The large-scale digitalisation of the energy system, key for the delivery of a fit-for-purpose grid for net zero, is bringing with it new demands for cybersecurity, which must cover the whole value chain, from production and transmission to distribution and the consumer, including all the digital interfaces along this path.

As the number of connected resources grows – and they are rapidly with the fast-increasing uptake of distributed energy resources – so too do the number of interfaces and the number of involved parties. And with that the challenges to achieve a cyber secure system.

The EU’s new network code on cybersecurity, one of the 25 key deliverables of the energy system digitalisation action plan, is focussed primarily on the cross-border electricity flows that form a central component of the single market and was widely consulted in development.

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In its 60+ pages, it covers a breadth of topics, prefaced with a ‘General’ section covering such issues as the need for national competent authorities to carry out the tasks assigned in the regulation, cooperation between parties at national level, the important cooperation between ENTSO.E and the DSO Entity, which is at the heart of its implementation, and cooperation with ACER.

A key foundation for the network code is the establishment of a recurrent – every three years – process of cybersecurity risk assessments in the electricity sector at national and regional levels, aimed at systematically identifying the entities that perform digitalised processes with a critical or high impact in cross-border electricity flows and their cybersecurity risks, and then the necessary mitigating measures that are needed.

For that, the network code establishes a governance model that is aligned with existing mechanisms in EU legislation, such as the revised Network and Information Security Directive, with ENTSO.E and the DSO Entity required to propose the risk assessment methodologies.

‘High impact’ and ‘critical impact’

This notion of ‘high impact’ and ‘critical impact’ is fundamental and depends on the degree of impact of possible cyber attacks in an entity’s processes or operations, with those entities primarily those that have a direct impact on cross-border flows of electricity in the EU.

A second key component is the establishment of a common electricity cybersecurity framework with minimum and advanced controls respectively for ‘high impact’ and ‘critical impact’ entities.

Cybersecurity procurement and the broader supply chain are another key area, with recent cyber-attacks show that entities are increasingly becoming the target of supply chain attacks.

The TSOs are required to develop non-binding procurement recommendation for ICT products, services and processes – again differentiating whether the entity is deemed of high or critical impact.

Information flows and crisis management in the wake of a cyber attack also are crucial and the network code establishes rules around reporting and information sharing.

Finally, the regulation sets out rules for the undertaking every three years by critical impact entities – and on their request also critical service providers – of a cybersecurity exercise including one or more scenarios with cyber attacks affecting cross-border electricity flows directly or indirectly and related to the risks identified during the cybersecurity risk assessments.

The template for this is to be developed by ENTSO.E and the DSO Entity, with the involvement of ACER and ENISA.

Under the EU rules of procedure, the delegated act is subject to scrutiny by the EU co-legislators, i.e. the European Parliament and Council, each for 2 months with a possible 2-month extension.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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As I was thinking about the content of this week’s tech talk, an article appeared in the popular press about a proposed plan to sheath the edge of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica with a 100km long curtain to protect it from melting and potentially raising sea levels up to a suggested three metres.

The argument is that while a slow melt occurs as the warmer undersea current comes into contact with the edge of the glacier, as the climate warms so the undersea currents get warmer and the melting accelerates.

Moreover with that warming also the winter refreezing results in less ice recovery.

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Such geoengineering, or ‘engineering’ of the climate, is increasingly being talked about as scientists look for ways to slow or halt global warming.

Indeed, it is already being practised in the form of carbon capture from the atmosphere.

John Moore, professor of climate change at the University of Lapland’s Arctic Centre in Finland, is said to be on a mission to save the Thwaites glacier and quoted as expressing confidence the Antarctic Treaty countries will foot the $50 billion bill.

Cool Earth

So too is Yoram Rosen, director of the Asher Space Research Institute at the Technion Israel, who also has been in the news recently with a different type of geoengineering mission – in this case by placing a large shield out in space between the Sun and Earth to reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth.

The Institute, which claims to be developing a demonstrator in collaboration with the National Centre for Space and Science in the United Arab Emirates and the Israeli geospatial company ImageSat International, believes that a large-scale initiative has the potential to contribute significantly to the reduction of global warming by up to 1.5^oC.

The ‘Cool Earth’ proposal is to place the satellite at the first Lagrange point – a distance of about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth towards the Sun where the gravitational forces of the two bodies cancel each other allowing a satellite there to remain in essentially a fixed position.

In practice, the satellite would exhibit a slight back-and-forth motion by controlling the shading sail, which also could be used to alter the amount of solar shading according to global climate needs.

“This ground-breaking project offers an original way to cope with the global climate crisis and perhaps even stop its destructive effects,” asserts the Institute’s website.

“Controlling the amount of energy that reaches the earth from the sun may even allow humanity in the future to directly control the desired climate over areas of interest on the earth and possibly prevent droughts and other climate-related natural disasters.”

The Asher researchers have estimated that to achieve the desired temperature reduction, the shade would need to be around 2.5 million km2 in extent – for perspective, in size between the areas of Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

The researchers haven’t stated when they expect the demonstrator to be ready to fly but there are numerous hurdles to be overcome before a large-scale initiative such as this – or any other large-scale geoengineering proposal – could be put into practice, not least the moral with the potential unknown side effect that could occur.

In a recent paper, modelling solar geoengineering – such as the Asher Institute proposal – and carbon dioxide removal, Moore of the Thwaites glacier proposal and the co-authors suggest that combined with the standard mitigation measures they could help to limit global warming.

However, they conclude more cautiously: “Scientific uncertainties surrounding the effectiveness, scalability, and long-term impacts of solar geoengineering and carbon dioxide removal techniques necessitate comprehensive research, rigorous modelling and robust international collaboration to mitigate the risks inherent in unintended consequences and to inform responsible decision-making.”

What are your views on solar geoengineering and should it pursued?

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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Graphene is often described as the ‘wonder material’ and it has a name for it but that is for applications such as energy storage.

But another candidate for the moniker is the less high-tech sounding perovskite that is expected to bring the next step change for solar photovoltaics, with new levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Perovskite, which is named after the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski following its discovery in Russia’s Ural Mountains in 1839, is a naturally occurring mineral of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3).

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Despite being so long known it is only in this century that perovskites, i.e. not only perovskite itself but also other materials with a similar chemical structure that occur both naturally and can be synthesised in the lab, have been found to have a range of unusual physical properties such as superconductivity and ferroelectricity.

This makes them suitable for a range of applications, of which solar cells have emerged as the most prominent, with the potential to offer a low-cost, high-efficiency product – around at least 20% more than that of traditional silicon cells – that could boost the global renewables revolution.

But that potential has also come with challenges, in particular the stability of perovskites to the day-to-day environmental factors to which they must be subject, such as moisture, light and temperature.

No surprise then that the development of perovskites has seen, and is seeing, considerable investment and research interest along with the entry of new startups with the prospect of a major market opportunity.

Commercialising perovskite solar cells

Though they have yet to become fully commercialised, that day is not far off with Oxford PV, a spin-off from the University of Oxford in the UK, at the forefront after over a decade of developing the technology.

Oxford PV, founded in 2010 to advance solar PV but only latterly focussing exclusively on perovskites has pioneered the ‘tandem cell’ approach in which perovskite is added on top of conventional silicon solar cells to enhance their performance while maintaining the standard cell footprint.

In May 2023 Oxford PV recorded a record 28.6% cell conversion efficiency and in January 2024 a record panel efficiency of 25% compared with the averages for standard silicon cells and panels around 22 to 23%.

Moreover, Oxford PV’s theoretical maximum efficiency for its tandem cell approach is more than 40% compared with less than 30% for the standard cells.

“This new world record is a crucial milestone for Oxford PV, proving that our tandem solar cells can deliver record-breaking performance when assembled into solar panels,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV, commenting in the January announcement that it is a first step in what should be a “transformative 2024”.

While R&D is continuing to improve the efficiency of the technology with a roadmap to go well beyond 30%, Oxford PV has reported starting production of its tandem cells at its Brandenburg-an-der-Havel site near Berlin in Germany – an acquisition of a former production site from Bosch Solar.

These are then expected to start coming to the market later in 2024, not directly but through their integration into modules of manufacturers in the market.

At the same time, Oxford PV is searching for a new high-volume manufacturing site with a particular eye on the US, where a subsidiary has been registered.

Perovskites in space

Just as perovskites are expected to become the solar PV product of choice for the next generation rooftop and utility-scale deployments, so too they are being eyed for use in space as an alternative to the go-to gallium arsenide cells.

Solar PV is essential in space for providing on-board power to orbiting satellites and for example the International Space Station. Gallium arsenide cells have become the technology of choice for their high absorption but more importantly, their ability to withstand the harsh space environment.

However, the main challenge with their use is the manufacturing costs primarily resulting from the scarcity of gallium and the more complex manufacturing process.

That is where perovskites are expected to have the potential to come in, because of their simpler manufacturing. Another key benefit is their versatility for diverse applications, from lightweight to bendable solar panels – a key factor for the proposed kilometre-scale satellites proposed to deliver solar energy to the Earth from space.

An understanding of the behaviour of perovskites in space is still ongoing, however.

In the Caltech space-based solar demonstrator which ran for most of 2023, the perovskite cells were found to exhibit marked variability in performance, whereas the low cost manufactured gallium arsenide cells had consistently performed well overall.

An earlier 10-month demonstration on the International Space Station also revealed some unusual properties about their absorption characteristics with varying temperature, with both a ‘self healing’ quality and enhanced light absorption that could make them particularly suitable for long-duration missions.

“A lot of people doubted that these materials could ever be strong enough to deal with the harsh environment of space,” said NASA research engineer Dr Lyndsey McMillon-Brown announcing the findings in May 2023, adding: “Not only do they survive, but in some ways, they thrived.”

With space technology developments often spinning off to Earth-based applications, this is a space to also keep watching.

And if you are involved in the development of perovskites, be sure to keep us updated with your findings.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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Indeed the title of the session, the Energy Innovation Forum, gives it away.

But what is innovation? I and daresay many others tend to think first of advances in technologies, but ultimately it is much more than that and there is the need for innovation across multiple fronts – policy and funding to name some, in addition to technology – to be able to achieve the various climate targets as set out to culminate in net zero by 2050.

Just as the social sciences started becoming part of science policy in the 1990s so too they are now becoming part of innovation with more than one speaker highlighting the need for the human aspect to be placed at its centre.

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“It is important to recognise innovation in all its forms. It’s exciting to hear about some of the key technological breakthroughs but that is just one part of the equation and it’s good and necessary but not enough,” said David Turk, US Deputy Secretary of Energy, in his summing up.

“The human piece is incredibly important throughout … It’s not just human behaviour for the technologies that are consumer-facing but it has to work for the businesses, the incumbents, the other parts of the system as well,” he continued.

“We should be working for the betterment of fellow citizens around the world,” he said.

Another aspect of innovation that he highlighted as a takeaway from the discussions is the need to consider the full innovation cycle with the need to move from pilot to scale up but with what appears today a limited focus on the demonstration phase.

Turk suggested that AI and machine learning could play a role in shrinking the innovation cycle.

A third is “connecting the dots” between all the parties in the sector and the fourth related to this is knowledge sharing on at least a real-time basis and the tracking of progress.

“The IEA’s tracking of clean energy progress last year found that only three of the 50 technologies and sectors were on target and those are impressive but we need that across the board.”

Innovation looking ahead

Part of the focus of the meeting was to get input on areas that the IEA should focus on to advance energy innovation in the years ahead.

In her summing up, Amanda Wilson, Director-General of the Office of R&D at National Resources Canada and chair of the IEA’s energy research committee, pointed to technology priorities that arose in the discussions including needs around products and software such as AI, batteries for storage and electrolysis for hydrogen and large scale processes including industry decarbonisation, carbon capture and storage and nuclear.

The needs of emerging economies also arose as a key topic, particularly around energy access, clean cooking and digital skills.

Then on top of those inputs, numerous more were from participants in an hour long session with the general sentiment among the specifics being the need for the IEA to draw on its expertise and for example its tracking and analytical skills to address all the facets of innovation and to advise on and support the acceleration of the energy transition.

Technology advisory body

A notable aspect of the IEA’s work over the years is the broadening of its scope as reflected in the breadth of its reports, covering countries and technologies and not least the net zero pathway that forms the baseline for its future work.

In their communique from the meeting, and taking into account the input from participants, the ministers said they reiterate their commitment to support energy RD&D to reach the 2050 objectives, including through the IEA’s technology collaboration programmes.

The ministers also indicated support for further discussion towards the establishment of a technology advisory body of innovators, investors and industry and to foster synergies between international initiatives such as the IEA TCPs – of which the International Smart Grid Action Network is one – the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation.

As these occur we will continue to report on but in the meantime let us know the innovations you are working on.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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When one thinks of professionals in the electricity sector one tends to think first of engineers as a key role, be they electrical or mechanical.

But a new study by Britain’s Institute of Physics (IOP) highlights the important role of physics and physicists in delivering the energy transition and net zero – and perhaps no less important.

For example, physics has played a uniquely important role in the development of climate science which uses physics modelling techniques to help understand our world and its biosphere.

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Equally, most clean technologies are built on physics discovery and innovation and need physics skills for their continued development.

Tellingly, the study reports, since 2006 almost three-quarters of the £2.4 billion UKRI research council R&D investment in five of the central green economy technology areas – nuclear, renewables, hydrogen and clean fuels, energy storage and carbon capture, usage and storage – has been for research topics classed by the IOP as ‘core physics’ and ‘strongly physics’.

In particular, the greatest investment has been into less mature research topics, such as energy storage and newer areas of nuclear such as fusion, while hydrogen has seen a slight increase in growth over the last five years.

Conversely, the better established technology areas such as wind have seen lower levels of funding across the two decades, reflecting the maturity from an R&D perspective.

Green technology advancement

The report Physics powering the green economy states that investment in physics R&D over the last two decades has enabled a dramatic transformation in the energy system, reduced the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere and supported the development of significant numbers of low carbon businesses.

However, the scale of change still required cannot be overstated – as indeed IOP members believe, with 83% of those responding to a survey not thinking the UK is on track to net zero in 2050.

The report continues that each of the five technology areas are crucial to growing the green economy, but none will achieve this alone and they need to work in concert to successfully replace fossil fuels.

For example, the non-constant nature of renewable electricity generation from solar and wind means that energy storage is vital to their effective deployment.

Aside from fossil fuels, only nuclear energy or gas turbines/combined-cycle gas turbines powered by hydrogen or alternative fuels, and/or with carbon capture and storage, can provide the constant baseload power.

Alternative fuels are needed to power aircraft and heavy vehicles for which battery power is not enough.

Meanwhile, carbon capture, usage and storage is vital as a mitigating technology while fossil fuels continue to be used in conjunction with alternative fuels.

From its analysis, the IOP identifies no less than 41 key green technology advancement areas and 158 physics dependencies underpinned by a wide range of physics disciplines that are still needed to unlock their potential as drivers of change.

For example, for renewables the development of materials is a recurring theme to enable improvements in performance and scaling.

For solar energy high priorities are advancements in both solar electrical and solar thermal, while for wind energy storage and grid capacity as well as alternative wind turbine designs are named as short term priorities.

Similarly improvements in energy storage are needed with optimised lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries short-term priorities, while hydrogen as a national-scale storage solution is in the mid-term.

For nuclear the priority is seen as its ability to deliver flexibility to the system.

Building the business base

The report also points to the need to build on the business base – currently numbering 1,653 and 119 unique green economy companies across the UK and Ireland respectively – to drive sector growth and international competition.

However, there are challenges. Skills shortages was highlighted as the top one for growing the green economy, with others the lack of infrastructure and public attitudes.

In conclusion – and while focussed on the UK situation but undoubtedly applicable in numerous other countries – the report calls for public and private investment in physics R&D to remain a high priority and for policies to support business innovation.

“Physicists, trained to tackle complex systems through data analysis, have a vital role to play in developing solutions. A healthy physics ecosystem is therefore essential to the continued development of the green economy (in the UK and Ireland).”

Physics-trained professionals working in the electricity sector? – we would welcome your insights.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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Digitalisation is very much front and centre in the energy sector currently and it is too in other sectors as they look to harness the benefits.

While key enablers of digitalisation, such as data centres and artificial intelligence are of concern as their number and the level of activities grow, a new study from Capgemini’s research institute indicates that the implementation of the digital technologies themselves can yield savings.

According to the study, through their implementation organisations have reduced their energy consumption by almost a quarter over the past five years, while also a 21% decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been delivered.

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Moreover, further reductions are in prospect, even as digital footprints expand.

The use of technologies to reduce the carbon footprint, coupled with advances in energy efficiency within the digital landscape, suggest that the benefits are expected to outweigh the environmental costs, affirming the significant positive impact of digital technologies, the report states.

The eco-digital era

The report projects that the eco-digital economy – i.e., that delivers economic value and environmental and social value – will grow at a rate of 15% annually to double in size over the next five years.

Digital platforms and software drive this, 5G comms and emerging technologies such as generative AI, digital twins and quantum computing, with outcomes expected to boost innovation, productivity and decision-making and drive the emergence of new revenue streams.

Based on the five-year emissions reductions of the organisations, growth scenario modelling by Capgemini Research Institute indicates that over the next five years, digital technologies could deliver a net emission reduction of between 8-12%, significantly outweighing their associated 2% footprint.

For example, tools such as augmented and virtual reality reduce the need for travel.

Energy consumption can be optimised with digital solutions and they can be used to aid informed decision-making to mitigate environmental impact.

A case cited is LG Electronics in Changwon, South Korea. It achieved a 17% productivity boost, 70% higher product quality and a 30% energy consumption reduction by converting its assembly-line simulation into a digital twin integrated with real-time data.

Another is Schneider Electric, which at its Le Vaudreuil site has implemented IIoT sensors and real-time digital twins of plant installations, resulting in a 25% reduction in energy consumption and a 25% reduction in emissions as well as a 17% decrease in material waste.

Additionally, a zero-reject water-recycling station connected to cloud analytics and monitored by an AI model at the company’s smart factory has led to a 64% reduction in water usage.

The research also indicates that organisations have only scratched the surface of the current technological landscape, harnessing around 25% of the overarching potential of mainstream digitalisation technologies such as AI/ML, robotics, automation and the Internet of Things.

This indicates immense untapped possibilities in digital innovation – and with digital investment as a proportion of revenue expected to double in the next five years, these will undoubtedly result.

For reference, the top investment priorities are scaling mainstream technologies such as data and the cloud, cybersecurity and privacy measures and reskilling of the existing workforce.

Capgemini’s research institute also provides some recommendations on how to harness the opportunities of the eco-digital era.

These include identifying efficiencies across the business to drive cost savings, striving for a balanced blend of short-to-medium-term successes and reinvesting savings into digital transformation.

Sustainability and accessible performance metrics also should be embedded into the product and services lifecycle.

The study was based on a survey of 1,500 senior executives at large global organisations and high-value start-ups, and so it is not energy sector-specific. Nevertheless, it highlights not only the internal benefits your company can achieve but also the external with a further recommendation to tap into the industry and supplier ecosystem, i.e. of you the reader, to accelerate improvements.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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Data centres, crypto mining and AI are ultimately different sides of the same coin, requiring banks of processors churning away often on a 24/7 basis with their need for energy for operations, cooling and other associated tasks such as communications for the in and out data flows.

In scale, the traditional data centre sector is the largest from the energy perspective, while the crypto sector has garnered the most criticism and publicity driving a rapid shift towards more sustainable – but in some locations still controversial – operations.

But AI remains something of an uncertainty with its accelerating growth. While already widely used but still growing in business applications it is yet to take off at the consumer level – and as it is made more accessible that use is likely to be massive.

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Currently, most consumers are likely to be largely unaware of AI directly, although it contributes to many aspects of daily life.

For many ChatGPT introduced in November 2022 was probably their first ‘hands on’ experience.

Subsequently, over the past few months, Microsoft has been piloting its Copilot, which is built on the ChatGPT technology.

But now AI is entering the mass market with Samsung’s new S24 range of Galaxy mobiles full of AI-powered features.

With mobiles the ‘aways to hand’ device and a selection of what on paper at least appear compelling applications – real-time translation to other languages and wallpaper picture generation to name two – AI is likely to rapidly become part of the daily usage of these devices and others that follow suit, not to mention the possibility of Google’s Bard getting more prominence in the Android OS.

Energy consumption

The IEA’s Electricity 2024 review released last week reports data centres, cryptocurrencies and AI – of which there are more than 8,000 around the world – consuming an estimated 460TWh of electricity globally in 2022, amounting to almost 2% of the global demand.

Of this, the majority, almost three-quarters, was from traditional data centres, with almost all of the rest from cryptocurrencies.

Within three years by 2026 that demand could double and potentially exceed 1,000TWh, the IEA estimates from its modelling.

In particular, AI’s energy demand is projected to grow exponentially to at least ten times its 2023 demand level, which would put it in the range of 70-100TWh.

As an example of how demand could increase the IEA points to search tools such as Google, which could see a tenfold increase of their electricity demand with the full implementation of AI in the process.

The current average electricity demand of a typical Google search is 0.3Wh of electricity compared to ChatGPT’s of 2.9Wh per request, and scaling that up to 9 billion searches daily amounts to an almost 10TWh additional electricity requirement in a year.

Energy challenge

One approach to the energy challenge is greater efficiencies in the data centres themselves.

Currently, the servers and cooling systems are each responsible for about 40% of the demand, with the remaining 20% consumed by the power supply system, storage devices and communication equipment.

More efficient cooling, currently at least, offers the greatest benefits but the move towards hyperscale data centres with upwards of 2,000 racks is achieving energy savings and in the future quantum computers potentially could replace the traditional servers.

Temporary time and location shifting of data centre workloads to regions with lower carbon intensity also is considered to have potential.

Arguably the most significant approach advocated in a conversation with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum meeting by Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, is for a breakthrough with more climate-friendly sources of energy such as nuclear.

“The two important currencies of the future are compute/intelligence and energy and I think we still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology,” he said, stating that those energy needs will “force us to invest more in the technologies that can deliver this”.

One nuclear option is SMRs, with their potential for an onsite power supply, but closer to Altman’s heart is fusion, in which he has invested $375 million in the private US company Helion Energy.

Helion Energy, vowing to be first with fusion, already has a power purchase agreement in place to supply Microsoft from a plant deployment in 2028 and is targeting 2030 to start supplying baseload power to a Nucor steelmaking facility.

With fusion under development for well over half a century and AI playing an important role in its ongoing advancement, there would be a nice sense of ‘circularity’ if its energy demands were, even indirectly, to impact in finally delivering that breakthrough.

As a user of AI, particularly generative AI in its emergence as a distinct sub-genre, let us know how you are applying it in your utility.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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The concept of capturing solar energy in space and beaming it down to the Earth had its origins with the well-known science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in an early short story from his student days during the Second World War.

While it attracted limited attention in the following years, since the turn of the century with the increasing move to renewables, interest has grown and subsequently accelerated, with several initiatives emerging, including in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and China.

The fast-falling costs of satellite launches with their proliferation has given impetus to the proposal. However, while conceptually it is straightforward, technologically it is still very complex – to place solar panels several square kilometres in extent in space and then to deliver the energy via conversion to microwaves and reconversion on the ground with sufficient efficiency.

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Nevertheless, several studies, most recently one from NASA, have indicated that cost parity with ground-based renewables should be possible by 2050, if not before.

With this space-based solar can become a viable addition to the renewables mix, with one of its prime benefits its ability to deliver solar energy on a virtually 24/7 basis – something that earth-based photovoltaics are unable to match, currently at least although not to be ruled out in the future.

For example, the CASSIOPeiA design proposed in the UK with two 1.7km diameter solar collectors is calculated to be able to deliver 2GW to the grid via a 5km diameter rectenna ground station.

Caltech’s space solar power demonstrator

Key to the development of space-based solar is the ability to test the technologies in space where they can be subject to the effects of space weather such as the solar wind.

Last October researchers from the Universities of Surrey and Swansea reported demonstrating the potential of a new solar cell technology based on thin-film cadmium telluride deposited directly onto ultra-thin space qualified cover glass material.

After six years in space, the cells were observed to show no signs of delamination and no deterioration in short circuit current or series resistance but the power output had decreased, which is attributed to an aspect of the cell design and is to be altered for the next generation.

Arguably the most advanced initiative is that at Caltech in the US, which was launched over a decade ago and is seeing investment of over $100 million on a largely philanthropic basis.

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One year ago the first space solar power demonstrator was launched into space and while it ceased communication in November, one year on all three of the technologies carried, all fundamental for the delivery of space-based solar, have now been confirmed to have been successful.

These have shown that a flexible mesh material can be carried into space and deployed, that low-cost manufactured solar cells show potential for space use – particularly those with high-performance compound semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide – and that energy beamed from space can be detected on the Earth.

Reflectors in space

Another option being considered is one that was proposed back in the early 1980s for nighttime illumination of cities – having giant reflectors in space that reflect the sunlight down to Earth, in particular at dawn and dusk when demand is peaking and the output from solar farms is weakening.

In a 5-year project that was started in late 2020 at the University of Glasgow, a reference architecture has been published recently for ‘Solspace’ as a constellation of five hexagonal-shaped reflectors with a combined area of about 1,000m2 – their size dictated by the available other technologies required for example, for attitude control.

With constant solar facing, these are estimated to deliver approximately 280MWh of solar energy daily to large solar farms, around 10km in extent to match the size of the solar beam at the proposed altitude of almost 1,000km, across the Earth.

With an operational lifetime of 20 years, the cost of the electricity is estimated at $70/MWh.

Further results are yet to come from the project, which also was proposed to look at issues such as the use of 3D printing methods for the reflectors, which are proposed to be made from aluminised Kapton and gossamer thin.

These findings and those from the other initiatives are early stage and much work still needs to be done to evolve the technologies and to implement a commercial-scale operation.

But in one form or another, it will happen, and perhaps as early as 2035 if the UK’s Space Solar venture meets its timeline.

A data space for energy in Europe is a key element of the EU’s digitalisation action plan and indeed the concept of open data and the platform or ‘space’ to deliver it is gathering momentum in other sectors and countries.

The energy sector presents specific considerations. The sector is largely regulated but non-discriminatory access to the grid and to markets is a key principle that needs to be maintained in a data space setting.

Moreover, European and national regulatory bodies are imposing rules and guidelines that impact data management and exchange, which also must feed into the design and governance.

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In practice, there will be a multiplicity of data spaces and there will be need for alignment with other data spaces such as mobility – another requirement set out in the digitalisation action plan – and thus interoperability will be key.

Interoperability approaches in data spaces

The EC states that “a common European data space brings together relevant data infrastructures and governance frameworks, in order to facilitate data pooling and sharing. It will include the deployment of data sharing means and services, data governance structures, and will improve the availability, quality and interoperability of data.“

Several initiatives are approaching interoperability from different angles, which form the focus of a new position paper from the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA).

The IDSA itself has defined and developed mechanisms focussed strongly on technical and semantic interoperability and, with the IDS Rulebook, offers guidance on how to achieve organisational interoperability.

Technical interoperability deals with the applications and infrastructures linking systems and services in the data space, while semantic interoperability guarantees the preservation and understanding of the precise format and meaning of the data and information exchanged.

Organisational interoperability, in practice, involves documenting, integrating or aligning business processes and the pertinent information exchanged.

The approach of FIWARE is to foster interoperability with the use of defined open APIs and a growing set of open standard-based so-called ‘smart data models’.

The Gaia-X initiative has defined the Gaia-X Trust Framework to provide a worldwide set of rules and specifications to support data space authorities and federations seeking interoperability.

Reference architectures

Alongside these, a number of reference architectures are being developed with EU project funding support.

The OMEGA-X architecture, for example, is comprised of four main components – a marketplace, federated infrastructure, connectors enabling the flow of data and services and compliance services.

The ENERSHARE architecture draws a distinction between ‘local’ and ‘horizontal’, with the local building blocks facilitating the functionalities local to a use case and the horizontal building blocks allowing participation in the data space.

Others are the Data Cellar architecture, with similarities conceptually to OMEGA-X and the SYNERGIES architecture with two main conceptual layers comprised of an energy data space ecosystem and energy services marketplace.

The EDDIE architecture is prioritising an overlying data sharing interface with the first use case focussed on in-house smart meter data.

Policy issues

In a separate policy paper, ETIP SNET addresses energy data space policy, reviewing specific use cases including the optimisation of transmission and distribution systems operations, the instantiation and operation of energy communities and inter-border EV services.

These are considered as depicting precise situations in which data sharing allows, on one hand, to generate value without necessarily exchanging the data itself and, on the other hand, to foster optimisation via data-enabled analytics solutions.

Several key challenges are identified, with technical challenges including the accessibility of data from smart meters and DER devices, the role of the identity management component and the harmonisation of data models and components.

As these challenges are strictly related to the need of create the conditions for a wider customer involvement, data spaces are in this respect a great opportunity to make clear the central role of the customers in terms of data provisions, the paper points out.

Challenges

The ETIP SNET paper states that in general, regulatory and technical challenges have to be addressed together to avoid further late issues.

From the organisational viewpoint, the measures to federate different initiatives in the ecosystem and its long-term maintenance have the foremost importance to avoid the possibility of data silos.

Another challenge corresponds to the entire re-thinking of business processes in the energy sector, with generation and grid control having both decentralised and centralised aspects and to ensure interoperability, regulation must be effective.

The IDSA paper points to the “fundamental” role of standards for interoperability to avoid vendor lock-in, enhance scalability and ensure data protection and cybersecurity.

Regarding technical interoperability, for successful federation of different data spaces, compatibility among different data connectors, services and trust frameworks must have the highest priority.

For semantic interoperability, the main challenge for the energy domain is the enormous variety of devices, assets and applications. It is therefore necessary to place additional effort on the harmonisation of ontologies and data models.

Next steps

The various architectures being demonstrated open the way for sharing of experiences and both papers call for collaboration with the potential to identify common ground for use cases for a European data space and to guide regulation.

The development and rollout of a common European energy data space is in the hands of the European Commission, with the digitalisation action plan stating that deployment starts no later than 2024.

However, it is likely to be potentially delayed. Key industry development input, including a portfolio of high-level use cases and their implementing details and deliverables needed for data exchanges to deliver on the objectives of the Green Deal and the Digital Decade, are expected from a ‘Data for Energy’ sub-group of the new still to be formed Smart Energy Expert Group.

In the plan, the Smart Energy Expert Group was scheduled for set up by March 2023, but was delayed until the second half of the year with nominations closing in November 2023.

In the meantime, the Commission has awarded a contract to a consortium led by digital solution company Eviden Belgium to develop ‘Simpl’ – a middleware platform to enable cloud-to-edge federations and support data access and interoperability among the European data spaces.

Simpl is planned to be an open source stack with modular structure and a secure approach to give data providers full control over who accesses their data in such data spaces.

While the contract runs over three years, to end of 2026, a proof-of-concept is expected to be released by summer 2024 and a minimum viable platform released by the end of 2024.

Xylem (Sensus) unveils residential electricity meter with grid edge capabilities

Sensus, a Xylem brand, has launched the Stratus IQ+ smart meter with advanced edge intelligence that is intended to enhance distribution system management for utilities to deliver more data faster.

The Stratus IQ+ combines grid intelligence and precise energy measurement into one powerful package, a release states – in short, commercial and industrial strength capabilities in a residential meter.

The meter monitors energy consumption in near-real time and advanced functionalities allow for data to be recorded, transmitted and received with only a keystroke.

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With battery electric vehicle-based detection it also is intended to meet the growing needs of that market, with artificial intelligence algorithms able to extract battery EV charging data in a matter of seconds through edge computing.

Other features include customisable applications to enhance grid edge capabilities, an expansion card slot for future computing capacity, a rugged design to improves protection against weather, rough handling or tampering and ‘software-defined metrology’ features that help utilities improve efficiency, cost savings and safety.

Mike McGann, senior vice president and president of Xylem Americas, Measurement and Control Solutions, says that utility customers continue to embrace the value of data for greater operational resilience and increased customer engagement.

“Further, emerging grid requirements – including EV support – demand a new level of distribution system management, which this technology can help enable.”

Honeywell’s 100% hydrogen meter

Honeywell has launched what it calls the first 100% hydrogen-capable gas meter.

The EI5 smart gas meter, which is being piloted in the Wagenborgen hydrogen demonstration by Enexis in the Netherlands, is stated capable of measuring both hydrogen and natural gas.

This will provide adaptability across the European continent and once installed, the meters eliminate the need for future replacements as networks transition to hydrogen, thereby reducing the long-term costs.

“Honeywell’s hydrogen-capable meters are key to facilitating a seamless transition to hydrogen energy across European utility networks,” says Kinnera Angadi, Chief Technology Officer of Smart Energy and Thermal Solutions at Honeywell.

“We’re enhancing operational efficiency with meters that are ready for the future, helping our customers stay ahead in a market that’s swiftly transitioning toward greener energy solutions.”

In the Wagenborgen pilot, residential homes from the 1970s are being integrated into a hydrogen network that includes not only the EI5 gas meters but also a hydrogen central boiler for heating and hot water.

Currently, the hydrogen is supplied in bottles from a local farm. But looking ahead, the intention is to pioneer the use of green hydrogen from an electrolyser powered by solar and/or wind energy at the farm.

US Department of Energy launches emerging techs office

The US DOE has launched a new office to focussing on ‘critical and emerging technologies’, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Its aim is to ensure that investments in these areas leverage the Department’s wide range of assets and expertise to accelerate progress in them.

Such technologies have broad applications throughout DOE, such as clean energy, national defence and pandemic preparedness.

The new office will focus the Department’s efforts to ensuring that its capabilities are helping to solve critical science, energy and security challenges, according to a statement.

“Since their inception, DOE’s national laboratories have been central to the nation’s scientific and technological advancement, and we are preparing to ensure that, as new technologies emerge, the US leads the way in exploring those frontiers,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

“Our new Office of Critical and Emerging Technology will leverage DOE’s world-class scientists and technical capabilities in the interest of American security and competitiveness.”

Automating renewable energy certificate transactions – EDF demonstrates proof-of-concept

EDF, working together with renewable energy certificate (REC) solution provider REDEX and Web3 specialist Rekursive Labs, has developed a proof-of-concept that has the potential to revolutionise the REC market by streamlining its efficiency, transparency and verification.

The solution, which utilises Hedera’s open-source distributed ledger technology platform, enables end consumers to retire small quantities of RECs in real time, indicative that they care about how the power they consume is being produced.

Specifically, the proof-of-concept used EDF’s MASERA Microgrid demonstrator in Singapore to demonstrate the automatic redemption of tokenised RECs at electric vehicle charging stations.

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The initiative involved collecting data from multiple sources, including solar panels, generators and energy storage systems, to calculate the rate of green energy production into the grid. This data was then matched in near-real time with the energy consumed by electric vehicle chargers to ensure that the certified green energy usage perfectly matched the actual consumption at the charging stations, down to the watt-hour.

In addition, EDF provided the possibility for the customer to adjust the amount of energy to be certified for each individual charging session.

Edouard Lavillonniere, Managing Director at EDF Lab Asia Pacific said: “Our commitment to sustainability aligns perfectly with the vision of a greener future enabled by distributed ledger technology. We are shaping a future where renewable energy adoption is streamlined, transparent and accessible to all.”

As a concept RECs are simple as an instrument to trace power consumption to renewable energy sources and as such offer the most convenient and practical way for companies to achieve Scope 2 neutrality. This is driving the number of RECs issued and retired to more than double year on year in a market estimated at $19 billion globally.

EDF and its partners now intend to further refine the solution, develop new use cases and offer automated REC services to other producers and consumers of renewable energy globally.

Matching energy consumption to accelerate decarbonisation

The concept of matching energy consumption with clean energy on a real time or at least near real time basis is discussed in a new study from Eurelectric and power purchase agreement (PPA) specialist Pexapark, which describes it as “one of the most impactful ways for corporates to accelerate the energy systems’ decarbonisation”.

Such 24/7 hourly matching yields multiple benefits from increasing corporate sustainability claims’ transparency, thanks to more granular carbon accounting, to incentivising investments in renewables and storage technologies, to decarbonising and digitalising the power grid, states the study.

Large energy consumers typically report their carbon emissions based on their annual energy consumption. However, the respective RECs, often from projects located far from the consumption, do not account for the actual energy source physically consumed at a specific time and may instead come from a grid mix that includes fossil fuel-generated electricity.

With 24/7 hourly matching, a given volume of electricity demand is matched with an equivalent volume of carbon-free energy generated and injected on the same grid and at the same time.

Marianne Karu, Business and Communication Director at Eurelectric, describes 24/7 as the next level in corporates’ commitments to decarbonisation.

“Most importantly, it is a powerful driver of innovation and investments into clean, renewable and storage technologies as well as an opportunity to better hedge consumers wishing to reduce their exposure to volatile spot energy markets.”

The study was undertaken to investigate the hedging implications on a corporate’s energy sourcing strategy with a 24/7 PPA compared with a conventional PPA, with its closer matching of supply and demand.

Looking at two different case studies in Germany and Finland with combinations of technologies, Eurelectric and Pexapark found that higher hourly matching provides greater absolute hedging benefits. In Finland particularly, an electricity consumer using 10MW of baseload power in 2022 could have saved over €14 million with a 90% hourly matched PPA.

The study also found that during periods of high prices, the benefits of hedging are much higher than hedging costs and that hybrid wind and solar portfolios are able to achieve higher levels of hourly matching – up to 75% – while maintaining a consistent hedging benefit.

Thus the existing clean and renewable technologies are already enough for corporates to embark on the 24/7 PPA journey.

Nimbus: Italgas’ new hydrogen-ready smart meter

Italgas has unveiled its new hydrogen-ready smart gas meter under the name ‘Nimbus’, with the first 20,000 units going into the field by around year-end for testing during 2024 and wide-scale rollout across Italy to start in 2025.

Nimbus, which was conceived and designed within Italgas and is being manufactured by the Italian companies Bitron and MeteRSit, uses thermo-mass-based technology for measurement of natural gas and methane-hydrogen blends up to 23%.

Features include NB-Iot and LoRaWAN for primary communication and mesh for back up, a battery lifetime up to 15 years, and a large display with information in three languages available – Italian, English and a third of choice.

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In addition, a range of advanced safety features with automatic switch off are included, among them pressure and temperature detection, seismic sensing for earthquake detection and anti tampering sensors.

“Nimbus is the most advanced smart gas meter in the world,” asserted Italgas Reti CEO Pier Lorenzo Dell’Orco at its launch, pointing to its emergence from Italgas’s digital transformation plan.

In the first phase of the large-scale rollout Italgas plans to deliver Nimbus to over 5 million customers in Italy as a replacement for older GPRS meters by 2029 and also to start installations in its operations in Greece.

In addition, and alongside a new end-to-end meter-to-cash offering, Nimbus should be made available to the international market by Italgas’s digital unit Bludigit.

The new platform, Deva, is designed for data acquisition and analytics and management of smart metering for water and gas.

Globy – the new electricity smart meter

Gridspertise has revealed the name of its new smart meter and smart meter platform as ‘Globy’.

As previously reported Globy is aimed to maximize coverage and connectivity for DSOs, even in rural areas, with the facility to switch or adapt the communication technology directly in the field, from options including G3 Hybrid PLC and RF Mesh, Cellular LTE-M and NB-IoT.

A new fast network deployment partnership launches

IoT solution providers Kerlink and OrbiWise have launched a partnership that is aimed to package “integrated, ready-to-use network solutions that are quick and easy for users to master, without further evaluation and testing” for smart metering and other smart building and city applications.

The partnership will see Kerlink’s Wirnet indoor and outdoor gateways fully integrated with OrbiWise’s OrbiWAN carrier-grade LoRaWAN® network servers, which can be hosted in the cloud or deployed in customer’s premises.

The two companies are no strangers, having worked jointly on projects since the launch of the LoRa Alliance in 2015.

With the new partnership, they can offer a high-performing combined end-to-end solution to meet the needs expressed by customers.

Digitalising smart secondary substations

Intel has revealed that its technology is powering the Edge for Smart Secondary Substations (E4S) Alliance’s new solution to digitalise these substations, of which there are around 17 million in Europe.

The virtualised software solution is based on Intel Core processors and includes AI and Internet of Things capabilities and networking technology to enable providers to adapt rapidly to changing demand patterns and integrate more intermittent renewables at the edge.

Other features include both real-time execution at the edge and real-time radio and cable communications between utilities and their substations in order to enable easier integration of future applications such as weather predictions and maintenance schedules.

A similar version of grid modernisation technology for primary substations – the Virtual Protection, Automation and Control (vPAC) solution – is also being developed and deployed in the US in collaboration with the vPAC Alliance.

The E4S solution is to be trialled in the field during 2024. Following adoption in Europe, the next target is to have the solution adopted globally.

Members of the E4S Alliance include ABB, Ariadna Grid, Barbara, Capgemini, Circutor, Dell Technologies, Enedis, E-REDES, Gridspertise, Iberdrola, Intel, Kalkitech, Labelec, Landis+Gyr, Merytronic, Minsait, Ormazabal, Sagemcom, Schneider Electric, TTTech Industrial, UFD (Grupo Naturgy), VMware and ZIV Automation.

Energy harvesting brings carbon benefits

Energy harvesting specialist EnOcean has estimated that users of its devices are saving 1.4Mt of CO2 annually – equivalent to taking over 304,000 cars off the road – and growing as the installed base exceeds over one million premises served.

Such devices – sensors that can harness energy not only from sunlight but also from motion in for example switches and from temperature differences such as in heat pump valves – are estimated to deliver an average of approximately 15% reduction in a building’s energy consumption.

Currently, EnOcean’s wireless building-automation devices manage 221 million m2 of floorspace or the equivalent of around 74,000 football fields, the company boasts.

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“Reducing our energy demand is critical for transitioning to renewable sources and combating climate change,” says Armin Anders, co-founder and VP Business Development at EnOcean, noting that buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy consumption.

“Products like ours, which allow us to eliminate unnecessary energy consumption, represent quick and affordable wins compared to extensive infrastructure investments.”

EnOcean’s devices are reported to be able to communicate with heating, air conditioning and lighting, monitor occupancy and people flow, and allow settings to be automatically adjusted for optimum user convenience while saving energy.

They are battery-free, eliminating the need for regular servicing and battery replacement and they are easy to install without any special cabling or power source setups.

Fike Blue – the response to battery thermal runaways

Concerns about fires due to thermal runaway in lithium ion battery cells have been on the increase – but may now be allayed with what is stated as the “first third party tested solution” to stop such fires.

The solution, Fike Blue, from the US hazard prevention developer Fike Corporation, is a liquid that is piped from a cylinder to the site of the fire after activation by a heat anomaly.

Fike Blue immerses the overheated cells within the module, absorbing the intense exothermic heat without breaking down due to a boiling point of more than 400^oC.

It uses exponentially less liquid than the water required by sprinklers and especially by fire fighters, resulting in less runoff into the surrounding environment and may be stored for at least five years at 25oC without the formation of precipitates or sediment.

Omri Tayyara, director of mechanical engineering at Jule, who observed Canadian Standards Association’s testing of Fike Blue, says that the liquid cooled their internal module temperatures from several hundred degrees Celsius to under one hundred degrees – “and the whole thing was done in less than 10 minutes”.

A quantum space collaboration that could impact energy

The US Department of Energy has launched a Quantum & Space collaboration to harness cutting edge quantum technologies for advancements in energy among other areas including national security and support for sustainability goals.

Participants include the DOE, the Department of Defence, quantum product provider Infleqtion, space computing specialist Nebula Space Enterprises and consultant Accenture Federal Services.

“This collaboration has been long in the making,” explains Rima Kasia Oueid, who is the lead and Commercialisation Executive in the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions.

“We stand on the brink of a new economic era – one that expands into space, propelled by current and soon-to-be-realised quantum technologies. These advancements are poised to enhance global safety, economic stability and overall human welfare, while also unlocking the potential to discover and efficiently use space resources.”

The target is to begin space environmental demonstrations using quantum technologies in early 2024 and to begin evaluating use cases and new commercialisation opportunities.

The participants intend to leverage their technology portfolios to foster a range of space-oriented capabilities, such as quantum secure communications, quantum sensing and the integration of quantum with classical computing in orbital environments.

They also should provide initial feasibility assessments on the deployment of a mesh network of data centres delivering hybrid quantum computing capabilities, enhanced by quantum sensing, powered by nuclear energy and connected by secure quantum communications.

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EV charging comes to Samsung’s smart home app

Samsung’s smart home app SmartThings continues to gain functionalities with its latest inclusion of an electric vehicle charging facility.

The EV charger is being implemented in partnership with the US EV charging infrastructure provider EvLoop and is aimed to enable users to better manage and monitor their vehicles’ charge.

With this new feature, users will be given help to manage EVs and other heavy energy using devices and they will be able to stay informed across multiple screens in the house, including mobile, TV and fridge.

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The news follows the recent announcement by Samsung of a partnership with Chameleon Technology’s consumer brand ivie to encourage British homes with smart meters to participate in the ‘demand flexibility service’ over the 2023/24 winter season by reducing their electricity usage at specific times when supply is most in demand.

With a ‘set and forget’ approach to connected appliances through SmartThings, which works in tandem with ivie’s flex scheme, participants are set to be rewarded both financially due to the reduced usage but also by way of raffle prizes including energy-efficient appliances such as dishwashers.

DEWA’s customer care centre goes voice-based

The approach to a customer call centre may not be everyone’s preferred one but Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) ‘Integrated Digital Interactive Hub’, as the company now styles its customer care centre, appears to be popular having been reported as being ranked among the top three government call centres in the emirate.

Delivered in a partnership with the American multinational technology company Avaya, the centre enables DEWA customers to access a wide range of services through an interactive voice system that is empowered by AI and available around the clock.

The partnership also has established the DEWAverse’ platform in the metaverse world, enabling customers to communicate with the customer care centre staff to get answers to their inquiries and receive the necessary assistance to complete their transactions in the metaverse.

At the same time, the traditional communications channels do continue to be available, i.e. calls, email, video, or text chat, and are said to be fully integrated to transition seamlessly from one medium to another.

A San Antonio ‘smart city’ app(roach) that could be emulated

Continuing with the ‘voice’, an example from outside the energy sector that could be adopted within is the implementation of a chatbot to enable consumers to obtain information on major road construction projects in the Texas city, San Antonio, US.

The ‘Talkin’ Broadway’ chatbot can be accessed either via a message or QR codes placed along the Broadway area to provide construction updates and schedules, with its implementation due to frustrations by business owners and consumers over lengthy constructions and blocked accesses across the city.

‘Conversations’ may be had in both English and Spanish and in addition, the chatbot provides access to a wealth of other city information, including business websites, city staff contact details and even where to obtain a cup of coffee.

Brian Dillard, San Antonio’s chief innovation officer, says: “Talkin’ Broadway isn’t just a chatbot. It’s a conversation starter, bringing us closer to our community and transforming the way the city connects with visitors and residents.”

While the chatbot is the first project of its kind in San Antonio, it forms part of its smart city roadmap to use technology and innovation in local government to solve problems.

And with major infrastructure projects for renewable generation and the transmission and distribution networks set to increase, it could well serve as a low-cost model – San Antonio’s first year contract for the technology cost just $14,000 – to engage consumers in these.

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Protecting satellite imagery from fraud

Satellite imagery is becoming increasingly important as a source of data for energy and water utilities, as for other sectors also. But with the emergence of new AI-based techniques that could change such data concern is growing about its cyber protection.

To address this issue the European Space Agency (ESA) has engaged the French-Slovak blockchain startup 3IPK and space solution provider Thales Alenia Space to develop a solution for managing traceability and ensuring the integrity of Earth observation data under its FutureEO programme.

Until now, no solution has been capable of incontestably proving the provenance and integrity of such data. Furthermore, the increasing use of satellite data to support operational services and their global distribution calls for a robust solution to assure their traceability and thus guarantees their origin, reliability and use.

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The two companies intend to develop a blockchain-based solution that will ensure the traceability and integrity of the data through unique digital signatures, with an initial version of the solution to be delivered to ESA in the first half of 2024.

The blockchain technology will be adapted and tested on Thales Alenia Space’s Earth-observation processing chains including the production line for data from the Copernicus programme’s Sentinel-2 satellites, which are collecting various land monitoring and other data.

Citopia – a network for a global battery passport

The MOBI consortium, an alliance of vehicle manufacturers and others on mobility standards, has launched ‘Citopia’ as a decentralised marketplace on which in future global battery passports could be issued.

The Web3 based marketplace is built on self-sovereign identity standards to provide data privacy and other user protections, along with interoperability.

The requirement for a battery passport, which is mandated in the EU Battery Regulation and set to come in others, is based on the need for a standardised traceability framework to promote circularity, efficiency and resilience in the supply chain as batteries proliferate, particularly with their use in electric vehicles.

Information that would be included would be on the battery’s composition, its state of health, history and more. For example, the Battery Pass initiative has identified no less than 90 data attributes that could be included in a battery passport.

MOBI’s Circular Economy and Global Battery Passport working group is co-chaired by DENSO, Honda and Nissan and is focussed on creating the standards and developing a cross-industry interoperable global battery passport.

A high performance non-flammable battery option for warm climates

With concerns – some anecdotal at least – of battery fires on the increase a battery passport may be useful for monitoring – but an alternative is now being offered by the Massachusetts-based Alsym Energy, which has developed what it calls the industry’s first high performance, non-flammable battery storage technology suitable for warmer climates.

Such climates generally have abundant sun or wind and are thus ideally suited to renewable energy production. However, expensive, fire-prone battery technologies are serious impediments to ambitious plans for rapid growth.

“When it comes to lithium-ion batteries, the level of fire risk increases as the mercury rises,” says Alsym Energy CEO and co-founder Mukesh Chatter.

“Recent battery storage fires in Australia, France, and the US have required evacuations and shelter-in-place orders, and some cities are considering significant restrictions and even bans.”

Alsym Energy hasn’t divulged much information on its technology, beyond saying it is lithium and cobalt free and takes advantage of readily available materials that are inherently non-flammable and non-toxic, reducing the costs and increasing safety and sustainability.

Alsym Energy is targeting initially Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia but prime opportunities would include much of Africa, central America and for example India.

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Energy sector digital identity app spins off for global use

A digital identity application that was developed by the Belgian TSO Elia Group and Energy Web has been adopted by the OpenWallet Foundation as a new project.

The application, which is based on ‘self-sovereign identity’ technology, was developed to securely transfer identity information between different parties to enable flexibility for the grid.

For this secure and efficient methods are required to safely integrate assets such as heat pumps and electric vehicles into the system and allow them to interact with the grid in a trusted manner.

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Extensive information exchange needs to take place, with data relating to personal details, technical specifications, contracts and charging tariffs being swapped between individuals, assets and companies.

The application can be seamlessly integrated into digital wallets, which are set to become commonplace and making it easily adoptable by a wide range of companies. For example, the European Union aims to provide all citizens with access to a digital ID solution with a personal digital wallet by 2030.

The OpenWallet Foundation, a Linux Foundation project, is aimed at setting best practices for digital wallet technology and driving its global adoption.

With the adoption of the application by the OpenWallet Foundation it is available to become more widely used by companies as they design digital wallets.

John Henderson, Senior Solution Architect at Energy Web, says the collaboration represents a significant step toward revolutionising the digital wallet landscape.

“By officially accepting this project, the OpenWallet Foundation is empowering the future of secure and interoperable digital wallets. Together, we’re advancing technology that will not only benefit the energy sector but also drive innovation beyond its boundaries, setting the stage for a more interconnected and secure digital world.”

An intelligent power solution for China’s high energy physics platform

ABB has reported the delivery and start of commissioning of a complete large scale power monitoring and control solution for the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) project in Beijing – a first of its kind in China that is set to become a core facility for scientific research at the atomic level in that country and beyond.

The power system includes 138 panels of UniGear ZS1 MV switchgear, 318 panels of MNS3.0 LV switchgear and ABB’s Ability Monitoring and Control ZEE600 platform.

The solution is aimed to provide comprehensive power monitoring, control and data management for 11 distribution rooms in the facility, optimising the reliability of the power supply and the distribution system.

It also should help users in load management and energy efficiency on the demand side, greatly reducing the manpower hours required for daily operation and maintenance.

ABB anticipates completing the commissioning of the power distribution system by the end of 2023, while the facility is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.

James Zhao, senior vice president of ABB China, said the company was proud to provide intelligent power management technology “for China’s cutting-edge large scientific installations. We will integrate our digital and low-carbon technologies into the products and solutions, providing strong, safe and reliable distribution infrastructure to support China as it explores cutting-edge of scientific research.”

Hydrogen-powered superyacht unveiled

The Italian architecture company Mask Architects has unveiled what is claimed the world’s first superyacht with power from onboard produced hydrogen from sea water.

The 85m ONYX H2-BO 85 combines hydrogen production through electrolysis with hydroelectric turbines to provide sustainable power generation for short distance or low speed sailing and anchoring.

The integration of a hydrogen production system fuelled by hydroelectric turbines marks a transformative moment for the yachting industry, the company states.

The hydroelectric turbines are stated to outperform conventional generators in terms of energy efficiency and form part of a clean energy approach that enables the ONYX H2-BO 85 to generate and store hydrogen onboard, eliminate the need for large fuel reserves and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Mask Architects notes that energy is required to power the electrolysis process and recommends integrating a renewable energy source, such as solar panels or wind turbines, into the yacht’s power system to make the process more sustainable.

The company adds that the vessel seamlessly fuses luxury and sustainability with an interior exemplifying modern elegance and featuring bespoke design solutions to cater to the most discerning tastes.

“Renowned interior designers have painstakingly curated every detail, combining sumptuous materials, cutting-edge technology, and sustainable elements to create an ambiance that is both inviting and eco-conscious.”

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AI – the energy challenge

As artificial intelligence is finding use in an ever-growing variety of applications concerns are emerging – alongside those of its civilisation destruction potential – of its energy consumption.

In a new article, Dutch doctoral candidate Alex de Vries suggests that whereas data centre electricity consumption has been relatively stable in recent years, at around 1% of the global electricity consumption, the rapid expansion of AI in the past two years – not least with the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022 – could lead to a surge with the computational resources necessary to develop and maintain such AI models and applications.

De Vries comments that much of the focus on AI energy consumption has focused on the ‘training’ phase, which is when AI models are fed the datasets from which they ‘learn’ and which has been considered the most energy intensive.

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However, the ‘inference’ phase, when the models are deployed and generate outputs based on new data, also can be significant and potentially significantly higher.

As an example, he investigates that if Google were to integrate generative AI into every search, the energy consumption per search could increase by 10 times and in a worst-case scenario annually could total up to 29.2TWh, which is similar to a country such as Ireland.

De Vries notes that the exact future of AI-related electricity consumption remains difficult to predict but scenarios suggest tempering both overly optimistic and overly pessimistic expectations.

He also suggests that while developers should focus on optimising AI, they also should critically consider the necessity of using AI in the first place, as it is unlikely that all applications will benefit from AI or that the benefits will always outweigh the costs.

A digital currency for clean energy trading in Japan

Japanese digital currency business DeCurret in partnership with the telco company Internet Initiative Japan have announced their intention to launch what may be a first with a digital currency for trading on the country’s Electric Power Exchange.

IIJ is joining the JEPX as a non-fossil value trading member and plans to start offering a service to procure clean energy certificates.

From July 2024, the service will utilise the DeCurret’s network to convert environmental values into digital tokens and start settlement using the digital currency, tentatively named ‘DCJPY’.

Currently, in Japan environmental value transactions are generally handled by issuing analogue certificates and managing transaction information in centralised systems. With DeCurret’s DCJPY network the issuance, transfer, etc. of such certificates would be enabled as digital assets, with automated settlement through programmed transactions using digital currency and smart contracts.

In the future, the companies intend to promote the distribution of a series of environmental value transactions on the blockchain with the participation of electricity retailers, power generation companies and environmental value exchanges.

Seiichiro Hamada, Executive Officer and deputy General Manager of the Innovation Promotion Division of Kansai Electric Power, says the company is working to promote carbon neutrality through the use of digital currency.

“Digital currency has great potential for trading environmental values, and the fact that this first social implementation is the settlement of non-fossil certificates at IIJ’s data centre is a major driving force for the future.”

Generating clean electricity with chicken feathers

With all the chickens consumed around the world, some 40Mt of feathers are believed to be incinerated annually, with the adverse environmental effects that result including the emissions of CO2 and other gases such as sulphur dioxide.

But that may become something of the past, with new research from ETH Zurich and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) demonstrating that a simple and environmentally friendly process can be used to extract the protein keratin from the feathers and convert it into ultra-fine fibres known as amyloid fibrils. These keratin fibrils can then go on to be used in the membrane of a fuel cell.

In conventional fuel cells, the membranes have so far been made using chemicals, which are expensive and don’t break down in the environment. The ‘chicken feather’ keratin membrane, on the other hand, is environmentally compatible and with the abundance of such keratin is already up to three times cheaper.

“[This] latest development closes a cycle,” says Raffaele Mezzenga, Professor of Food and Soft Materials at ETH Zurich.

“We’re taking a substance that releases CO2 and toxic gases when burned and used it in a different setting: with our new technology it not only replaces toxic substances but also prevents the release of CO2, decreasing the overall carbon footprint cycle.”

The next step for the researchers is to investigate the stability and durability of the keratin membrane and to improve it if necessary. A joint patent has been filed and the search is on for investors to develop the technology further and bring it to market.

Accenture invests in space data for all

Utilities and others in the energy sector are increasingly turning to data secured in space to advance operations such as infrastructure development and vegetation management.

Accenture’s venture arm Accenture Ventures is supporting this with a lead investment in a $50 million Series B round in the Spanish space start up Open Cosmos, which builds and operates space missions that provide access to high quality satellite data and insights on a global scale.

The companies intend to help clients track and analyse data found in space in order to help solve business challenges found on Earth, particularly related to sustainability.

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“Accenture sees a future where every company is able to tap into the vast potential of data captured in space in order to push past the boundaries of the possible and find new sources of innovation,” commented Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures.

“Although access to this data has traditionally been limited and costly, Open Cosmos removes these barriers with satellites that launch quickly and simply, providing fast access to data on climate changes, energy, resources, navigation and more.”

One of Open Cosmos’s future satellites is MANTIS, which is funded through the UK Space Agency and in partnership with ESA and intended to produce high-resolution imagery to monitor energy infrastructure among other activities.

Long-term demo of building integrated Perovskite PV glass in Japan

The next frontier for distributed clean energy is building integrated PV and other technologies such as low emissivity windows that can support the energy use and efficiency of buildings.

The potential to use the window itself for PV opens up a large amount of potential generation area but conventional silicon-based solar cells give rise to transparency issues, making them most suitable for surfaces such as skylights or greenhouses.

Panasonic asserts they have solved this issue with Perovskite solar cells – and have now launched a 15-month demonstration of their Perovskite PV glass at the newly constructed model house ‘Future Co-Creation FINECOURT III’ in the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, about 50km south of Tokyo.

In Panasonic’s design, intended “to harmonise with the design of various architectural structures as ‘power-generating glass’”, the Perovskite PV layer is formed directly on the glass.

The company boasts a 17.9% conversion efficiency for the technology, close to that of conventional silicon modules, and the world’s highest level for a Perovskite module of more than 800cm2 in size.

The company also claims that with its inkjet coating method and laser processing technology, flexibility is possible in size, transparency and design to enable customisation to specific requirements.

The Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town has been developed on the site of a former Panasonic plant in Fujisawa City. Its aim is to enable co-creation among residents, companies, local governments, universities and other organisations of new services to solve social and other topical issues.

Sydney university students to build a tokamak fusion device

Students at the University of New South Wales in Sydney have been set with the task of designing and building a tokamak, which will then be housed on the campus.

The initiative, led by nuclear engineer Dr Patrick Burr with support from the University’s Digital Grid Future Institute and industry partners Tokamak Energy and HB-11 Energy, is focused on creating a fusion-capable machine, addressing the engineering challenges of sustaining the extreme temperature and pressure conditions required for fusion for extended periods.

There is no intention actually to attempt to fuse hydrogen once it is built.

“We want to excite the next generation of innovators and make them realise how they can make a big change in the world,” says Burr.

“The students involved in this project will have to develop solutions to big engineering challenges, work closely with industry partners, and push the boundaries of what is possible with fusion energy.

“They will have to master skills that are also highly sought after in other industries, like safety-critical infrastructure, transportation, outer space, and of course conventional nuclear technologies.”

The goal is to have a working device operating within two to three years.

This will potentially be followed by other devices that could achieve fusion using different methods, such as high-power lasers.

Bitcoin mining energy consumption revised down

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, one of the key resources in this area, has had its first major revision since its launch in 2019, leading to a reduction, albeit relatively small, in consumption.

For example, for 2021 where the largest discrepancy occurs, the earlier estimate of 104TWh is revised downward by 15TWh to 89TWh.

For 2023 the estimated anticipated consumption based on the year-to-mid-August is 70.4TWh, rather than 75.7TWh of the earlier model.

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The Cambridge team attribute the change to the modelling of the Bitcoin mining hardware and technology, taking into account both the increased efficiency and power of the evolving application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

With the progressive reduction in chip size, there has been a corresponding reduction in power needed to transmit data.

However, this now appears to have slowed and steadied as the advances have approached the physical limits of semiconductor technology, with smaller chip manufacture becoming more challenging and expensive.

The Cambridge team expresses confidence in their estimates and regards each update as a progressive step toward enhancing their reliability, but the team acknowledges that Bitcoin’s actual electricity consumption remains elusive and can only be approximated.

Moreover, while electricity consumption is a crucial element in determining Bitcoin’s environmental footprint, it is one and the energy sources used in mining are just as important. Further research is planned to focus on developing a more nuanced perspective of Bitcoin’s electricity mix and more closely examining the climate risks and opportunities associated with cryptocurrency mining.

Samsung to add generative AI to home appliances

Samsung has been reported as planning to add a generative AI feature to its home appliances in the next year.

Yoo Mi-young, head of the software development team of Samsung’s digital appliances division, was reported speaking at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin: “Generative AI technologies will be applied to voice, vision and display” to enable the household electronic products to have a better understanding of what consumers do and want and to be able to respond accordingly.

It will enable the gadgets to communicate with users in a more conversational manner, and to better respond to their questions based on past exchanges and in context.

They will also be able to provide recipes and dietary suggestions based on for example the food ingredients stored in the refrigerator.

Yoo Mi-young was also quoted as reporting the development of an energy-efficient chip to process the increasing amounts of data of smart appliances, with features such as generative AI.

Hydrogen-powered van doubles the range of EV counterparts

Canadian hydrogen company First Hydrogen has reported that its hydrogen fuel cell powered light van supplied to GB fleet management provider Rivus has achieved an “unbeatable range”, easily more than doubling the upwards range to 240km of other modern light commercial electric vehicles.

The vehicle was trialed with Rivus for just over 4 weeks, and covered over 1,100km in that time. Tests were completed on diverse routes, providing data on how the vehicle operates under different conditions including urban city centre driving and extra urban routes covering both low-speed city centre roads and motorways.

The tests also covered the van both empty and loaded to 90% of its maximum weight capacity, reflecting the way vans will be used in the real world.

The vehicle was found to be not heavily affected by the speed or the payload, and performed well under the different load cycles compared to the electric counterparts, which can experience reductions in range by approximately 10%.

“The main benefit of the vehicle is the refuelling times are quicker than battery electric vehicles charge times. And of course, unlike internal combustion engines, hydrogen vehicles produce zero emissions,” Gemma Horne, Warranty Controller at Rivus, commented.

Electrification and renewables top McKinsey’s tech trends

McKinsey’s Technology Trends Outlook 2023 report has electrification and renewables as the largest of the 15 trends identified in terms of interest and investment.

The survey finds there was a $288 billion equity investment in the area in 2022 and a 27% increase in job postings over the previous year, which is also among the largest recorded for all the trends.

Alongside this climate tech beyond electrification and renewables, such as carbon capture, attracted less interest, with $86 billion equity investment and a modest 8% increase in job postings.

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Other tech trends identified include applied AI, which tops the innovation axis, next-gen software development, cloud and edge computing and web3, these and others are all identical to the previous year.

Except for the one new entrant to the line-up, namely generative AI. McKinsey records generative AI as representing the next frontier for AI and also attributes to providing much of the credit for an observed resurgence of enthusiasm in the first half of 2023 about technology’s potential to catalyse progress in business and society after a tumultuous 2022.

Building upon existing technologies such as applied AI and industrialising machine learning, generative AI has high potential and applicability across most industries, states McKinsey.

Interest in the topic, as gauged by news and internet searches, increased threefold from 2021 to 2022 and generative AI is poised to add as much as $4.4 trillion in economic value from use cases that increase productivity.

DEWA innovates on battery performance

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s Research and Development (R&D) Centre has filed a new patent for an innovation for improving the performance of electrodes in lithium-ion batteries, sodium–sulphur batteries and electrolyte distribution batteries.

This, a low-cost, environmentally friendly method, is achieved by treating the electrodes chemically using a polymer to increase the number of active groups on the surface of the electrodes, which leads to improving their performance.

The patent supports the pilot project for energy storage that DEWA has inaugurated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park using Tesla’s lithium-ion battery solution. The project has a power capacity of 1.21MW and an energy capacity of 8.61MWh with a life span of up to 10 years.

“DEWA relies on research and innovation to support the development of energy storage technologies and increase the share of clean and renewable energy,” says HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA.

“This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of Dubai’s total power production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.”

This pilot project is the second battery energy storage pilot project by DEWA at the solar park. The first project was implemented in collaboration with AMPLEX–NGK to install and test a sodium sulphur energy solution with a power capacity of 1.2MW and an energy capacity of 7.5MWh.

Solar table for gardens

German solar technology innovator Technaxx is launching its latest product – a solar table for householders to place in gardens or on balconies or terraces and which can double both as a table and a solar power generator.

The table, which is approximately 173cmx114cm in size and can seat up to eight people, has a fold-up top that can be adjusted to set angles up to 35o to maximise the solar generation capacity and produce up to 410W peak power.

With it is a pre-assembled micro inverter, which converts the generated solar power into AC and can be easily plugged into a household socket to supply power to the home.

Superfast charging LFP batteries for EVs

A 10 minute charge providing a driving range of 400km and a full charge delivering 700km?

That would satisfy most EV drivers and eliminate range anxiety – and it is claimed to be coming with Chinese battery manufacturing company CATL’s new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery named ‘Shenxing’.

CATL reports leveraging the super-electronic network cathode technology and fully nano-crystallized LFP cathode material to create a super-electronic network, which facilitates the extraction of lithium ions and the rapid response to charging signals.

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Its latest second-generation fast ion ring technology is used to modify the properties of graphite surface, which increases intercalation channels and shortens the intercalation distance for lithium ions, creating an expressway for current conduction.

A new superconducting electrolyte formula, which effectively reduces the viscosity of the electrolyte, resulting in improved conductivity, also has been developed.

Other improvements include reduced resistance of lithium-ion movement, while cell temperature control technology ensures that cells heat up to the optimal operating temperature range rapidly, allowing a 0-80% charge in just 30 minutes in temperature as low as -10°C.

CATL anticipates that mass production of Shenxing will be achieved before year-end and the first vehicles with the battery will be available on the market in the first quarter of next year.

Improving Bitcoin mining efficiency

With Bitcoin mining notoriously energy intensive and miners rushing to adopt greener and more sustainable operations, another alternative, which is being pursued by the London-based Quantum Blockchain Technologies, is to improve the efficiency of the mining itself and thus in turn its energy consumption.

The company’s ‘Method A’, unlike the standard approach of running as many hashes as possible within the available period, decides at the beginning of each block hashing whether to hash using a traditional search or a spaced confined search, with testing demonstrating an approximately 10% in mining speed.

But its ‘Method B’, for which a patent application was recently filed, is even more efficient, based on partial pre-computation on upcoming blocks prior to the current one being closed and guiding the search by deciding where the most promising winning hashes are likely to be found.

With this approach, the number of logic gates on the chip is reduced and the processing of a large number of hashes is avoided to obtain the results in less time.

In this case, there should be a 2.6x improvement in the ability to find a winning hash, compared to standard search, while saving up to 4.3% of energy.

However, its implementation requires a new architecture and the design of a new mining chip.

Setting sail with ‘Windwings’

Mitsubishi Corporation’s ‘Pyxis Ocean’, a 229m long bulk carrier vessel on charter to the global food giant Cargill, has become the first to be fitted with a novel wind propulsion system that could be key for the decarbonisation of shipping.

The two ‘Windwings’, which were designed by BAR Technologies in the EU Horizon 2020 supported initiative, are large wing sails measuring up to 37,5m in height with a 10m wide central component and front and rear 5m wide flaps that can be fitted to the deck of cargo ships, both new and as a retrofit, to harness the power of the wind.

The windwings can rotate and also pivot, right down to deck level, to allow for the differing wind angles and speeds.

With this wind assist, the windwings are expected to deliver average fuel savings of up to 30%.

The ‘Pyxis Ocean’ is currently on its maiden voyage with the windwings from Shanghai, where they were fitted, to Paranagua in Brazil with their performance being closely monitored to further improve their design and operation.

Hundreds of wings are planned to be built over the next few years and BAR Technologies is also researching new builds with improved hydrodynamic hull forms.

DEWA files 3D printing patent

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s Research and Development Centre is something of a pioneer with 3D printing and has just filed a new patent for an innovative build plate and method to detach 3D printed objects automatically.

This is intended to improve the performance of 3D printers by easing the removal of 3D printed objects during the printing process and thereby making it feasible to have a continuous 3D printing operation.

The invention supports DEWA’s intensive efforts to develop advanced infrastructure and specialised software in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, and invest in them to overcome challenges in the energy sector, according to the utility.

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HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, says that the utility supports Dubai’s endeavours to become the global hub for 3D printing by finding innovative solutions and technologies that modernise the manufacture of spare parts in its business.

“We adopt 3D printing as an innovative solution for our internal operations to print spare parts for devices and equipment, in addition to extending the lifespan of our equipment,” he says, adding that DEWA is the first organisation in the GCC to apply metal 3D printing technology using threads and wires.

DEWA reports having achieved a Guinness World Records title for its 3D printed laboratory and previously a patent has been registered for an adhesive device for 3D printers, which automatically distributes the adhesive material on the 3D printing plate, to ensure that the printed material sticks adequately to the build plate.

Harnessing the power of quantum for solar energy harvesting

Northeastern University professor Sijia Dong has been awarded a US Department of Energy grant to explore algorithms for simulations on quantum computers that may further the pursuit of renewable energy sources.

Specifically what Dong wants to do is develop quantum algorithms that can enable quantum chemical simulations of macromolecules that may be leveraged for solar energy harvesting and conversion.

“In photosynthesis, a plant can convert solar energy to make sugar, a chemical that can help the plant survive,” says Dong, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology as well as affiliated faculty of physics and chemical engineering at Northeastern.

“If we can do something like this artificially – convert the solar energy into chemical energy to make materials or useful chemicals – that will be very helpful for society.”

To date, Dong and her team have been using traditional digital computers to simulate the photochemistry of macromolecules and materials that could lead to new forms of clean energy.

However, it is a hard problem computationally and if the simulations can be carried over to a quantum computer, that should greatly accelerate the capability of developing such molecules and materials.

A Samsung Galaxy Ring

This column doesn’t normally cover rumours, but those about Samsung mobile products tend to be quite reliable so we have no hesitation in reporting the likely release of a Samsung Galaxy Ring.

Why a Galaxy Ring is of interest is because early patents indicate that it has potential for smart home integration and to control connected devices.

What we know so far is that a smart ring is almost certainly under development with a possible launch in 2024.

Based on the patents filed, other possible integrations include health tracking, such as heart rate and temperature monitoring, and coupled with XR glasses, finger and hand tracking in XR applications based on their positional information.

The concept of a connected ring isn’t new and the Oura ring as a fitness monitor has been around since 2015.

For Samsung, it would mark the company’s continuous evolution in the wearables market as an adjunct to its mobiles, while potentially providing a significant step up in convenience for smart home enthusiasts.

Kaluza heads ‘down under’

UK headquartered energy software company Kaluza is planning to expand its activities in Australia and New Zealand with an office in Melbourne led up by former London-based client solutions director, Conor Maher-McWilliams.

Over the next 12 months, Kaluza intends to build a local team of experts to support activity in the region.

The team will work closely with Kaluza customer AGL Energy, one of Australia’s largest energy retailers and generators, on the ‘OVO Energy Australia’ joint venture to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions across the country and develop new EV and solar propositions for AGL’s customers.

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Kaluza is also expanding its managed charging programme to New Zealand with Meridian Energy. Through this new service, Kaluza will manage the charging of Meridian Energy’s customers’ EVs in response to their needs as well as market signals and pricing data.

Scott Neuman, CEO of Kaluza, described the development as “an important milestone” for the company’s global expansion, which so far has extended to Europe, North America and Japan.

Training for the energy transition

Britain’s Heriot-Watt University, known for its technical training, is launching a new Master of Science degree programme to provide advanced training in the energy transition.

The programme, run from the University’s Orkney campus, is taught both in person and online, with a focus on the technologies, systems, processes and economics, alongside the design of transition projects to move away from fossil fuels and accelerate the integration of renewable energy.

The MSc in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition, to give its full title, has been developed by the mechanical and energy systems engineer Susan Krumdieck and is built around the rapidly growing discipline of ‘transition engineering’, an interdisciplinary approach to change for unsustainable systems across power, transport, industry, real estate and other sectors, according to a statement.

Krumdieck, who hails originally from New Zealand, is Chair of Energy Transition Engineering at Heriot-Watt and her research group has led the development of ‘transition engineering’ as a discipline since the early 2000s.

“If the world is to decarbonise and reach net zero emissions by 2050, whole systems will have to be redesigned and redeveloped, including energy infrastructure, technology, regulation and markets,” she commented.

“A new generation of transition engineering specialists is needed to drive this change – and our MSc ReSET is firmly focused on helping students and professionals develop these vital skills – so they can help to reset global energy systems.”

The MSc programme has four themes: Transition Engineering, Economics and Commercialisation, Renewable Energy Technology and Energy Systems.

Hydrogen trains – before their time?

Germany has been a pioneer with hydrogen-powered trains over the past five years and the rail operator Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) was the first, a year ago, to launch a network of such trains using Alstom’s Coradia iLint rolling stock.

But now the company has decided that its future – at least for the next generation – is with battery-powered trains, citing their cheaper operating costs.

LNVG is now planning to obtain 102 new units with battery-powered technology, which will progressively replace its diesel rolling stock from 2029 onwards until the last diesel is withdrawn in 2037.

Hydrogen has been billed as the option for emission-free trains on lines that have not been electrified. However, an advantage of the battery-powered trains is that they can run on both electrified lines, drawing on the power and recharging batteries via the pantograph, and non-electrified lines using the battery power with charging from purpose-built charging islands.

LNVG has not specified what the cost differences are or where they arise. But like hydrogen for road transport, undoubtedly the ‘chicken and egg’ of infrastructure availability vs demand is likely to be a factor.

With hydrogen-powered trains under test in other locations such as Canada, their potential is very much a space to watch.

Acoustic spalling – key to cheaper solar PV?

III-V solar cells grown out of periodic table groups III and V alloys such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) are the most efficient but also costly, which has limited their use to applications such as powering satellites in space.

But that may be about to change, according to US DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers, who say that the application of sound waves in a new process called ‘acoustic spalling’ holds the potential for significantly reducing their manufacturing costs.

The key is the ability to repeatedly reuse the substrate upon which the cells are grown. Whereas existing technology uses a sacrificial etch layer, which allows a cell to be lifted off a GaAs substrate so that the substrate can be used again, the process is time consuming and leaves behind a residue that requires an expensive polishing step.

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In contrast, spalling, which uses sound waves to control the fracture, takes seconds, with the fracture within the substrate nearly parallel to its surface and allowing the cell to be easily removed, revealing a new, contaminant-free surface from within the substrate that does not require polishing.

“This is super promising for the substrate reuse,” said Kevin Schulte, a scientist in NREL’s High-Efficiency Crystalline PV group and lead author of the study.

“This alone will not make III-V solar cells cost-effective, but as part of this portfolio of research, we’re trying address cost from multiple different angles.”

The researchers were able to make a cell on a previously spalled substrate with an NREL-certified efficiency of 26.9% – similar to that from a new substrate.

However, additional research is needed to determine how many times the substrate can be reused after being subjected to acoustic spalling.

Quantum computing to advance fuel cells for e-mobility

Fuel cells are an emerging option for future mobility, with their competitiveness dependent on improving performance and reducing costs.

This in turn depends on a deeper understanding of the chemical processes involved but modelling is complex and challenging. Moreover, with the quantum properties of the chemical mechanisms involved, they are a good candidate for quantum computers – which is why the BMW Group and Airbus have teamed up with quantum technology company Quantinuum.

The three companies have now developed a hybrid quantum-classical workflow to speed up such research using quantum computers and have reported successfully modelling the oxygen reduction reaction, which converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and electricity in a fuel cell. It is relatively slow and requires a large amount of platinum catalyst, so there is great interest and value in better understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in the reaction.

Dr Peter Lehnert, vice-president, Research Technologies at BMW Group, says that circularity and sustainable mobility are putting us on the quest for new materials to create more efficient products and shape the future user experience.

“Being able to simulate material properties to relevant chemical accuracy with the benefits from the accelerating quantum computing hardware is giving us just the right tools for more speed in innovation for this decisive domain.”

The companies intend to investigate various industrial challenges and believe the approach could have wide ranging benefits, such as for metal-air batteries among others.

Toyota adapts fuel cell vehicle tech for the Moon

Toyota is working on a project to provide its regenerative fuel cell technology, evolved from that developed for its road vehicles, to power a pressurised lunar rover, nicknamed the ‘Lunar cruiser’.

A regenerative fuel cell is a system that provides both power and storage. During the day, powered by solar PV, the system would produce hydrogen and oxygen and then at night, this would be converted to provide power and water.

The system is considered ideal for lunar applications, drawing on local water ice resources but also enabling operations to continue during the long, 14-day lunar night.

Toyota is partnering on the initiative with Mitsubishi, which is working on the Lupex (lunar polar exploration) concept for an earlier phase rover to investigate inter alia the availability of usable water resources on the Moon.

Both initiatives are being undertaken for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which is contributing to NASA’s Artemis mission and is expected to supply the Lunar Cruiser for a 2029 launch date.

The Lunar Cruiser is being developed to normally carry a crew of two – four in a contingency or unmanned – and to have a life span of 10 years and a travel distance of 10,000km, with an off-road driving performance aimed to meet the varied environments on the Moon, including regolith and rocks and craters with their varying slopes.

Energy metaverse – the building blocks securely in place

The metaverse may seem very conceptual to many at this stage but it is coming in the energy sector – and coming big, according to a new report from Guidehouse Insights, which estimates that over the next decade global investment in core technologies will grow from just over $6 billion in 2022 to nearly $80 billion in 2031 – a compound annual growth rate of no less than 33%.

Core energy metaverse technologies include digital twins, AI and machine learning, unmanned aerial systems and drones, extended reality and blockchain-based applications.

“When the energy metaverse is fully realised – admittedly more than a decade away – utilities and O&G concerns can envision a day when employee onboarding and training take place via XR in a metaverse-based training centre,” says Richelle Elberg, principal research analyst with Guidehouse Insights.

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“Much like it was difficult in the early 1990s to imagine all the ways a smartphone or the internet would change how business is conducted, in 2023 it can be hard to see just how radically metaverse technology stands to change the operating dynamics of energy industry verticals.”

Potential examples cited by Guidehouse include utility storefronts in metaverse malls that could provide virtual customers with real-world benefits such as product comparisons and purchasing, energy use analysis and evaluation of a premises’ suitability for solar.

In-demand specialised experts in a field could work on a virtual offshore rig, advising onsite workers how to address a problem. And drones could conduct ongoing inspections of critical assets, feeding real-time data into digital twins equipped with advanced AI to predict and prevent wildfires or methane emissions.

Flexible solar panels coming to market

Solar panels only a few millimetres thick that are claimed integrable on all kinds of surfaces are about to become available from the Belgian startup EnFoil (derived from ‘Energy enabling foil’).

The panels, which are based on copper-indium-gallium-selenium technology, are the outcome of years of research by the Hasselt University and microelectronics research organisation imec within the Energyville collaboration, with EnFoil a spin-off from the two organisations.

Potential applications range from buildings to tents and swimming pool covers, with what is said a pliable but robust format manufacturable in all shapes and sizes and offering greater flexibility than the current mostly flat and predetermined size formats.

“As a result, the technology was mainly limited to exclusive construction projects or as an expensive extra option for the roof of your car. With Enfoil, we are changing this,” says Marc Meuris, CTO.

He adds that talks with industry to bring EnFoil’s solar films to market are “in full swing”, with the current focus mainly on the logistics sector, where the proposal is to integrate the materials on the roofs and sidewalls of trucks to power their sensors and track and trace systems.

An edible rechargeable battery

Children’s toys, gastrointestinal tract disease diagnosis and treatment and food quality monitoring are considered some potential areas where edible electronics would be of interest.

As a step towards this researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have created a first totally edible and rechargeable battery.

With inspiration from the biochemical redox reactions that happen in the body and materials consumed as part of the daily diet, the battery utilises riboflavin or vitamin B2 as anode and the plant pigment quercetin as cathode, along with activated charcoal to increase the electrical conductivity and a water-based electrolyte.

The separator was made from nori seaweed, the kind found in sushi.

Then, electrodes were encapsulated in beeswax from which two food-grade gold contacts – the foil used by pastry chefs – on a cellulose derived support come out.

The battery cell operates at 0.65V, a voltage low enough not to create problems in the human body when ingested, and can provide current of 48μA for 12 minutes or a few microamps for more than an hour – enough to supply power to small electronic devices, such as low power LEDs, for a limited time.

Ivan Ilic, who co-authored the study, said the edible battery is also very interesting for the energy storage community.

“Building safer batteries, without usage of toxic materials, is a challenge we face as battery demand soars. While our edible batteries won’t power electric cars, they are a proof that batteries can be made from safer materials than current Li-ion batteries. We believe they will inspire other scientists to build safer batteries for a truly sustainable future.”

Cybersecurity labelling introduced in US

A cybersecurity certification and labelling programme, the Cyber Trust Mark, has been launched in the US as a voluntary initiative for manufacturers to indicate the cyber worthiness of their devices.

The programme, which was proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, will be applicable to common devices such as smart refrigerators, smart microwaves, smart televisions, smart climate control systems, smart fitness trackers, etc.

Several major manufacturers and retailers have already made commitments to the programme, including Amazon, Best Buy, Google, LG Electronics, Logitech and Samsung.

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Under the proposed programme, which is expected to be up and running in 2024, consumers can expect to see a distinct shield logo applied to products meeting established cybersecurity criteria.

With this, they can then make informed decisions on the relative security of products they choose to purchase and retailers will be encouraged to prioritise labelled products on their shelves and online.

A national registry of certified devices with specific and comparable security information also is planned.

While cybersecurity certification schemes are not uncommon, the consumer labelling proposal appears to be a first and will likely be replicated for other smart devices and in other regions.

In parallel with the launch of the US Cyber Trust Mark programme the US Department of Energy announced an initiative to work with national labs and industry partners to research and develop cybersecurity labelling requirements for smart meters and power inverters as essential components of the smart grid.

Detecting EV charging vulnerabilities

Idaho National Laboratory intern Jake Guidry has developed a cybersecurity research tool that could improve the security of electric vehicle charging.

The AcCCS tool, a combination of hardware and software that emulates the electronic communications that occur between an EV and an extreme fast charger during the charging process, provides access capabilities through the CCS (combined charging system) communications protocol.

The AcCCS hardware includes a charging port and a charging cable, both of which can be plugged into real-world equipment.

No charging power flows through the device. If one plugs the AcCCS into an EV, the vehicle’s computer thinks the battery is receiving a charge. If the tool is plugged into a 350kW fast charging station, the station thinks it is charging an electric vehicle.

“It’s basically acting like one to trick the other,” says Guidry, a master’s degree student in mechanical engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who explains that with it not only can normal operations be skewed but also cyber attacks can be introduced.

In a demonstration, researchers used AcCCS to hack a charging station and a vehicle.

Future experiments should help them to develop best practice recommendations for the industry.

Vortex rings may speed nuclear fusion

Vortex rings – those rings of smoke that are the aspiration of novice cigarette smokers – may hold a key to advancing fusion energy as well as research on supernovae as the most explosive objects in the universe.

Nuclear fusion is the process of pushing atoms together until they merge. But part of the problem is that the fuel can’t be neatly compressed and instabilities cause the formation of jets that penetrate into the hotspot, with the fuel spurting out between them – similar to that of the juice of an orange that is squashed in a hand.

Modelling of the phenomenon by researchers at the University of Michigan has shown that the vortex rings that form at the leading edge of these jets are mathematically similar to smoke rings as well as the plasma rings that fly off the surface of a supernova.

Michael Wadas, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, explains that in a supernova the vortex rings move outward from the collapsing start whereas in fusion it moves inward, disrupting the stability of the burning fuel and reducing the efficiency of the reaction.

With their findings, the researchers hope to be able to understand the limits of the energy that a vortex ring can carry, and how much fluid can be pushed before the flow becomes turbulent and harder to model as a result.

In ongoing work, the team is validating the vortex ring model with experiments.

Lunar power satellite conceived

With the European Space Agency’s Solaris initiative to develop space-based solar power for transmission to Earth just getting underway, the organisation also is starting to investigate the potential for space-based solar to deliver power to the Moon.

With support from ESA’s innovation programme, the Swiss startup Astrostrom has developed a design concept of a ‘Greater Earth Lunar Power Station’ that could be constructed on the Moon mainly from resources there and that could deliver microwave power down to receivers on the lunar surface, for example for powering a base there.

The design features V-shaped Moon-produced iron pyrite crystal-based solar panels with integrated antennas, deployed in a helix configuration extending more than a square kilometre end to end and yielding an estimated continuous 23MW of energy for lunar surface operations.

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The station, located at a determined point around 61,350 km from the lunar surface, would also be inhabited, serving both as a gateway between Earth and Moon operations with artificial gravity for adaptive health purposes, as well as potentially an attractive tourist destination.

The concept could equally be adapted for the development of Earth facing solar power satellites.

Launching large numbers of gigawatt-scale solar power satellites into orbit from the surface of the Earth could run into the problem of a lack of launch capacity and a lunar-made solar power satellite would require around five times less velocity change to place into geostationary Earth orbit compared to satellites launched from Earth itself.

According to the study the power station could be achieved without requiring any technological breakthroughs, with most of the core technologies for lunar surface mining, beneficiation and fabrication operations already in use or under development on Earth today.

Moreover – and despite the substantial engineering development required – the solar power satellites produced on the Moon would not only be cheaper than any comparable Earth-developed solar power satellite, but the electricity they generated for Earth would also be cost-competitive with any terrestrial power alternative.

Harvesting electricity from air

If new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst is anything to go by, almost any material could be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air.

The secret, according to the researchers, lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores, or small holes, less than 100nm in diameter – less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair.

This number corresponds to the ‘mean free path’ of water molecules when suspended in air. An energy harvester made from a thin layer of material filled with nanopores smaller than 100nm would let water molecules pass from the upper to the lower part of the material, but as the pores are so small, the water molecules would easily bump into the pore’s edge as they pass through the thin layer.

This means that the upper part of the layer would be bombarded with many more charge-carrying water molecules than the lower part, creating a charge imbalance, thereby effectually create a battery and one that runs as long as there is any humidity in the air.

“Think of a cloud, which is nothing more than a mass of water,” says Jun Yao, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, and the work’s senior author.

“Each of those droplets contains a charge, and when conditions are right, the cloud can produce a lightning bolt – but we don’t know how to reliably capture electricity from lightning. What we’ve done is to create a human-built, small-scale cloud that produces electricity for us predictably and continuously so that we can harvest it.”

Since humidity is ever present, a harvester should be able to run 24/7, rain or shine, day or night and whether or not the wind blows.

Moreover, as the thickness is so tiny, many thousands could be stacked to create a device capable of delivering kilowatt-level power.

Solar PV for agriculture

With the need to install renewables in different locations, French solar energy developer TSE has come up with the concept of PV canopies for installation in agricultural settings.

In 2022, the company installed its first agrovoltaics pilot site of 3ha in north central France, comprised of a PV shading system with a capacity of 2.4MWp – equivalent to the power consumption of a community of 1,350 inhabitants – over large-scale crops of soya, wheat, forage rye, winter barley and rapeseed.

The project came into being because of production limitations on the farm after suffering from hot and arid summers for more than a decade.

The agricultural canopy is composed of a large shading structure equipped with solar panels with tracker systems fixed on cables 5m above the fields. A supervision system controls the orientation of the panels, depending on the weather conditions and to completely automate the acquisition of operational data.

With the rotating shades, the system is able to mitigate climatic conditions in the summer season by lowering the temperature under the shade.

The pilot is a 9-year demonstrator and three similar projects are reported under construction along with a further 12 in the development phase.

Energy management in smart homes

With energy management becoming integrated into popular home offerings, such as Samsung’s SmartThings app which can connect to users’ smart meters, the concept of the smart home is fast gathering ground.

However, many remain unaware of its potential, according to Samsung. In a recent survey of British consumers, the tech giant found that almost three-quarters were unaware of being able to place smart buttons around the home to allow one to easily turn on or off any connected appliances and two-thirds were unaware of being able to integrate the management of energy devices or create a safer home environment.

Nevertheless, the survey found that after reading more information about heat pumps, almost one-third said they were likely to consider installing a heat pump in the next 12 months.

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This is broadly in line with the four in ten found in another survey to be considering purchasing energy-efficient solutions, such as solar panels and battery storage.

James Kitto, Vice President for Samsung UK Mobile said there’s never been a more revolutionary time for connected living.

“Smart home technology is more sophisticated and intuitive than ever before, empowering people and improving lives in ways unimaginable even five years ago – from breaking down barriers around accessibility, enabling consumers maintain healthier lifestyles and helping save money, the possibilities are endless.”

Rail-based mobile storage

In addition to fixed storage, interest is growing in the potential of mobile storage, particularly to support the grid in the face of the more extreme weather events that are occurring.

The question is how to deliver it and now a group of scientists in the US at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have suggested that the country’s rail system could serve as a nationwide backup transmission grid over which containerised batteries could be shared among regions to meet demand peaks, relieve transmission congestion and increase resilience in cases of low-frequency high-impact events.

According to the scientists writing in the journal Nature Energy, compared to new transmission lines and stationary battery capacity, deploying ‘rail-based mobile energy storage’ as they term it could save the power sector upwards of $300/kWyear and $85/kWyear, respectively.

They estimate that a single train could carry 1GWh of battery storage, and that batteries could be moved between most ISO regions within a week without disrupting regular freight operations.

They also note that there are no known technical barriers to excluding such mobile storage from grid participation.

However, addressing interconnection challenges and revising regulatory frameworks would be necessary for deployment at scale.

Energy harvesting for remote power

Energy delivery for services in inaccessible and remote locations can be challenging, especially with the need for sustainability and the move away from traditional sources such as diesel power.

In the clean water industry, the baseline solution for powering the IoT revolution has been low capacity, single use, unrecyclable batteries.

But British startup Vysion Technologies believes the answer lies in energy harvesting.

With an award from the national water sector regulator Ofwat, Vysion Technologies is aiming to develop an advanced micro-turbine design that harvests energy from the water flow.

Another company that has been awarded funding from Ofwat is the Fish Friendly Hydropower Company, which is developing a pico power floating hydropower turbine generator made from high-density recyclable polymer

The PicoStream as it is named is intended for easy installation in remote locations.

Depending on progress in this first phase, these companies should be in line for funding to go on to develop and pilot their concepts.

Meanwhile the US startup Aigen has developed a solar powered robotics platform that can weed farmers’ fields and provide real time data on the status of the field and the crops therein.

According to Aigem such is the demand among agriculturalists that 2024 and 2025 preorders for the service sold out in 1 day!

“Farmers tell us again and again that weeds are the number one problem they face. So, that’s where we’re starting: developing a solution for farmers to immediately reduce their costs and get rid of weeds, all while growing healthier crops,” said Kenny Lee, Aigen’s co-founder and CEO.

A new type of energy community in Finland

“A new type of energy community” is what the Finnish energy distributor Caruna calls an initiative that has been launched with the Karelia University of Applied Sciences and electrification specialist North Karelian Sähkö in the southwestern city of Joensuu.

The pilot, which is expected to last two years, involves two student residences located apart with one fitted with solar panels but the energy generated shared between both to form a virtual energy community.

According to Caruna’s Innovation Manager Verneri Kohonen, the Joensuu pilot is aimed to ensure that market operators have the ability and tools to implement a virtual energy community with the existing infrastructure. At the same time, experience will be gained on how a virtual energy community serves customers.

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“We want to encourage the acquisition of renewable energy sources and the growth of renewable production in order to achieve Finland’s climate goals,” he says.

Previously such an approach has not been possible as current legislation only allows energy communities for properties located at the same address and with the same electricity connection.

Such energy communities have been growing since the legislation was introduced in 2021 but the possibility of virtual energy communities with sites located at different addresses would open up their potential even further.

The student housing operator Joensuu Elli has 45 residential properties in Caruna’s electricity network, 14 of which have solar panels, and the ultimate aim in the pilot is to test the forming of all into a single energy community.

Board North America’s first hydrogen train in Quebec

The Quebec rail operator Réseau Charlevoix has launched North America’s first green hydrogen powered train and is currently taking bookings through to the end of September.

The two carriage Coradia iLint train from Alstom runs from Parc de la Chute Montmorency in Quebec City approximately 2 hours along the St Lawrence River to the city of Baie-St-Paul.

The Coradia iLint was introduced as the world’s first hydrogen train by Alstom in 2016 and went into first commercial service in Germany in 2018. Subsequently it has clocked up some 220,000km and orders for 41 trainsets in Europe.

The initiative, which has received support from the government of Quebec, was initiated by Alstom with the aim to better assess with the train in commercial operation the subsequent steps for the development of an ecosystem for hydrogen propulsion technology and its penetration into the North American market.

According to Alstom the Coradia iLint, with a top speed of 140km/h, has the acceleration and braking performance of a standard regional diesel train but without the noise and emissions. In September 2022 the train achieved a recorded distance of 1,175km without refuelling.

Photosynthesis for lunar and Martian life support

Photosynthesis is a well known biological process on Earth, essential for plant growth and carbon removal from the atmosphere, and also is emerging as an option for hydrogen production.

Scientists are hoping to be able to use the same artificial photosynthesis approach in space with a range of possible uses in mind from powering rockets to complementing life support systems on the Moon and Mars.

In a recent paper in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the University of Warwick and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have evaluated the performance of semiconductor based artificial intelligence systems in lunar and Martian conditions.

They find that tandem-junction photoabsorber cells are the most effective configurations for these environments when examining realistic long-term solar-to-chemical conversion efficiencies, whereas solar driven gas diffusion electrode devices are not able to reach their full potential.

In particular lunar photoelectric cell water splitting possesses a very high capability for hydrogen and oxygen production, although for Mars coupling to solar concentrators would be required due to the lower solar irradiance at its further distance.

Katharina Brinkert, of the University of Warwick’s Department of Chemistry, believes the technology could provide ample oxygen production and carbon dioxide recycling on both the Moon and Mars.

“Human space exploration faces the same challenges as the green energy transition on Earth: both require sustainable energy sources. With sunlight being so abundantly available in space, we have shown how this source could be used to harvest energy – much like plants back on Earth – for life support systems for long-term space travel.”

While the research has shown that the application of these devices could go beyond Earth and potentially contribute to the realisation of human space exploration, there are obviously many challenges and research to undertake before they become a reality, not least the ability to deploy them in those harsh environments.

For this a potential research environment is the terrestrial polar regions, where such devices have been demonstrated to work.

Energy Web in Polkadot link up

Energy Web, which has led the development of the blockchain in the energy sector, is looking to Polkadot for its next generation technology.

Polkadot is a platform that unites specialised blockchains or ‘parachains’, such as Energy Web’s, opening up the possibility for interoperability across these and providing the basis for an interoperable decentralised web.

While Energy Web has yet to release full details of its plans – and we’ll report in due course – the organisation has indicated the move will allow it to create the framework for its new Energy Web X as the next generation energy sector blockchain technology.

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A key feature is the implementation of so-called ‘worker nodes’ or decentralised groups of computers that perform work off-chain that can be deployed independently but coordinated in cohesive networks.

Jesse Morris, CEO of Energy Web, anticipates that the shift to Energy Web X will enable partner companies, such as Shell, Vodafone and Volkswagen, to accelerate their decarbonisation strategies.

“To achieve the [clean energy] goal, we decided to search for a blockchain platform that offers real enterprise-grade security and seamless upgradeability to ensure a safe and future-proof environment. Polkadot excels on both of these fronts with its shared security model and best-in-class core technology.”

Energy Web is focused currently on two key areas, one to help electric utilities digitise and integrate distributed energy resources to the grid and the second to bring transparency and verifiability to emerging green product supply chains, including 24/7 matched renewable electricity.

By the end of Q1, a total of 42 parachains had joined Polkadot, representing sectors such as decentralised finance, privacy, social media, sustainability, NFTs, gaming and the metaverse.

By leveraging each other’s strengths to unlock new use cases, parachains help projects expand at scale while enjoying the shared security advantages provided by Polkadot.

ChatGPT comes to utility water management

In what is believed to be a first US headquartered water platform provider Klir has launched generative AI capabilities through the latest iteration of its Klir Comply platform.

Using Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI service to provide access to powerful language models, including ChatGPT-4, water professionals are able to receive insights into their utility’s data through an AI-powered chatbot while benefiting from the scalability, reliability, performance and security of Azure, Klir says.

By blending the conversational benefits of ChatGPT with each utility’s water quality management and compliance data – e.g. “Is our water compliant today?” or “Draft me a summary of last week’s water quality” – the AI function simplifies tedious but critical tasks while ensuring internal data stays secure and private at all times, the company asserts.

In what is stated as a nod of Klir’s Irish roots, the chatbot is represented by ‘Boots’, an Irish Water Spaniel “trained to sniff out key data”.

And ‘Boots’ allows users to query millions of data points within the utility’s private internal data with features including integrating administrative tasks with sampling results data, providing predictive water quality analysis, generating quantitative insights into sampling results and identifying correlations between data.

“Klir’s AI function sits as a layer on top of what is already the most comprehensive software for water quality and compliance management on the market,” declares David Lynch, CEO of Klir.

“To be able to ask complex compliance water management questions and immediately receive accurate answers is seismic and will help organisations around the world to slow the global water crisis.”

Along with introducing the ChatGPT function, Klir also has unveiled a new ‘maturity model’ that assesses and prioritises the key operational risks water utilities face.

Metaverse could reduce greenhouse gas emissions

New research from scientists at Cornell University suggest that the growing metaverse sector could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 10Gt CO2e by 2050 and lower the global surface temperature by up to 0.02^oC before the end of the century.

The findings emerged from AI-based modelling of data from several key sectors, technology, energy, environment and business, to anticipate the growth of metaverse usage and the impact of its most promising applications including remote work, virtual traveling, distance learning, gaming and non-fungible tokens.

The researchers projected metaverse expansion through 2050 along three different trajectories – slow, nominal and fast – and they looked to previous technologies, such as television, the internet and the iPhone, for insight into how quickly that adoption might occur.

They also factored in the amount of energy that increasing usage would consume.

The modelling suggested that within 30 years, the technology would be adopted by more than 90% of the population, which was more rapidly than expected, and with limiting business travel generating the largest environmental benefit.

“Think about the decarbonisation of our transportation sector,” says Fengqi You, professor in Energy Systems Engineering in Cornell Engineering and senior author of the research.

“Electric vehicles work, but you can’t drive a car to London or Tokyo. Do I really have to fly to Singapore for a conference tomorrow? That will be an interesting decision-making point for some stakeholders to consider as we move forward with these technologies with human–machine interface in a 3D virtual world.”

Currently, two of the biggest industry drivers of metaverse development are Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft, both of which contributed to the Cornell study. Meta has been focusing on individual experiences such as gaming, while Microsoft specialises in business solutions, including remote conferencing and distance learning.

Ultimately however, the metaverse can only do so much, You points out.

“There are so many sectors in this economy. You cannot count on the metaverse to do everything. But it could do a little bit if we leverage it in a reasonable way.”