IEEE Spectrum’s most read energy stories of 2024 center on creative ways to produce, store, and connect more carbon-free energy. Our readers can learn more about power beams, new types of fusion, vertical solar farms, powerful ways to drill deep into the earth’s crust to harness geothermal energy, and the grid hardware that connects renewable energy projects. I was thinking that I would like to know. Big Tech’s bold move to secure nuclear energy for its future data centers dominated international headlines in 2024, and readers loved Spectrum’s technology-focused coverage of the topic. Cheers to the Top 10 Energy Stories of 2024.
Illustration: Tavis Coburn
Imagine a massive solar farm orbiting in space, collecting unobstructed sunlight and delivering gigawatts of power to Earth. This concept, called space-based solar power, is an idea so grand and so appealing that engineers and government agencies have spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to make it a reality. I did. After all, shouldn’t we try to install solar panels in areas where the sun shines constantly? In May, Henri Bardet, who recently retired from the European Space Agency (ESA) He gave a lengthy explanation of why both solar power plants should be located above ground.
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The Stellarator is a machine that is as fantastic as it looks. Its purpose is to recreate the physics of stars by fusing atomic nuclei, thereby generating infinite fusion energy. These machines are typically giant tentacled devices that take billions of dollars and decades to build. But researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) were able to build it in less than a year at a cost of US$640,000. It sat on a table and was built using off-the-shelf 3D printed parts. Spectrum contributing editor Tom Clynes visits PPPL to find out how the world’s humblest stellarator works and how it’s already influenced the creation of two fusion energy startups. He gave me detailed information about what was going on.
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If we can drill deep enough, we have the potential to harness vast amounts of geothermal energy from the Earth’s crust. In March, Spectrum profiled an MIT spinoff company that was testing one potential solution: using a machine called a gyrotron to bombard rocks with powerful microwaves and vaporize them. The technology is used in fusion experiments to heat and control plasma, and MIT spinoff Quiase Energy is applying it to drill up to 20 kilometers into the Earth’s crust. Today, the deepest man-made hole in existence extends 12,262 meters below the surface in Siberia and took almost 20 years to excavate.
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What’s the best way to manage excess grid-scale energy from solar and wind power? According to a study published in IEEE Transactions on Energy Management, the answer is hydrogen storage. It beats compressed air and four types of batteries in terms of scale, cost, and compatibility. The study suggests that costs could be reduced by around 60% if Germany expanded the use of hydrogen storage at renewable energy power plants across the country. Freelance contributor Michelle Hampson summarizes her research in this reader-favorite article.
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For more than 15 years, renewable energy enthusiasts have been excited about the emergence of perovskite solar cells, which can convert solar energy more efficiently than established technologies such as silicon-based solar PV, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium diselenide. I was looking forward to it. Manufacturers have said for years that commercialization is on the horizon, but no company has delivered a product by March 2024. Part of the problem is that perovskite manufacturers aren’t using the same manufacturing techniques as the small labs that developed them, reports Spectrum contributing editor Dexter Johnson. . Oxford PV announced its first shipments of perovskite in September, but widespread commercialization remains uncertain.
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As more renewable energy generation and storage is added to the power grid, operators must turn to grid-forming inverters as an increasingly critical piece of infrastructure. These devices convert DC power into grid-compatible alternating current, allowing batteries, solar power, and wind turbines to connect to the grid. And on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, they prevented disaster, write Benjamin Kropowski and Andy Hawk of the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. For regions to meet their renewable energy goals, the authors say they need to increase their use of grid-forming inverters.
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In December 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) revealed that a nuclear fusion reaction occurred, resulting in more energy than was needed to start the fusion reaction. . In February of this year, a paper published in Physical Review Letters finally confirmed LLNL’s claims. He also detailed the intricate engineering and exquisite preparatory choreography that made this instant fusion possible, highlighting the tremendous amount of work that remains. Spectrum contributing editor Edd Gent sums it up in this informative news analysis.
Kristen Mullen/Associated Press
One of the biggest trends in energy in 2024 was the sudden takeover of nuclear power by Big Tech. Meta, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have all announced ambitious deals to secure nuclear power for their future AI operations and data centers. Freelance contributor Andrew Moseman reported that in March, Amazon purchased a data center next to a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania in hopes of buying large amounts of power directly from the plant. We have started a series of announcements. But regulators later rejected Amazon’s proposal in a precedent-setting move. Spectrum will continue to provide our readers with articles on this topic.
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One of the disadvantages of solar power plants is that they can take up fertile agricultural land. But German startup Next2Sun’s vertical solar panels work alongside crops. These bifacial modules collect sunlight from both sides of the panel and are especially effective in the morning and evening when the sun is low. Freelance contributor Rebecca Heilweil explains this simple view of agrivoltaics.
The age of silicon has arrived…Battery Group 14
Researchers have made significant improvements to lithium-ion batteries over the past 30 years, mostly on the lithium metal oxide cathode side. In contrast, the company’s graphite anodes remain largely unchanged, even though silicon is a promising alternative. This year, several automakers and silicon anode startups partnered to introduce silicon into battery cells in hopes of producing more affordable EVs that can charge longer distances and faster. Prachi Patel’s news article explains these automakers’ approach to silicon batteries.
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