4 Hot Topics in Renewables in 2018

I work with companies and candidates all over the world who all have one thing in common: renewable energy.

That’s an incredibly broad term though, spanning everything from solar to wind to biogas. Despite these differences, there are a few hot topics that keep cropping up. The following is a pretty broad list, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the topics I’ve mentioned.

1. Energy Storage

The conversations I’m having now tend to be moving away from the newest and hottest form of renewable energy, which was the case a few years ago (body heat to heat buildings?) instead the focus now is on how we store the energy we’ve been creating.

2017 saw everyone’s favourite Tony Stark impersonator Elon Musk and his company, Tesla, win a bet worth potentially $50 million by constructing and installing a huge 100MW battery in South Australia in less than 100 days. This need was reinforced after South Australia experienced a state-wide blackout in 2016 and realised that they needed reinforcements.

In December 2017, there was proof the battery worked too, as it responded to a drop in power output from a major power plant in just 0.14 seconds.

With estimates that over $103 billion will be invested into the space between now and 2030, doubling the current amount of investment 6 times, energy storage is a topic that is only going to gain in popularity.

2. Integrated Renewable Technology

It’s now a thing of the past to be in a car or on a train, see a wind turbine or a solar panel and gasp in amazement or tap someone on the shoulder to show them. Now the latest and greatest innovators in renewables are focusing on efficient sources of energy that we can’t see, but are all around us. Like solar roads in China, for example. 

Renewable energy sources that are just integrated into existing products look to be the holy grail for many businesses at the moment.

Tesla are at it again in this sector too, as they’ve started production on solar roof tiles, which are estimated to cost between 10-15% less than installing a new roof with solar panels. Tesla plan to introduce Tuscan and slate offerings available later in 2018 too, so there’s every chance that renewables could be environmentally friendly, cheap and stylish!

Solar glass is an area exciting many in this field too. When I posted this video late in 2017, it received over 400 likes and over 20,000 views from my renewables network – proving that people are really excited about it. Truly transparent solar glass from companies like Onyx Solar could change the way we power hundreds of buildings and everyday devices. Self-charging iPhones anyone?

3. Trump

It’s safe to say that Donald Trump probably wouldn’t be the first choice POTUS of the renewable energy industry, and his appointment and subsequent actions have had many of my network talking. So far his plans to reinstate the US coal industry haven’t quite come to fruition but the cuts to renewable energy budgets and steep tariffs on imported solar cells do look to be a step backwards when it comes to renewable energy policy.  

Perhaps his most significant, and worrying, move since taking office has been to start the process of US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement (which wouldn’t actually take place until after the next US election). However, after saying in January 2018 that he feels ‘very strongly’ about the environment many in the sector are hoping that the decision could be reversed.

4. Targets, Targets and more Targets 

US aside for now, the majority of the world are setting targets for renewable energy adoption and a reduction in energy usage.

A 125 strong list of household names including IKEA, AkzoNobel, Facebook, Google and LEGO have formed the RE100 – committing to be powered by 100% renewable energy by a specified year, disclosing their electricity data annually, and RE100 then reports on their progress. LEGO pledged to have gone 100% renewable by 2020, but announced last year that they had already hit the milestone 3 years ahead of schedule.

Moving into national targets, the EU set a target of 20% of energy use coming from carbon free sources by 2020, with the proportion of energy requirements coming from renewables more than doubling to around 17% since 2004.

The strongest performers in the EU have been Sweden, who met just over 50% of it's energy demand with renewables last year. The UK on the other hand has been struggling with these targets, as they ranked 24th out of 28 EU member states in this article posted last year.

Further afield, Australia reported a record year in 2017 for renewable energy investment, putting more than $9 billion into the technology (including paying Tesla for their battery), marking an increase of 150% of investment since 2016. They look set to smash their 2020 targets too.

Like LEGO though, the real star performers on the international state when it comes to renewable energy have been China, also hitting their solar target 3 years early, with their targets for wind-generated power the next that look set to fall.

So, that’s what my network have been talking about as we look forward to the rest of 2018, but I’d love for the conversation to continue in the comments – what do you think about the topics I’ve mentioned?