing hydrogen remains heavily dependent on fossil
fuels. Currently, there are three main sources of hydrogen:

• Natural gas – When the methane in natural gas is heated, the molecules split into
carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The carbon monoxide can then be treated to
produce water gas, from which hydrogen can be extracted.
• Oil – can either go through the same process as natural gas or, if it’s heavy fuel oil,
can be turned into hydrogen via partial oxidation. This involves using high pressures
and temperatures to oxidate the oil which, in turn, produces a synthesis gas partially
made of hydrogen.
• Coal – can also be turned into gas, and during the process its molecules are broken
down into their hydrogen and carbon monoxide parts.

If the emissions used to create hydrogen are trapped and stored underground (a process
called carbon capture and storage, or CCS), the fuel is called blue hydrogen, a cleaner option
than coal gasification or steam methane reforming.

However, in order for hydrogen to be the poster child of the clean energy revolution, only green
hydrogen, achieved by electrolysis will do. Electrolysis uses electricity to split the hydrogen from
water and if this is powered by renewable energy, it has zero emissions and is known as green
hydrogen.

The production of hydrogen today is a “climate killer” according to Carlo Zorzoli of Enel Green
Power. He said some “98% of it is produced from steam reforming and gasification, which
equates to yearly carbon emissions comparable to that of Indonesia and the UK combined. Just
2% is produced from electrolysis.”

“Today, hydrogen is anything but clean. That 98% produced today is an industrial feedstock.
Just 2% is produced from electrolysis. Hydrogen today is not a solution to decarbonisation:
hydrogen is a part of the problem. So the very first thing to do is convert grey hydrogen to
green.”

This statement clearly shows there is work to be done in order to ensure hydrogen can have the
decarbonizing effect the sector is hoping for.

Conclusion :

The fact is that every coin, always have two sides. Therefore, let us not forget that as we
innovate and adopt new renewable and clean energy technologies, there could be hidden
impacts on the environment and on us, now and for generations to come. The good news is
that industry and governments around the world are becoming more aware of sustainability,
prioritizing it in strategic plans, as well as reducing carbon footprints across the value chain.
The future is indeed bright, if and only if we take all three steps together, Renewable
offerings along with Energy Efficiency so that we create cleaner world which is conscious,
purposeful and does responsible consumption. The journey starts from each of us as
consumers. We need adopt the exponential mindset , a mindset driven by exponential
innovation and work on moonshots . Say for example the datacenters which are the highest
energy consuming new infra which is must due to digitization. Data centers represent the
information backbone of an increasingly digitalized world. Demand for their services has
been rising rapidly , and data-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence, smart and
connected energy systems, distributed manufacturing systems, and autonomous vehicles
promise to increase demand further . Given that data centers are energy intensive
enterprises, estimated to account for around 1% of worldwide electricity use, these trends
have clear implications for global energy demand and must be analyzed rigorously.

Assessing implications of growing demand for data centers requires robust

understanding of the scale and drivers of global data center energy use that has eluded
many policy-makers and energy analysts. The reason for this blind spot is a historical
lack of “bottom-up” information on data center types and locations, their information
technology (IT) equipment, and their energy efficiency trends. This has led to a sporadic
and often contradictory literature on global data center energy use. Understanding where
data center energy use is heading requires considering service demand growth factors
alongside myriad equipment, energy efficiency, and market structure factors. Cooling
constitutes the maximum energy consumption in a datacenter and if we move away from
Air cooled to Liquid Immersion cooling it saves 60% on power load.
This will help IT industry to as well look at more compact products , help in better space
management and the full form factor of a Datacenter will reduce. First, policy support
can help data centers seize the remaining efficiency potential of current technology and
structural trends. One key strategy includes further strengthening and promotion of
efficiency standards such as Energy Star for servers, storage, and network devices while
requiring such certifications in public IT procurement programs. Efficiency standards give
data center operators access to more efficient IT devices while creating strong market
incentives to manufacturers to continue innovating energy-efficient products. To support
such standards, greater investments are needed to develop energy efficiency
benchmarks for storage and network devices—similar to the Standard Performance
Evaluation Corporation’s (SPEC’s) SPEC Power bench mark for servers—while policy
should require that measured performance of all certified IT devices be made public to
spur ongoing competition.

Another strategy is to incentivize shifts to cloud services when economically and

institutionally feasible—for example, through procurement standards and utility
rebates—ensuring that future compute instances are delivered by data centers at the
cutting edge of energy efficiency. Yet another is to encourage and incentivize continuous
reductions in PUE, some of which are attainable through low-cost measures such as
improved airflow management and temperature set-point optimization and through
vehicles such as subsidized energy efficiency audits and tax credits. These and other
proven data center efficiency strategies can bring about a near-term plateau in energy
use, which provides critical time to prepare for the possibility of future energy demand
growth. But this time must be used wisely. Second, investment in new technologies is
needed to manage future energy demand growth in the cleanest manner possible once
current efficiency trends reach their feasible limits. Strong deployment incentives should
be provided to accelerate the pace of renewable energy adoption by data centers,
including low-carbon procurement standards and corporate tax credits, so that the
carbon intensity of current and future energy demand is reduced substantially. And
greater public funding should be allocated to advancements in computing, data storage,
communications, and heat removal technologies that may extend the IT industry’s
historical efficiency gains well into the future. Key examples include quantum computing,
materials for ultrahigh density storage, increased chip specialization, artificial intelligence
for computing resource and infrastructure management, and liquid and immersion
cooling technologies. However, it is crucial to increase investments immediately to
ensure such technologies are economical and scalable in time to prevent a demand
surge later this decade, which would also make required renewable capacity additions
more challenging. Third, much greater public data and modeling capacities are required
for understanding and monitoring data center energy use and its drivers and for
designing and evaluating effective policies. National policy-makers should enact robust
data collection and open data repository systems for data center energy use, in much
the same way as has been done historically for other demand sectors. Proprietary data
concerns can be addressed through data reporting and aggregation protocols, similar to
 energy data for the industrial sector, which shares many of the same confidentiality
concerns (see, for example, the U.S. Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey).

Such efforts are important in all world regions and particularly in Asia, where data center
energy use is poised to grow , but reliable data are scarce, especially for China, where
data centers are multiplying quickly. In parallel, more public reporting by large data
center operators should be encouraged and incentivized (e.g., through efficiency rating
systems) for greater energy-use transparency and accountability.

To make full use of these important data, more research funding is needed for
developing policy-relevant data center energy models and for model sharing and
research community building that can disseminate and ensure best analytical practices.
With better data, analysts should also quantify uncertainties in future modeling results,
leading to more robust policy decision

The third other important pillar being Circular Economy produce only when we know
how to recycle and reuse sustainably. The circular economy is termed as the closed-
loop economy which promotes sustainable development. It is a system that does
not have any relation with the traditional economic system which is of linear nature. It
advocates reuse and refurbishing of resources.

In an environment like India, we need get this sector (Recycling) more organized and support
them to get organized as right now its more unorganized and run by MSME’s only. For Metal
extraction, recycling and disposal we will need Technology and Financial support so that this
scales up.

I have been driving sustainability since early 2000s and am bringing disruptive technologies to
ensure we all are able to avert existential crisis which human race faces. I can be reached at
shaktileekha@gmail.com.