Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Fossil Free Sustainable Enterprise (Accepted as a book chapter in CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, UK)

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781003097921-5/chemistry-energy-conversion-fossil-free-sustainable-enterprise-isak-rajjak-shaikh

Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Fossil Free Sustainable Enterprise

Author: Isak R. Shaikh*1-4

1Razak Institution of Skills, Education and Research (RISER India) in Sweden. Razaaq University Consortium, Malmö,  Sweden.  2Kemistuga (Lund & Malmö), Svenska Kemisamfundet, Wallingatan 24, 111 24 Stockholm, Sweden. 3School of Chemical Sciences, SRT Marathwada University, Nanded – 431 606, India. 4Poona College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Camp, Pune – 411 001, India.  

Abstract

Chemistry helps us exploit the high-density fossil energy carrier that it has created through geochemical processes over the centuries. But the present day fossil fuel based energy system is increasingly seen inflicting multiple forms of harm to the environment and health. Climate change is caused by the hydrocarbon fuel combustion into thermal and derived forms of energy. The burning of fossil-fuel adversely affects the overall biological and physico-chemical regulatory systems of the planet by releasing into the atmosphere a myriad of toxic pollutants as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. There is a strong relationship among energy, economy, and environment. The business of fossil-based energy is highly complicated; it preferred “few” over many, and is mainly centralized. The demand for decentralized energy infrastructure, democratization of energy and universal access to energy is higher than ever. A shift to technically feasible and economically viable renewable-based energy system is needed. Controlling energy “in chemical bonds” and converting it sustainably, as and when required, is central to moving away from the current fossil-based chemical enterprise. Modern day science of chemistry gives a credible impression of achieving sustainability through various practical approaches, operational and monitoring tools. Chemistry is not only confined to offering molecules, fine chemicals, value-added products or materials for energy storage, catalysts for easing reactions and minimizing wastes, etc. but it also greatly influences life-cycle assessment as well as resource and energy efficiency. Solar energy is the best of our success stories, and there is a lot going on in developing wind- and hydro-power as well, and or the blending thereof. The electricity generation, storage, distribution, conversion and re-generation (of electricity) have become essential to solving energy problem, and the adoption of digital technologies to modify a business model and integrate it into everyday life to create value from the process is indispensable. It’s high time we look for shared ownership of the energy sector, be it microgeneration or large-scale production, and distribution or storage. Efforts are underway to produce electricity and provide the lowest-ever energy tariffs while shifting away from fossil fuels. Fuel cells or hydrogen generation would be much preferred as on-site or on-board energy applications. Hydrogen can be extracted from fossil-based fuels and stored in the form of ammonia. Hydrogen economy could be the next generation’s norm. The recycling of CO2 and water – in the reverse of fuel combustion – yields liquid hydrocarbon fuel in non-biological processes using renewable energy; this would enable a closed-loop carbon-neutral fuel cycle, if atmospheric CO2 could be captured. The conversion of CO2 to value-added products or chemical feedstock and green energy is an area of immense interest, and we are not doing enough there! The author encloses herein many useful references in regards to the concerted international efforts in policy making and practices in meeting today’s energy challenge and climate change goals, while using digitalization wherever necessary, in order to develop an economic system based on robust knowledge for entrepreneurship. This chapter provides a synopsis of key findings, and theoretical and technological advances directed towards entrepreneurial sustainable development through chemistry, materials, renewable resources or clean energy technologies. The author undertakes a multidisciplinary secondary research that seeks to elucidate the pivotal role chemistry and renewables play in delivering energy conversion and storage methodologies with inventive steps and possibility of commercialization in high standards in scalability, stability and sustainability. The chapter successfully illustrates the significance of a variety of renewable energy-based projects and their relationship to sustainable entrepreneurship from the chemistry point of view.

Keywords: Chemistry; Climate change; Energy crisis; Futuristic energy conversion; Entrepreneurial sustainable development

1.          Introduction

As a society, we know that the fossil fuel based energy system costs us a lot. This is not only because of the volatile fuel prices that drive the economy or cause economic instability, but it is also due to the fact that coal, oil and gas increase human vulnerability. Coal mining and coal-fired power plants face a wide range of occupational health issues, whereas the oil and gas industry, be it onshore or offshore, mostly lives with the serious hazards of gas leakage and catastrophic oil spillages impacting marine life (The Ocean Portal Team, Smithsonian Institution, 2018).

Fossil fuels account for 80% of global energy consumption and nearly 75% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (IPCC, 2014). Indirect GHG emissions from oil and gas operations today are equivalent to around 5200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (IEA Flagship Report, 2018). World Health Organization (WHO) data shows that air pollution caused by fossil fuel burning takes 4.2 million lives per year. And more than 80% of the officially categorized urban population on the planet is exposed to air quality levels that exceed the WHO limits (WHO, 2016).

As rapid industrialization and the continuing population boom drive the need for energy, the present day energy system is increasingly seen inflicting adverse impacts on recycling of matter and the flow of energy in an ecosystem which consists of a community of organisms in a specific locality together with their abundant biodiversity and physico-chemical regulatory systems including air, soil, freshwater, oceans, climate, sunlight, and the atmosphere (Zachos et al. 2001; Parmesan, 2006). For some island nations and coastal or riverine areas with “eco-anxiety” or “climate tragedy”, there is a profound existential crisis compounded with the realization that this world is much more fragile than once thought, chiefly owing to the several negative environmental impacts of fossil fuel burning, global warming, pollution, the associated multiple adverse health effects – especially in children (Frederica, 2017), unexpected natural calamities and weather change, landscape deterioration, etc. and above all, the scientific uncertainty surrounding it (Butt et al. 2013). So, one can only imagine how alarming climate change and/or these safety and environmental health impacts and their consequences could be for human life, life-supporting systems, and the ecological balance in the future.

Though it appears that the cause of climate change is the combustion of hydrocarbon fuel into thermal and derived forms of energy, seeking ways to make the processing of fossil based raw materials carbon-neutral or reducing emissions from the chemical sector and the transition from fossil based energy system to environment-conscious energy supply is impossible without chemical energy conversion. Innovation in green or sustainable chemistry and engineering will be key to transitioning to a cleaner energy system. This chapter focuses on the cross-disciplinary role chemistry plays in delivering a set of novel energy conversion methodologies with inventive steps and the possibility of commercialization with high standards in scalability and sustainability. The chapter summarizes the types of chemistry-based renewable energy options noted in the literature and then evaluates entrepreneurial opportunities to address them in a state-of-the-art and in a what-if manner.

2.          Driving Forces in Futuristic Energy Enterprise

2.1   Sustainability: Another Look at Resources and Renewability

The issue of climate change is caused by the neglect of a kinetic term describing “the time constant of equilibrium between input of energy carriers and output of waste” (Archer & Brovkin, 2008; Berntsen et al. 2006; Van Hise, 2008). The term “sustainability” refers to the endurance of systems and processes and describes the kinetics and the balance between the input and output.

Concerted international efforts are underway to practise sustainability or the transition to sustainable production and consumption patterns (UNESCO, 1997). A new business concept “eco-efficiency” (Stephan Schmidheiny with WBCSD, 1992), the way the private sector is advised to use it today, has emerged for implementing “Agenda-21” (UNCED report, 1992) with regards to sustainable development (Brundtland Commission report, 1987; Johannesburg Declaration, 2002). The United Nations, with a set of 17 interconnected sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets, defines global priorities and aspirations for the year 2030 in order to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” (UN General Assembly, 2015). Environmental policy making and the development of knowledge-based society and “green” economy are highly desirable (UNEP, 2011) through entrepreneurial sustainable development (Johnson & Schaltegger, 2019; UN, 2017). We need values, compliance, and contributions from individuals, governmental institutions, and private players in regards to energy and resource efficiency, occupational safety, and environmental protection, while practising entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility (Dekra Sustainability Magazine, 2017–18). The “doughnut model” devised by Kate Raworth is found to be useful as a guide to public policy making that meets the core needs of all through economic activities that live within the means of the planet, or thrive in balance with the planet (Raworth, 2017). Amsterdam, for example, has adopted this global concept of the “doughnut” and turned it into a transformative action tool in the city (The Full Amsterdam Circular Strategy, 2020/2025).

2.2   Energy, Environment, and Economy

Energy, environment, and economy are highly interconnected (Tiba & Omri, 2017). For example, Gozgora et al. (2018) examined the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for some Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. And the efficient management of the energy–environment–growth nexus – (i) by reducing total energy consumption, and (ii) by developing economic and environmental policies that provide incentive mechanisms for renewable energy projects and encourage the private sector to participate – are identified as a must for sustainable growth (Dinç & Akdoğan, 2019).

Figure 1 shows the current energy system and the simplistic role of chemical conversions in the transformation of fossil, low-fossil, and possibly no-fossil based energy system. It was Fuel for Thought – the World Bank’s 1999 energy sector strategy – that helped increase investment and lending for renewable energy (Ahmed, 1994; Anderson & Ahmed, 1995; World Bank, 1999). A 10-year growth and job strategy called “Europe 2020” was launched by the European Union launched in 2010. It set targets in key areas of employment, education, research and development, climate/energy, social inclusion and poverty reduction (European Commission, 2014). The Europe 2020 strategy is supported by or includes, among other things, seven “flagship initiatives” in innovation, the digital economy, employment, youth, industrial policy, poverty, and resource efficiency. And the Commission’s 100 billion Euro research and innovation plan - the “Horizon Europe” program (Horizon Europe, 2020) identifies five selected mission areas including (i) the adaptation to climate change including societal transformation, (ii) cancer, (iii) climate-neutral or smart cities, (iv) healthy oceans, seas, coastal or inland waters, (v) soil, health and food.

Figure 1. The current energy system and the simplistic role of chemical conversions in the transformation of fossil, low-fossil, and possibly no-fossil based energy system

Long ago, Stockholm Environment Institute adopted Greenpeace International’s norm to ensure progress towards its year 2100 “no-carbon emission” target, and prepared global GHG and energy scenarios to identify the cost-competitive potential for phasing out the use of all fossil fuels to minimize emissions (SEI, 1993;UNEP, 2019). However, recent research shows that, by 2030, the world is planning on producing far more coal, oil, and gas rather than abiding by the Paris Agreement (UNFCC, 2015). For example, Australian coal exports doubled and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports tripled from 2000 to 2015 (Lazarus et al. 2019).

Asian giants like China, India, Japan, and South Korea are dependent on imported fuel. But they no longer wish to rely on unstable geopolitical equations and the pressure games or sanction threats from countries other than the two involved in an energy deal. In recent decades, India and China have seen an enormous increase in polluted industrial zones and also an increase in the need for drafting suitable legislation on curbing pollution instead of lenient laws and traditional industrial practices. However, still today, coal meets more than half of India’s energy demand. And by the year 2040, India’s share of global energy demand is expected to double, and that’s the reason why India – once known as the coal king – is heavily investing in renewable sources (IEA, 2019; WEF, 2019). Renewables or renewable energy technologies have the potential to reduce hazards or eliminate pollution risks while providing a whole new range of entrepreneurial opportunities (Martinot, 2001) and a more planet- and people-centered or inclusive growth model for a more resilient economy. India is the world’s third-largest emitter of CO2 and is also home to 13 of the first 20 most-polluted cities in the world. Under the Paris Agreement (Climate action tracker, 2020), India has committed to generating 40% of its electricity from renewable sources and, in addition to that, has intended to reach a target of 450 GW of renewables by 2030 (World Bank brief, 2019). India has, in quick time, witnessed an unprecedented growth in its solar power industry and has also the lowest capital cost per MW globally for installing solar power pl[A1] [P2] ants (Muneer et al., 2005; Chandra et al., 2018; MNRE India, 2020; ). Loaded with over capacity of thermal power, coupled with tepid demand and rising share of renewable energy, India is going to witness a marked shift toward an efficient supply and optimum generation mix.

The issue with regards to poor air quality in heavily industrialized developing nations needs to be addressed with appropriate policy making while seeking the optimal balance between environmental quality and economic growth (Alberini et al., 1997); or it will become an issue (Chen et al., 2013; Ernst & Young, 2014; OECD, 2020) associated with increasing social unrest. On the bright side, the Global Commission set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported that China is set to become the world’s renewable energy superpower owing to technology, with 29% of the renewable energy patents globally, well over 150,000 as of 2016 (Forbes, 2019).

2.3   Oil Diplomacy and the Petrodollar

Author Jane Kinninmont in her book The GCC in 2020: The Gulf and its People writes that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) population explosion will continue while the labour market remains dependent on expat workers (Kinninmont, 2009). She adds that countries in the GCC are home to some of the world’s youngest populations, and the future development of the region ultimately depends on the education and employment of these young people. In view of the increase in industrial activities, energy consumption and economic growth, there is a pressure on the existing refineries to seek new methods to optimize efficiency and throughput. Today, the demand for energy supply in the GCC region and also in all of the Middle East countries is increasing the expenditure of government utilities, and the energy supply capacity is dependent on capital investments in the oil and gas power sector. The increase in oil prices contributes to the decrease in the supply of some goods due to the increase in the costs of producing them, and thereby aggravates the impact of oil shocks on the economy, at the regional as well as on the global scale. And it is obvious that Middle East oil producers and locations or channels through which such business takes place attract immense attention. For example, almost 25% of the total global oil consumption and a third of the world’s LNG make the Strait of Hormuz a very important strategic location and one of the world’s busiest routes for international trade. Contemporary geopolitical strategies and situations like the Yom Kippur War (1973), the Iranian Revolution (1979), Operation Desert Shield/the Gulf War (1990–91), etc. had triggered a jump in oil prices and negatively affected the increasingly urbanized and industrialized economies worldwide. Off late, the pandemic of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (Covid-19) drove down the oil price (IEA, 2020). Historical evidence shows that oil diplomacy or diplomatic deadlock with regards to fossil-fuel-based energy economics and the greed for possession of hydrocarbon reserves has led to economic sanctions as a control by fear strategy in those regions. And so, the mainstream news and media should not call the relationship between oil and international conflict an exaggeration;[CE1]  there has always been this imminent threat of “resource wars” over possession of oil reserves while making changes to the leadership in the region (Belfer Center, 2013), depopulating the planet, defaming peaceful religion, creating paranoia across borders, and also inciting conflict between ethnicity and cultures in such strategically important locations. In 1974, the United States of America and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed to the use of the United States’ dollar as the only currency for signing oil contracts and agreed in the year 1978 to petrodollar recycling. This cemented the oil–US dollar business relationship and since then any sign of a falling US dollar hurts the oil-exporting countries. Now the United States enforces its foreign policies by using the power of the petrodollar. In the 2000s, Iraq and Libya utterly failed in their separate attempts to challenge what they perceived as the United States’ global hegemony through the petrodollar system. In fact, according to some accounts, the invasion of Iraq was due to the United States’ rage over the United Nations’ approval to Iraq’s plan to begin using the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency. The euro being under attack from within (the Eurozone crisis), there is still no good alternative world currency, except a historical tie-in to the gold standard, if all countries accept it! Countries like Venezuela and Iran have opted for signing oil deals in their own currencies. It would now be interesting to see if Saudi Arabia or other oil-producing nations accept China’s call for a replacement of the US dollar as the only medium through which the world conducts oil transactions.

Off late, economists find a weakening link between the oil price and inflation. Apparently the US petrodollar is bound to lose its dominance (Robinson, 2012) as the world limits greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming and shifts from oil to electric vehicles and solar or wind power generation (Hatfield, 2018; Amadeo, 2020; Robinson, 2020). The US is steadily losing its competitive edge in business, skills, and innovation with regards to renewable energy technologies to China and the European Union (Bosman & Scholten, 2013). But for some military complexes, strategists, and the business-monopoly political-mindset worldwide, making the current energy system sustainable or preferring renewable energy over fossil based energy is not only a technical but also an ideological challenge; they are more likely to choose strategy of waging war against the oil-producing nations or provoking geopolitical conflicts, depopulating the planet, imposing economic sanctions, or denying the “climate emergency” than one that delivers on the world’s ambitious transition to cleaner energy meeting climate change goals and sustainable development. One can say so because some of the power structure is in persistent denial of the climate crisis, and some of the industrial giants are trying to buy more time for bringing the emerging renewable energy sector under their crony capitalist exploitation and for taking over the sustainability campaign as it jeopardizes their economic monopoly. A new concept of “philanthro-capitalism” is also being floated around as if the increasingly unified activism and concerted international efforts tackling energy and climate crises are not doing enough. Large foundations or trusts are being established and sponsored by industrial tycoons, multinationals and large companies in a way that the dividends only from their investments will keep fueling their current energy business that makes them richer. And such a practice of philanthro-capitalism allows them to use not-for-profit/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to take control of matters such as renewable energy, economy, entrepreneurship, innovation, climate change or environmental protection, and even health. That’s not philanthropy; it’s a capitalist and democratic problem. Planet of the Humans – a documentary film, released free to the public on YouTube on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2020) – revealed massive ecological impacts of a renewable-based energy system. In spite of the passivity around, we know that it’s just a transition phase; meeting the energy challenge is possible, and I see no fundamental reason to believe otherwise. In fact, researchers have recently hit back with an analysis of the scientific literature to debunk the myth (Heard et al. 2017) that 100% renewable energy system is not possible. Brown et al. (2018) claim that a shift to 100% renewables is not only technically feasible but also economically viable. Many coal-fired power plant owners have already retired their units in the USA (USEIA, 2019), and no matter how much the effort to shift away from fossil fuels is being criticized by the established politics on the industry-economy set-up, mixing “efficient energy conversions and usage” or “inventing new affordable clean energy technologies” would only contribute to our sustainability on the planet.

3.          Paradigm Shift: Understanding Change in the Energy Infrastructure

The book Explosive Growth was published on December 13, 2011 and the authors discussed “reshaping energy and infrastructure in our next 1000 days”. Through a thorough analysis, Michael Rogol – a renowned consultant – warned the monopoly to adapt to a change in business practice, and he clearly showed how small businesses can take over an industrial sector dominated by giant corporations with assets of hundreds of billions of dollars as the economic feedback was bound to change the electricity system within 1000 days (M. Rogol with S. H. Rogol, 2011[CE2] ). As predicted, the electricity and renewable-based energy system has evolved to a level where oil isn’t a precious commodity anymore, and ironically, in spite of oil crashing 321% into negative territory as demand evaporated (Forbes, 2020), many are still pushing for the old fossil fuel based growth model. Clayton Christensen in his book, The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fall, writes that the challenges mainly arise from: (i) new technology that is too expensive to threaten the old; (ii) new technology that does not meet the established requirements; and (iii) new technology that does not fit the current business model (Christensen, 2013). Belgium, Austria, and Sweden – in that order – became the first three European nations to eliminate coal completely from all sorts of heating and power generation (Europe Beyond Coal, 2020). And in Sweden, for example, researchers found that transitioning to a more sustainable energy system was considered very important and urgent in addressing the global environmental and social challenges while developing a theory-based evaluation framework that assesses and discusses both the robustness and transformative efforts of current policy and evaluation practices (Sandin et al., 2019). Je[A3] remy Rifkin argues in his book The Hydrogen Economy that hydrogen could be the next generation’s norm and could provide a plentiful and clean alternative to oil (Rifkin, 2003). The oil-producing nations (USEIA, 2020) are under significant economic pressure already, and even the Middle Eastern economies are shifting towards revolutionizing energy sector by choosing hydrogen as an alternative or at least as a crucial part of the global energy mix (The National, 2019). To some extent, in the current situation, hydrogen is extracted from fossil based fuels. The conversion of carbon dioxide to valuable energy products is also an option offered by the chemistry research enterprise and we are not doing enough there either. There is a need to achieve various (actually 17) goals of sustainable development, including Goal 4: Quality Education, and Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. The concept of “scientific temper” (Nehru, 1989, p. 513) should also be added to such SDGs by which one may reject prejudice and embark upon a systematic search for the beauty of knowledge and truth. Scientific temper and a more open discussion may replace the partly strategic and socio-economic debate that creates hurdles for the generation and application of knowledge at a premature stage. Having said that, scientific temper not only lodges intellectual inquiry into analyzing, discussing and then understanding or communicating issues of concern, but it also encompasses the adoption of a new understanding of previous conclusions in the face of new evidence. Activities that we advocate should mainly involve the co-evolution of innovation and entrepreneurship by identifying local problems and linking human beings to the global sustainability system.

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the energy system and sustainability.

Figure 2. The energy system and sustainability

 As projected by International Energy Outlook, renewables are expected to be fast-growing energy sources worldwide, increasing by an average of 2.3% per year between 2015 and 2040 (USEIA, 2017). Renewable energy production is widely promoted across Europe and the tools aiming at reducing carbon emissions by 20% have been developed directly by the European Union (EU) and directed under the “Intelligent Energy Europe” program in spite of the disparity in priorities and support mechanisms in the member states (Haas et al., 2011; Intelligent Energy Europe, 2020). The government of the Republic of Ireland has also launched an ambitious climate action plan with the aim of reaching net zero-carbon emissions by 2050 (DCCAE, 2019[CE1] ). In 2013, the New Climate Economy – a flagship project – was  commissioned by the governments of Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom to provide relevant help to governments, businesses, and society in making better-informed decisions in the quest for achieving economic prosperity while dealing with climate change. Its 2014 flagship report concluded that higher quality growth can be combined with strong climate action, and this new approach is expected to deliver on making economies more resilient, increasing productivity and greater social inclusion (New Climate Economy report, 2018).

3.1   Electricity

Electricity, the secondary source of energy, is the flow of charge or electrical power. It can be produced by converting coal, natural gas, solar, wind, and or nuclear energy into electrical power. It is neither renewable nor non-renewable, but it can be produced by both renewable and non-renewable primary sources of energy and can further be converted to other forms of energy such as heat or mechanical energy. The generation, storage, and regeneration of electricity is essential to solving energy problems. In the present day scenario, electricity generation through thermo-mechanical systems (i.e., cooling or heating applications) still exists side-by-side with chemical energy conversion in its variants. Fuel cells or electrolysis and or hydrogen generation would be much preferred as on-site or on-board energy applications. And there are lots of research endeavors directed in this area. Solar energy is the best of our success stories. Solar energy actually comes third after hydro and wind power in terms of globally installed capacities. But even in the countries capable of producing the most solar energy and or in the countries that have the highest installed capacity of solar photovoltaic power, the so-called elite or business monopoly are not helping the cause of shifting away from fossil based energy economics. On the bright side, many have already started pairing wind or solar energy with traditional power to create a hybrid system. The leading nations in developing electricity from wind are China, USA, Germany, and Spain – in that order. The Enel Group of companies and also Enel Green Power SpA and its subsidiaries, aiming to fully decarbonize their energy generation mix by 2050, built around 3029 MW of new renewable capacity all over the world in 2019 and thus bettered the previous year’s productivity by 6.5%, adding around 190 MW (REVE magazine, 2020). Italian oil and gas giant Eni also announced a long-term energy shift away from fossil fuels by 2050. Morocco, a north African country that has relied for almost 99% of its energy on imported fossil fuels, now successfully operates Africa’s largest wind farm and has recently set a 52% renewable energy target by 2030 (Parkinson, 2016).

How energy can be stored is one of those life-changing questions to ask yourself today. In view of the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal to keep the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the International Energy Association (IEA) estimated that the world needs to increase the 176.5 GW of energy storage in 2017 to 266 GW by 2030. In a renewable energy world that sees energy storage technologies at center-stage, market players and policy makers are increasingly turning their attention to electrical energy storage technologies, and researchers and engineers cannot overlook the need for increased flexibility, a game where such technologies are attractive to power generators on account of the increased overall utilization of power system assets and which translate into higher average revenues and a low(er) risk of overcapacity. Climate change mitigation and energy storage solutions such as these address the issues of solar and wind power intermittency, capacity, and resilience of energy grids while making the grid more responsive, and at times, responding quickly to large fluctuations, and most importantly, reducing the need to build backup power plants. Electrical energy storage technologies are broadly classified into:

1.      Mechanical: (i) a pumped hydro storage system (PHS); (ii) compressed air energy storage (CAES), and (iii) a flywheel (FES).

2.  Electrochemical: (i) a secondary battery in the form of a lead-acid battery/NaS/Li-ion battery, (ii) a flow battery with Redox flow/hybrid flow, and (iii) solid-state battery technology.

3.  Electrical: (i) a (super) capacitor, and (ii) superconducting magnetic-SMES.

4.  Thermochemical: solar fuels, solar hydrogen.

5.  Chemical: hydrogen/fuel cell/electrolyzer.

6.  Thermal: sensible/latent heat storage, including molten salt.

Today battery storage systems account for only around 4 GW of storage capacity, while the PHS system accounts for around 153 GW of storage worldwide. Battery technologies are quite expensive and PHS is largely constrained by the location of suitable sites. Universal access to energy sounds like a utopia, and though batteries appear as a beautiful compromise, we know that they work well, but: (i) on different scales (a few Wh to MWh, which are not always scalable), (ii) at a different efficiency (some are very inefficient, some not), (iii) at different costs (some with high $/kWh), and (iv) are difficult to combine energy and/or power.

3.2   A Shift Toward Digitalized Energy Technology and Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Digitalization by definition is the process of converting everything into digital format. Digitalization includes the adoption of digital technologies to modify a business model and integrate it into everyday life to create value from the process. Digitalization encompasses the use of novel technologies by exploiting advanced digital network dynamics and the giant digital flow of information (IGI Global, 2019; WPI, 2018). Digitalization, through sensors and predictive analysis, helps in optimizing performance in conventional as well as renewable energy plants. The development of smart power grids, for example, provide benefits such as better electricity transmission and integration of renewable energy systems. Digitalization influences the energy value chain and technologies like Big Data Analytics & Software, Digital Twins, and the open cloud-based Internet of Things that operating platforms such as Mind Sphere can use to boost efficiency in energy generation. Industrial entities use digitalization to improve manufacturing processes, enhance the quality of goods, and reduce the cost of production by reducing input and increasing output, whereas utility customers use digitally-enabled electrification technologies (smart meters, power-save-mode gadgets) to monitor or lower consumption. On-site power or microgeneration is on the rise to supplement their respective needs rather than only relying on traditional centralized grid-connected power.

Many innovative ideas are progressing: (i) to generate and use energy more efficiently and bring about behavioral adaptations; (ii) to test the energy mix and reshape the power supply and demand by developing utility-scale energy storage systems; (iii) to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology for preventing CO2, for example, from entering the atmosphere and for recycling carbon; (iv) to help produce renewable energy cost-effectively; (v) to store energy from solar cells, wind turbines and manufacture rechargeable batteries; (vi) to invent technologically viable set-ups; (vii) to combat climate change; and (viii) to wean ourselves off fossil fuel dependency or look for alternative energies other than coal, oil, and natural gas (Blanchard & Galí, 2007). Some useful examples of renewable energies include: (i) solar power (photovoltaics; active and passive solar heating); (ii) wind power (onshore and offshore); (iii) water (tidal energy, hydropower, wave power); (iv) geothermal energy; (v) biofuel (biomass, forest and agricultural waste stream, energy crops, sewage or landfill gas, etc.). An observation of this chapter’s author in this respect is that, for sure, the fossil-based energy system is highly complicated; it preferred “few” over the many and is mainly centralized. The demand for decentralized energy infrastructure, the democratization of energy and universal access to energy is higher than ever.

In 2019, Microsoft and Vattenfall in Sweden started a pilot program that offers customers the ability to match its power with renewables; this is done on an hour-by-hour basis by using smart meters to measure real-time energy consumption and guarantees of origin that verify the electricity is from solar, wind or hydropower only (Vattenfall Sweden, 2019).

Google, the American multinational limited liability company (LLC) specialized in internet-related products and services, will now use renewable forecasting data from the Danish startup “Tomorrow” to shift its own computing loads to better match its low-carbon electricity supply. This is in continuation to Google’s white paper entitled, “The Internet is 24×7 – Carbon-free Energy Should Be Too”.

Switzerland, under the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050, aims at replacing 30% of the electricity from nuclear plants with renewable energy. The “HyEnergy” project maps incident solar radiation through the country for every single hour of the year by using satellite measurements from machine learning technology and the statistical power of Big Data. Such a methodology is found to be useful in measuring renewable energy potential – for sun, wind, and geothermal – and provide a basis for future decision making in transitioning to decentralized local grids and energy distribution.

The practical value of institutional entrepreneurship is worth studying (Heiskanen et al., 2019), and within the energy field, it’s interesting to see how various types of institutional entrepreneurships have promoted wind power “differently” in India and Finland (Jolly et al., 2016). Energy stakeholders are now almost forced to implement much more innovation-based business practices and entrepreneurial development with regard to clean energy and renewable energy based projects associated with better finance models describing a robust energy system to which many aspire. And it is obvious that, as a solution, a “low-carbon economy” or “clean electricity” is expected to contribute to the energy mix by reducing the dependency on “carbon-based” energy, for example, on internal combustion engine vehicles by way of employing well-planned and carefully operated variable and non-synchronous sources of power generation integrating solar photovoltaics and wind energy systems, while the power grid is coupled with an energy storage facility that manages fluctuating renewable energy. Grids on a large-scale and energy storage devices or batteries on a small-scale on a single charge will help us to use renewable energy from the sun, say for example in transportation. Some leading civil societies and business entities are calling for a recovery from the environmental and economic crises (i) by adopting to a long-term growth model based on net-zero emissions, (ii) by supporting regulatory reforms and making wise decisions about the grid and storage investments – to be addressed together, and are also stating that such a comprehensive approach would put the world on a stronger and cleaner footing, and some years from now, us seeking guidance of stakeholders would be said to have built a carefully planned sustainable business trajectory avoiding short-term GHG emission-intensive instant money-making business, or some sort of cover-up with a war-like situation, diplomatic-deadlock, and/or a pandemic. Off late, Repsol and British Petroleum have also committed to reduce GHG emissions to zero. According to the Abu Dhabi Power Corporation in UAE, Al Dhafra – the world’s largest solar project – is planning on producing electricity and providing the lowest-ever energy tariffs. Recently, HydroWing and Tocardo, in an ambitious decarbonization plan, jointly announced tidal hydrogen generation, storage and off-take. Innovation in green or sustainable chemistry and engineering will be key to transitioning to clean energy production and storage devices or technologies. I, the author of this chapter, will now discuss some of the interesting chemistry research, case studies, and ventures that are helping us smoothly transition to renewable-based energy systems.

4.          Chemistry to Combat Climate Change and the Energy Challenge

4.1   Chemistry Research and Enterprise

The Energy Statistics Database maintained at the United Nations Statistics Division is a continued effort to provide a comprehensive picture of the energy sector worldwide and thereby contains integrated and updated statistics with regards to energy production, conversion, trade, and also the final consumption of primary and secondary, conventional and non-conventional, or new and renewable sources of energy (UN The Energy Statistics Database, 2020)[CE6] [P7] [P8] . This dataset sourced from more than 230 countries/territories relates also to alcohol consumption by the chemical industry .

As per the law of the conservation of energy, science takes the view that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. Though global warming is caused by the combustion of carbonaceous materials into accumulated heat emissions or derived forms of energy, chemistry can play a critical role in controlling climate-forcing agents and energy loss, and the transition from a fossil fuel based energy system to a more sustainable one is impossible without the science of chemistry (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. A simplistic view of the process and material involved in various different sources, resources, or forms of energy 

Scientifically, chemistry is at the heart of petroleum products and/or their conversions. Synfuel is defined as a synthetic crude or gaseous and/or synthetic liquid product from the chemical conversion (AEO, 2006) of syngas (i.e., a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) from coal, natural gas, biomass, industrial, or other (municipal) solid waste feedstocks (Lee, Speight & Loyalka 2007; Seo et al., 2018). The worldwide synfuel production capacity was around 240,000 barrels per day in accordance with the data obtained in July 2019. This synthetic fuel is refined by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis or coal liquefaction or methanol to gasoline conversion. Synfuel and syngas are both useful chemical feedstock for further value-addition (Höök & Aleklett, 2010; Shaikh, 2014a).

Science, engineering, and chemistry in particular, intertwined with sustainability will have to deliver innovative energy technologies with high standards in scalability, stability, economic viability, and sustainability. Chemistry can reduce losses from converting energy carriers. Chemistry can create energy materials for low carbon technologies (Islam et al., 2019). Though reduction of CO2 and its valorization is still a material challenge on the energy efficiency side, chemical industries generate electricity and steam by using combined heat and power (CHP) plants. Such cogeneration plants are very efficient regarding fuel and in the supply of energy on an industrial scale. What we are looking at are some processes such as combustion and the syntheses of functional materials, for example. The chemical industry is therefore leading from the front in energy efficiency. On the utility level, the chemical industry provides smart solutions for energy efficient materials for building insulation, sealants and wraps in houses and factories, home appliances such as radiators or heating and cooling devices, solid-state lighting, electronics, aerospace products, health care products, textiles, and lightweight plastic auto parts that make car fuel efficient. Modern chemistry also seeks to establish a technology-neutral approach by carefully undertaking the “life-cycle assessment” (Herrchen & Klein, 2000) of products and processes, say for example, in the case of the biomass or valorization of an agricultural waste-stream (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. The carbon dioxide cycle through biomass

The Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands has the world’s largest raw materials database and gathers essential knowledge about how these materials are used (Leiden University, 2020).

DuPont, an American multinational chemical company, through its business of innovation is committing to sustainability; its Solamet® – e.g., photovoltaic metallization pastes – is helping to make solar panels more energy efficient by increasing their power output by around 30% (Konno et al., 2010). Chemours Teflon EcoElite™ – biobased, durable, non-fluorinated, water-repellent textile finish protective clothes – reduces water and energy use for outdoor gear or sportswear (Brown et al., 2018). ExxonMobil Corp. technology is transforming algae into low-carbon clean energy. The Dow chemical company is producing silicones useful in solar panels and wind turbines which helps them resist solar radiation and/or extreme weather conditions.

While the development of lithium-ion batteries by notable chemists keeps promising energy storage in a fossil-fuel-free future (Castelvecchi & Stoye, 2019), the fluoride-ion battery, at the same time, is the potential next-generation room temperature rechargeable battery, offering a very high energy-density device for application (Davis et al., 2018). Chemistry and the chemical industries can decide how to produce low-carbon or no-carbon energy, to store or distribute it, or to digitalize and consume it sensibly.

Under high-pressure industrial reactions, the conversion of CO2 into clean fuels requires the right kind of solid catalysts; heterogeneous catalysis is a surface phenomenon, and such catalysts are useful in synthesizing fine chemicals and sometimes selective molecules or chemical building-blocks (Burri et al., 2007; Ross, 2011; Shaikh, 2014b). 

Laboratory materials catalyze artificial photosynthesis, convert solar energy and store it in the chemical bonds of organic molecules. Such catalysts even outperform natural catalytic systems, and demand the need for developing suitable devices for synthetic as well as semi-synthetic strategies (Sokol et al., 2018). There is a widespread interest in electro-catalytic CO2 reduction and using electrolysis to convert water and CO2 into (carbon-containing) organic molecules, value added products, or fuels (Birdja et al., 2019; Qiao et al., 2014).

Technologies such as the CO2 reduction over carbon-based electro-catalysts and the use of water and solar energy to recycle CO2 into environmentally benign fuels over photo-catalysts address the issues of the global energy crisis and global warming simultaneously (Beydoun et al., 1999; Lubitz et al.,[CE5] [P6]  2008; Zhang & Reisner 2020). C.-T. Dinh et al. (2018) reported a very selective and efficient electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethylene over thin copper-catalyst layers in a gas diffusion electrode. The recycling of CO2 and water – in the reverse of fuel combustion – yields liquid hydrocarbon fuel in non-biological processes using renewable or nuclear energy (Graves et al. 2011), which can consequently make a “closed-loop carbon-neutral fuel cycle” possible, if atmospheric CO2 could be captured. In addition to that, CO2 can easily be processed into methane, methanol, or dimethyl ether that burn cleanly in combustion engines (Catizzone et al. 2018). Methanol is a real “clean energy” option (Araya et al. 2020; European Parliament, 2014; Methanol.org, 2020).

The steel industry is considered one of the highest CO2 emitting industries. Swedish Steel India through its HYBRIT (Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology) initiative is working towards green chemistry replacing coking coke with hydrogen in steel manufacturing processes (Åhman et al. 2018).

Research that led to (i) understanding the photo-initiated charge-transfer processes at semiconductor interfaces and (ii) the practical application of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were really ground-breaking. This made a generation of scientists capitalize on the nanoscale for energy conversion since those days when nanotechnology was not a “buzzword”. It is therefore worth noting that the key scientific progress in solar cells and the trendsetting energy applications could have won someone (Meyer, 2010; O'Regan & Grätzel, 1991) the Nobel Prize, but it hasn’t (yet)! For the DSC to be turned into a successfully commercialized product, there is a need to address the current efficiency bottleneck (Peter, 2011; Graetzel, 1981). A lot still needs to be done for development of methodologies to convert solar energy into chemical energy, make the environment clean, and the overall energy production and usage sustainable. Solar cells are set to be developed into more robust, reliable and efficient energy technology for space applications as well, such as to power a Mars rover, robots, and also satellites, or for working under high energy radiation or harsh conditions in space[A9] [P10]  (CESI, 2019; Cardinaletti et al. 2018; Espinet-Gonzalez et al. 2019; Kuendig et al. 2000).

Organic photovoltaics convert solar energy into electrical energy through light absorption (photon absorption and exciton formation), charge separation (exciton dissociation), charge transport, and charge collection (by the electrodes). Researchers seek well-defined molecular design algorithms to concurrently optimize all these four processes (Yeh & Yeh, 2013). What we need now is a renewable energy storage system, so one can use energy when needed, irrespective of whether the wind is blowing or not, or whether the sun is shining or not.

Recent research on AquaPIM makes a case for the aqueous alkaline (flow-) battery technology for successfully producing long-lasting and low-cost grid batteries (Baran et al. 2019). AquaPIM is the polymer-based battery membrane based solely on readily available iron, zinc and water. Lithium-ion batteries are useful in electric vehicles, but the redox-flow batteries are found to possess even more – the much needed large energy capacity, to be able to discharge rapidly.

A scientific study published in 2015 made a radical suggestion on the combustion of metal particles to tap into the stored energy therein; in another approach aluminum was found to be reacting with water to produce hydrogen as a clean fuel (Bergthorson et al. 2015).

Reticular chemistry, the design principles and the chemistry of linking molecular building-blocks behind the syntheses of new classes of crystalline porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and related high surface area materials, have found potential applications in catalysis, electronics, gas separation, and onboard energy storage, while adsorbing hydrogen, methane and CO2 (Li et al. 1999; Yaghi & Li, 2011; Yaghi et al. 1998). In continuation with the idea of storing renewable energy, hydrogen is not only a combustion fuel (Nath & Das, 2007) but also an ideal renewable energy source. At standard pressure and temperature, hydrogen (H2) is a colorless, odorless and highly flammable gas. It can be stored as liquid. And water ((H2O) splitting into hydrogen (H2) could become an industrial version of photosynthesis in the near future (Walter et al. 2010). Producing electricity directly through an electrochemical process by feeding hydrogen gas into a fuel cell is a zero CO2 emission technology. Thus, hydrogen is an energy carrier, and hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to power anything and build up a hydrogen economy by using electricity without toxic emissions (Bossel & Eliasson, 2003). Hydrogen could be the real game changer in the transportation sector; the hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle (HICEV) uses a modified type of the gasoline-powered combustion engine, and the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) uses hydrogen electro-chemically, without combustion. The Hyndai Nexo, with its zero emission rating, is already available for sale in the UK while the Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity are among other examples of the hydrogen cars. Toyota partnered with BMW – the “i Hydrogen NEXT” concept – is among the upcoming all-electric, no-combustion hydrogen car that one should be looking out for. Hydrogen – the most common element in the universe – is a very useful chemical input as well. Hydrogen gas reacts with CO2 and nitrogen (N2) or other gases to make methane or methanol (Chen et al. 2019) and ammonia (Schlögl, 2003) which can also be further transferred into fertilizers, plastics, or pharmaceuticals. Combining a clean electricity source with the electrolytic production of hydrogen gas is found to be economical and useful in quantifying hydrogen generation as a solution to wind power intermittency (see Figure 5.5) (Glenk & Reichelstein, 2019).

Figure 5. The energy chain utilizing CO2-free ammonia synthesis for power generation 

About 95% of hydrogen produced globally is via the reforming of low-cost natural gas where methane reacts with steam under high (3–25 bar) pressure and high (700–1000°C) temperature over a nickel catalyst, leaving CO2 as a waste stream. The process is strongly endothermic and is famously called steam methane reforming (SMR).

SMR:

CH4 + H2O (+ heat) → CO + 3H2

Auto-thermal reforming (ATR; using CO2 and steam):

2 CH4 + O2 + CO2 → 3 H2 + 3 CO + H2O

4 CH4 + O2 + 2 H2O → 10 H2 + 4 CO

Water-gas shift reaction:

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 (+ small amount of heat)

Partial oxidation of methane:

CH4 + ½O2 → CO + 2H2 (+ heat)

Methanation (exothermic):

CO + 3H2 → CH4 + H2O

CO2 + 4H2→ CH4 + 2H2O

SMR is more effective than ATR in producing hydrogen which is further used as a feedstock for the fuel cell technology. A recent study reports electrified SMR that facilitates catalyst utilization and also the contact between heat source and reaction site to produce more hydrogen by reducing CO2 formation  (Wismann et al. 2019). Researches in chemistry, reactor design and engineering are therefore in high demand for greening fossil-based energy and fine chemical technologies. Every chemical transformation can yield potential applications in energy management and thereby in developing molecular or material performance. In other words, research is needed to identify and investigate the chemical transformations that have high energy densities. We know that, for example, a chemical reaction, especially the reversible one, has the potential to convert, store, and manage or utilize thermal energy efficiently.

Water splitting by electrolysis produces H2. On a small scale, researchers have succeeded in making hydrogen via electrolysis by converting electricity from the sun and/or the wind. This business can be grown. Since 2017, Nouryon, formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, in Amsterdam, has been supplying hydrogen – obtained as a byproduct from the chlorine production plant – for operating hydrogen-powered buses at Frankfurt-Höchst industrial park in Germany. And Nouryon is also partnering with Tata Steel India and the RISE institutes in Sweden to produce and use hydrogen renewably (Nouryon, 2018). Nouryon has teamed up with the Dutch energy company NUON to work towards incorporating hydrogen into the ammonia process. Nouryon in collaboration with the Dutch gas transporter Gasunie is investigating methanol synthesis using hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis, plus CO, CO2, and biomass (Nouryon, 2018). Aiming at Europe’s largest green hydrogen project, the Shell oil company is partnering with Gasunie in the “NortH2” initiative off the Netherlands, and thereby plans to have in place 10 GW of wind turbines by 2040. In addition to that, Shell would like to advance the NortH2 project with a large hydrogen electrolyzer at Eemshaven by linking up with Groningen Seaports.

Cooperatives have a different model of ownership than private business organizations (Hansmann, H.B. 1996).  Royal DSM, in the Netherlands, has a local initiative driven by citizen cooperatives and members of a green energy purchasing consortium to obtain energy from wind farms in south-west Holland. And, Royal DSM deals with the Dutch energy supplier Eneco to aim at making 100% of electricity purchases in the Netherlands to come from renewable sources only (Ottewell, 2019).

The Haber-Bosch process is used for the industrial production of ammonia (NH3) directly from nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2), requiring H2 that is obtained from coal or natural gas as a source under very high pressure and super-heated steam. But the factories emit a vast amount of CO2 in the overall process. Hydrogen gas is fed to fuel cells. Fuel cells power vehicles. Fuel cells generate electricity from the energy stored in chemical bonds. Ammonia synthesized from sun, air, and water can offer the sustainable technology we need: ammonia can easily be cooled into liquid fuel and stored, and when needed, it can be converted back into electricity or hydrogen gas (Service, 2018; Zhou et al. 2017). Ma[A5] [P6] laysia, one of the largest supplier nations of palm oil, is developing various thermo-chemical processes for producing hydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass (Mohammed et al. 2011).

The chemical recycling of CO2 is near the top of the agenda for chemists (Centi & Perathoner, 2009). The Sabatier reaction, for example, is useful in catalytically transferring CO2 into a carrier of chemical energy (Muller et al. 2013). M[A9] [P10] ethane (CH4) thus produced has immense chemical value and can be converted into methanol (Cui et al. 2018) or ammonia (Bai et al. 2018). Methane thereby holds a feedstock potential for the synthesis of organic chemicals and can also be fed into the existing natural gas network:

CO2 + 4H2 → CH4 + 2H2O

Such technologies have once again brought catalysis to the center of chemistry in dealing with the climate challenge caused by fossil-based energy. And topics such as this bring about a positive change in the energy–chemistry nexus through alternative energy technology and chemical material wealth creation for investing in sustainable entrepreneurship and also for considering environmental regulations that have started to influence the present day petroleum refining technologies. Chemical science will have to deliver much useful research with innovative clean energy technologies with plausible scalability for industrial applications (Perathoner et al. 2017). In an energy storage business, raw materials are very important. The EU’s assessment of minerals shows that cobalt is critical and a conflict mineral. Though nickel replaces cobalt in many cases, it is only about three to four times more prevalent. Finally, it’s a well-known fact that lithium is not critical, but is highly strategic (Boissoneault, 2015; Drape, 2019; Malik, 2020). It would be interesting to see calcium (Nature news, 2019; Zhenyou et al. 2019) and other elements store solar and wind power, and possibly replace lithium in batteries (Kavanagh et al. 2018).

4.2   Progress in Futuristic Energy

Norway sees the future in renewables, especially in electricity from wind, sun, and water. It provides incentives to people who support the technological and business shift to renewables. Smart meters allow customers to harvest, store, and even sell solar energy back to power selling companies. And when it comes to Norway’s smart-thinking business or wise investment decisions on renewable energy technologies developed by innovators, it’s easy to believe that we can also stop driving other monopolized industrial economies on a one-way road to climate apocalypse. Norwegian company Ruden’s iHEAT system is an entirely underground battery, developed using existing geological structures for storing heat from solar or wind power stations or waste incineration sites and then converting it into electricity. Oslo was honored with the European Green Capital award for 2019, on account of the many good works done by individuals and institutions in tackling climate change by conserving nature and by restoring the waterway network. GHG emissions are cut by adopting electric-battery-based transportation, and the Oslo municipality aims for a circular waste system with well-functioning waste-to-energy, sorting, and biogas/fertilizer plants. High-lift heat pumps are used by Olyondo Technology for recycling heat from waste into high-temperature process steam for use in industries.

Fjords provide a structural advantage to Norway, and it is the largest hydro-powered nation in Europe and the seventh largest in the world. It is also the third largest exporter of natural gas, and the eighth largest exporter of oil. Norway is trying to use the oil and gas sector for chemical commodities and feedstock conversion sustainably. It is now leading electric battery vehicles and also the electric mobility revolution, and it has become a big market for electric cars and renewable-powered living. Equinor Norway and its subsidiaries such as Hywind Scotland and Hywind Tampen are among the first floating offshore wind farms in the world. The difficulty with regards to finding space is solved by building solar and wind farms on water. Ocean Sun is another company specializing in floating solar in Norway, and will also be cooperating with Statkraft’s Banja reservoir in Albania. Aquaculture industry inspired Ocean Sun’s patented technology of silicon solar modules installed on large floating structures. The Statkraft Company has Europe’s largest virtual power plant which connects over 1300 solar and wind energy installations in Germany, and accumulates energy from flexible gas production, solar, wind, and battery storage in the United Kingdom, and operates successfully toward developing solar power capacity in India, Spain, and the Netherlands. Aiming at mitigating GHG emissions, Norway is planning on developing fully electrified domestic passenger planes by the year 2030. The Norwegian shipping industry has also promised to develop carbon-free business. The location of northern Norway in particular due to its cold climate and accessibility to dark fiber [CE1] [P2] offers a lot of scope for a robust data center such as Kolos – powered by 100% wind and hydropower.

On a philosophical note, the climate emergency doesn’t describe the planet as a failure, but vividly shows a lack of our love for it. Industrialists need always to be honest and shouldn’t mind sounding ignorant if someone points out to them the potential dangers for human health from manufacturing or disposal processes. Though global warming and pollution have caused a man-made climate crisis, it’s not all downhill from here, and I believe that our inherited knowledge and future scholarly sustainable enterprises will suffice to take on the energy and environmental challenges. Water vapor in the atmosphere can be used as a source of energy[A3] [P4]  (Lax et al. 2020) and hydrogen can be produced by planting enzymes into sample algae [A5] [P6] (Kanygin et al. 2020). Today’s actions to create sustainable energy solutions can present us with inclusive and positive socio-economic development and ensure our future (IRENA Report on a Roadmap to 2050, 2018). Science can help us assess where we stand and what needs to be done while progressing and achieving the SDGs (Global Sustainable Development Report of the UN, 2019). There is a lot to learn from each other and collaborate to make this transition to a renewable energy system possible, with a focus on no-carbon footprint, our sustenance, and our sustain“Ability”. There are some good examples to seek inspiration from; we may promise ourselves to treat resources with respect and restore them, as and when required, because the planet earth and its motherly resources are our only shared home.

5.          Conclusion and Future Directions

Chemistry – the study of matter, its properties, reactions, and interaction with energy or energy conversion – plays a strategic role in sustainable development (Shaikh. 2019). The science of chemistry gives a credible impression of achieving sustainability through various practical approaches, operational tools and monitoring tools. Chemistry is not only confined to offering molecules and materials for energy storage, catalysts for easing reactions, and minimizing waste, but it also greatly influences life-cycle assessment, and resource and energy efficiency. I have highlighted herein the cross-sectional roles of chemistry in transforming the energy system; it’s worth noting how chemistry responds to “energy” and “climate” crises by offering non-nuclear alternative energy processes.

Chemistry can help us find ways to control and convert energy by bearing it “in chemical bonds”, and also by seeking fine chemicals or value-added products, as it has done over the centuries by creating high-density fossil energy carriers through geochemical processes. As the eminent Professor Robert Schlögl once said, “Chemistry is at the centre of the energy challenge and the transformation of energy systems into a sustainable future will be impossible without chemical energy conversion”. Chemistry can contribute to climate change goals by controlling the “energetic cost” of the conversion of energy carriers (Schlögl, 2016). Innovations in green or sustainable chemistry and engineering will be key to transitioning to eco-efficient and cost-effective energy. While development of clean energy generation technologies is on the horizon, recent research offers strategies for creating the energy mix and novel approaches of energy conversion. This includes early stage venture capitalists and clean energy technology incubators, focusing on end-use efficiency, demand control, and the de-carbonization of the electricity sector irrespective of the source from where electricity is derived (Bumpus & Comello, 2020; OECD, 2020; Shaahid & El-Amin, 2009). Re[A1] [P2] newable electricity can also be stored as chemical energy in fuels. We have already succeeded in transforming primary energy from the sun into free energy, and there is a great opportunity ahead for industries to access and mix wind, water, and other overlooked renewable resources to develop a low carbon or carbon-neutral energy supply, energy carriers, smart materials, batteries, and relevant zero-emission energy technologies (Arico et al. 2005; Balaya, 2008; Manthiram et al. 2008).[A3]  [P4] The expanding information and communication technology (ICT) sector causes more than 2% of global carbon emissions. Efficient heat conduction through piped water or free air cooling along with the dark and cold climate of the northern countries offer much scope in managing the high-performance computers of a data center and thereby to stop such data centers from gobbling up electricity (Jones, 2018).

The chemical storage of energy and hydrogen as the zero-emission fuel is one of the hot topics of research (Lu et al. 2011; Zhang et al. 2018, 2019), and there are potential technological pathways for producing hydrocarbons without using fossil fuels or biomass and also for mitigating the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and in the acidification of oceans (Barker & Ridgwell, 2012). Countries exporting waste to waste-to-energy plants abroad and treating the oceans as a CO2 sink should rethink their approach to pollution prevention and waste management. Major anthropogenic activities, including excessive land-use change or cultivating practices, livestock, and deforestation, together with the direct combustion of fossil fuels and industries contribute to the addition of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Lal, 2004; Mitchell 1989). The recycling of CO2 and water – in the reverse of fuel combustion – yields liquid hydrocarbon fuel in non-biological processes using renewable or nuclear energy; this would enable a closed-loop carbon-neutral fuel cycle, if atmospheric CO2 could be captured (and stored).

Researchers continue to look for advancing electricity-based production or synthesis of useful chemical commodities like ammonia (Schlögl, 2003) electrochemically (Lazouski et al. 2020). A development in industrial chemistry demands, for example, looking into the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into ethanol and ethylene as a fuel/fuel additive and as a useful monomer respectively (De Luna et al. 2019, 2020). [A7] Progress is needed in catalysts and catalysis to be able to make chemical commodities by electrochemical processes and scale them up and make them quick and practical.

This chapter, though at the cross-roads of many disciplines, has not aimed at replacing specialized expertise on renewable energy, digitalization, and entrepreneurship in their separate domains, but it has attempted to give a genuine insight on how chemistry is at the heart of energy technologies and how it is important to better understand the key role chemistry has in the shift from the current fossil-based energy system to renewable-based energy projects, including the scope towards commercialization, decentralization, and the importance of sustainable entrepreneurship in addressing the energy challenge and climate crisis. In addition to that, readers may appreciate understanding the overlooked renewables and the strength that chemistry offers in energy conversion and materials wealth. This knowledge is intended for students, scholars, entrepreneurs, policy makers, as well as practitioners, including those with no formal training in chemical science and energy technologies.

Society is dependent on local policy makers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and scientists when it comes to discussing science, technological advancements, and their implications. Scientific literacy through education, awareness campaigns, regular dialogue, and communication provides a platform for the public (Shaikh, 2012) and policy makers for reforming the foundations of their knowledge of scientific activities and relevant policy developments and discussions about the risks and ethics of energy technologies. Education, especially within STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), research, and entrepreneurial sustainable development are keys for dealing with these issues and without them it’s impossible for us and future generations to identify the severity of the problems we face and troubleshoot them in time and wisely (Shaikh, 2015, 2016).

An observation of mine in this respect is that the fossil-fuel-based energy system is highly complicated; the “few” are preferred over the many, and it is mainly centralized. It’s high time we start looking for a shared or public ownership of the energy sector, be it microgeneration or large-scale production, distribution, or storage. Innovation that was brought into our lives through fossil fuels has been found to be the cause of climate change; it needs to be greened now by cutting GHG emissions sustainably or replacing them with clean fuels. Our love for capitalism, industrialization, life sophistication, and growth should not lead us to lose our relationship with the planet. It was knowledge technology that brought energy to the doorsteps of mankind, and that’s our common heritage! But later it was monopolized and developed into a tool for exploitation – exploitation of the people and also the planet to such an extent that one day we might lose the life-supporting system this planet offers. Scientific evidence shows us that it is high time we keep a check on the fossil-based energy system and our greed for industrialization in pursuit of material wealth by disregarding nature; the mode of denial of the climate crisis is appalling.

To conclude, this chapter has provided a synopsis of the key findings, theory, and technological advances directed toward entrepreneurial sustainable development through chemistry, materials, renewable resources, or clean energy technologies, as well as concerted international efforts in policy making and practices in meeting today’s energy challenge and climate change goals using digitalization wherever necessary and developing a robust economic system for entrepreneurs improving local energy delivery while undertaking carbon sequestration to secure CO2 and prevent it from entering the atmosphere. It’s also important to not let exploiters build monopoly around the newly evolved renewable-based energy system.

As Albert Einstein, the genius scientist once said, “We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”. And that’s what the power structure would be doing if it keeps pushing the planet to the brink of collapse due to un-sustainable industrial enterprise and considering depopulation as a strategy to manage resources and regions. Sorry if that’s a lot of criticism; I hereby declare that this text is not a part of any cynical, anti-capitalist, or regressive propaganda! The basic idea here, despite all the verbiage, is simple: There is an urgent need to institute a holistic approach, awaken humanism, and develop among people the scientific temper – the spirit of inquiry and reform to carry us through this critical phase the planet is living due to current resource consumption and the fossil fuel based energy system that is causing climate change and a race for resources and regions.

The most highlighted fact is that the renewables and the chemistry surrounding renewables represent an interesting scope for futuristic energy. The literature survey and ideas noted above do not fully claim to conceptualize all the aspects of renewable-based energy projects, digitalization, and sustainable entrepreneurship. In the review of the literature, the basic concept of fossil-based fuel, gas-to-liquid technology, pollution caused by the oil and gas industries, a shift to using direct or indirect solar energy, artificial photosynthesis, wind energy, hydrogen energy, and the various strategies for benign energy conversions have been discussed. This chapter has elucidated the pivotal role of chemical science intertwined with sustainability to deliver energy conversion methodologies with inventive steps and the possibility of commercialization at high standards of scalability and scalability. The chapter has illustrated the significance of a variety of energy conversions and their relationship to climate change from the chemistry point of view. The ideas noted and the many useful references cited do not fully claim to conceptualize all the aspects of chemistry for futuristic energy but might offer clues on new directions of research and also an evaluation of the sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities to address them in a state-of-the-art and in a what-if manner. Scientific activities and policy making can concurrently be pushed to prioritize and overcome the technical challenges in renewable energy generation, conversion, storage, distribution, or discharge. On the basis of a careful assessment of renewable-based energy projects, choices can be made in meeting the energy challenge, together with tackling the adverse effects caused by fossil fuel based energy technologies.

Conflict of interests

The author has no conflict of interest to declare. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that the institutes, the author is affiliated to for the moment, have provided no funding and or no direct or indirect input.*

References (164 in number)

© ISAK SHAIKH 2020

Table of Contents

Abstract

Chapter : Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Fossil Free Sustainable Enterprise

1                    Introduction: Background and

2                    Driving Forces for Futuristic Energy Enterprise

2.1             Sustainability: Another Look at Resources and Renewability                               

2.2             Energy, Environment and Economy

2.3             Oil Diplomacy and the Petrodollar

3                Paradigm Shift: Understanding Change in Energy Infrastructure

3.1             Electricity 

3.2             Shift towards Digitalized Energy Technology and Sustainable Entrepreneurship                                                                                                               

4                Chemistry to Combat Climate Change and Energy Challenge

4.1             Chemistry Research and Enterprise

4.2             Progress in Futuristic Energy

5                Conclusion and Future Directions

                   References

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The current energy system and the simplistic role of chemical conversions to fossil, low-fossil and possibly no-fossil based energy system transformation

Figure 2: Energy System and Sustainability

Figure 3: A simplistic view of the process and material involved in various different sources, resources or forms of energy

Figure 4: Carbon Dioxide Cycle through Biomass

Figure 5: The energy chain utilizing CO2 - free ammonia synthesis for power generation