Geophysical constraints on the reliability of solar and wind power worldwide

If future net-zero emissions energy systems rely heavily on solar and wind resources, spatial and temporal mismatches between resource availability and electricity demand may challenge system reliability. Using 39 years of hourly reanalysis data (1980–2018), we analyze the ability of solar and wind resources to meet electricity demand in 42 countries, varying the hypothetical scale and mix of renewable generation as well as energy storage capacity. Assuming perfect transmission and annual generation equal to annual demand, but no energy storage, we find the most reliable renewable electricity systems are wind-heavy and satisfy countries’ electricity demand in 72–91% of hours (83–94% by adding 12 h of storage). Yet even in systems which meet >90% of demand, hundreds of hours of unmet demand may occur annually. Our analysis helps quantify the power, energy, and utilization rates of additional energy storage, demand management, or curtailment, as well as the benefits of regional aggregation.

DC Nanogrids for Integration of Demand Response and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructures: Appraisal, Optimal Scheduling and Analysis

With the development of electronic infrastructures and communication technologies and protocols, electric grids have evolved towards the concept of Smart Grids, which enable the communication of the different agents involved in their operation, thus notably increasing their efficiency. In this context, microgrids and nanogrids have emerged as invaluable frameworks for optimal integration of renewable sources, electric mobility, energy storage facilities and demand response programs. This paper discusses a DC isolated nanogrid layout for the integration of renewable generators, battery energy storage, demand response activities and electric vehicle charging infrastructures. Moreover, a stochastic optimal scheduling tool is developed for the studied nanogrid, suitable for operators integrated into local service entities along with the energy retailer. A stochastic model is developed for fast charging stations in particular. A case study serves to validate the developed tool and analyze the economical and operational implications of demand response programs and charging infrastructures. Results evidence the importance of demand response initiatives in the economic profit of the retailer.

How much energy storage can we afford? On the need for a sunflower society, aligning demand with renewable supply

Our society has become accustomed to demanding energy whenever we want it. When decarbonising the energy system, this becomes a fundamental challenge due to the extent of energy storage required for matching the intermittent renewable supply to society's current demand. Available energy storage technologies are energetically expensive either to build - like batteries - or to operate - like synthetic fuels. Due to these energetic costs, requiring more storage leads to a slower energy transition and consequently higher climate risks. This paper explores the energy implications of adding energy storage to fast and complete energy transition pathways. Technological innovation can mitigate the problem to some extent by focusing on reduced energy intensity of storage alongside with improved turnaround efficiency. Most influential is, however, the extent of storage that we want: reducing storage demand greatly accelerates the transition and therefore reduces the induced probability of violating 1.5°C peak heating. In addition, it can immediately be implemented with readily available and scalable technologies. However, it requires a fundamental rethinking of the way we use energy in society: aligning energy demand with renewable supply as best as we can. Following the course of the sun, just like sunflowers do, we need to schedule our most energy-intensive activities around midday and summer, while reducing demand during night and winter. The sunflower society has the potential to accelerate climate action and therewith reduce climate risks.

Matrix Equation Techniques for Certain Evolutionary Partial Differential Equations

We show that the discrete operator stemming from time-space discretization of evolutionary partial differential equations can be represented in terms of a single Sylvester matrix equation. A novel solution strategy that combines projection techniques with the full exploitation of the entry-wise structure of the involved coefficient matrices is proposed. The resulting scheme is able to efficiently solve problems with a tremendous number of degrees of freedom while maintaining a low storage demand as illustrated in several numerical examples.

On the convergence of Krylov methods with low-rank truncations

Low-rank Krylov methods are one of the few options available in the literature to address the numerical solution of large-scale general linear matrix equations. These routines amount to well-known Krylov schemes that have been equipped with a couple of low-rank truncations to maintain a feasible storage demand in the overall solution procedure. However, such truncations may affect the convergence properties of the adopted Krylov method. In this paper we show how the truncation steps have to be performed in order to maintain the convergence of the Krylov routine. Several numerical experiments validate our theoretical findings.

Complementarity and ‘Resource Droughts’ of Solar and Wind Energy in Poland: An ERA5-Based Analysis

In recent years, Poland has experienced a significant increase in the installed capacity of solar and wind power plants. Renewables are gaining increasing interest not only because of Poland’s obligations to European Union policies, but also because they are becoming cheaper. Wind and solar energy are fairly-well investigated technologies in Poland and new reports are quite frequently added to the existing research works documenting their potential and the issues related to their use. In this article, we analyze the spatial and temporal behavior of solar and wind resources based on reanalysis datasets from ERA5. This reanalysis has been selected because it has appropriate spatial and temporal resolution and fits the field measurements well. The presented analysis focuses only on the availability of energy potential/resources, so characteristics intrinsic to energy conversion (like wind turbine power curve) were not considered. The analysis considered the last 40 years (1980–2019) of available data. The Spearman coefficient of correlation was considered as a complementarity metric, and the Mann–Kendal test was used to assess the statistical significance of trends. The results revealed that: The temporal complementarity between solar and wind resources exists mostly on a seasonal scale and is almost negligible for daily and hourly observations. Moreover, solar and wind resources in joint operation exhibit a smoother availability pattern (assessed based on coefficient of variation). Further findings show that the probability of ‘resource droughts’ (periods when cumulative generation was less than arbitrary threshold) lasting one day is 11.5% for solar resources, 21.3% for wind resources and only 6.2% if both resources are considered in a joint resource evaluation. This situation strongly favors the growth of local hybrid systems, as their combined power output would exhibit lower variability and intermittency, thus decreasing storage demand and/or smoothing power system operation.

Bioinspired MXene-integrated colloidal crystal arrays for multichannel bioinformation coding

Information coding strategies are becoming increasingly crucial due to the storage demand brought by the information explosion. In particular, bioinformation coding has attracted great attention for its advantages of excellent storage capacity and long lifetime. Herein, we present an innovative bioinspired MXene-integrated photonic crystal (PhC) array for multichannel bioinformation coding. PhC arrays with similar structure to Stenocara beetle’s back are utilized as the substrate, exhibiting properties of high throughput and stability. MXene nanosheets are further integrated on the PhC array’s substrate with the assistance of the adhesion capacity of mussel-inspired dopamine (DA). Benefitting from their fluorescence resonance energy transfer effect, MXene nanosheets can quench the fluorescence signals of quantum dot (QD) modified DNA probes unless the corresponding targets exist. Additionally, these black MXene nanosheets can enhance the contrast of structural color. In this case, the encrypted information can be easily read out by simply observing the fluorescence signal of DNA probes. It is demonstrated that this strategy based on bioinspired MXene-integrated PhC arrays can realize high-throughput information encoding and encryption, which opens a chapter of bioinformation coding.