Challenges of Green Growth – Limited Energy Return on Energy Invested & Critical Raw Material Shortage
Any energy supply system must provide a sufficient energy surplus after taking into account the energy required to build and maintain that system, i.e., the EROEI (Energy Return on Energy Invested) must be higher than about 5...10 to support complex industrial societies. This can easily be achieved by burning fossil fuels, which, however, causes global warming. Therefore, a clean energy transition to renewables is mandatory and underway, but with challenges such as the need for energy storage and new power transmission lines over long distances. If these are taken into account, a 100% renewable energy system could show an EROEI of less than 5. Moreover, the transition will require significant quantities of critical minerals, which in some cases exceed known reserves and/or are subject to geopolitical constraints on sourcing and processing. These aspects will be discussed in the presentation, concluding by proposing firstly a “more-with-less” approach in power electronics, i.e., highly compact and highly efficient power converters, and secondly the need to pursue a zero-waste paradigm towards fully circular economy compatible power electronics.
Speaker: Johann W. Kolar, ETH Zurich, CH
Chairperson: Marc Hiller, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE