We must aim to implement more efficient energies, adopt responsible consumption of limited resources, and create a sustainable planet while continuing to use technology.
Energy consumption and efficiency are back in the media spotlight due to the recent celebration of World Environment Day and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, particularly regarding the consumption and exploitation of polluting and impractical resources such as coal. This energy source, unsuitable for today’s society, ranks second in global consumption at 29%, only behind oil, which leads at 33%, according to recent data published by the World Energy Council.
However, despite the world’s current focus on optimizing the exploitation processes of available energy sources, the keys to energy consumption and efficiency truly lie in innovations in renewable energies, which collectively account for a meager 9.5% of global consumption.
On the optimistic side, oil and gas reserves are likely to run out in less than a century, and such a polluting and inefficient resource as coal cannot be considered a real alternative for a future with energy demands as high as expected. Hence, the roadmap for energy consumption must be oriented toward innovative solutions for the challenges we face today, especially those centered on renewable energies, as they offer the greatest potential.
For instance, an innovative process involves incorporating new nanotechnology materials into solar panels, allowing us to “play” with their characteristics to adapt them to various locations, make them hydrophobic, and improve conversion efficiency by up to 45% compared to current levels. This is not the only type of energy undergoing such innovations: worldwide efforts by several startups aim to enhance the efficiency of biofuel production, as in the case of Biogas+, by adding iron nanoparticles to accelerate the degradation processes of organic matter that generate biofuel.
The roadmap to follow includes innovative solutions in renewable energies.
Moving from nanotechnology to engineering, we find bold projects such as Vortex Bladeless, a radical modification of wind turbine structures that harness the energy generated by the phenomenon of vorticity. These types of innovative and disruptive solutions, which also help minimize environmental damage, are supported by the Fundación Repsol Entrepreneurs Fund.
Generating new energy resources is not the only challenge facing our society; energy waste is another major problem, with shocking data revealing that the West wastes more than half of the energy it consumes. Therefore, implementing innovative processes to maximize energy efficiency performance is absolutely necessary, starting with technologies already being developed in laboratories and companies worldwide, such as Internet of Things systems, smart materials, and energy storage innovations.
“Smart” floor tiles that heat only the occupied areas of a building where pressure is detected, or nanosensors that monitor energy infrastructures to reduce repair times and prevent energy waste, are some of the real projects under development at the Fundación Repsol Entrepreneurs Fund, generating a change that not only benefits us as individuals but also converges in the common social good.
The West wastes more than half of the energy it consumes.
Lastly, we face the challenge of repairing the damage already done. Since 1950, global emissions have increased by 600%, triggering a social alarm and resulting in significant resource investment to halt this trend. Other innovative projects are being developed globally, such as chemical compounds that filter the air to “capture” CO2 and later liquefy it so it can be reused or eliminated through other means, or reinvesting CO2 into the industries that generated it to harness its thermal energy.
In conclusion, the path citizens, companies, and innovation in the energy sector must take is the same: to aspire to the implementation of cleaner and more efficient energies, the responsible consumption of limited resources, and the creation of a sustainable planet while making technology accessible to everyone. Only with a global vision shared by all can we achieve a situation that offers benefits in terms of energy consumption without harming our planet.
