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We use energy all the time, from powering our buildings and electronic devices to transportationÌýand industrial processes. For the past two hundred years we have relied on fossil fuels to generate this energy, from burning coal and gas to generate electricity, to combusting oil in our vehicle engines. This has led to energy economy that pollutes, is dependent on international markets, and is ultimately based on a finite resource. Most now accept that we need to replace fossil fuels, but it is difficult. Fossil fuels are convenient, widely available, and, until recently, the cheapest source of energy.

Replacement energy sources must be as cheap and readily available as fossil fuels, as energy is now a vital foundation for a good standard of living.

While solar and wind energy can provide cost-competitive alternatives to fossil fuels in many regions, there remains much to do before we can make an effective transition. Renewable sources are not as compact a source of energy. Oil, coal, and gas have had the benefit of many millions of years of extreme heat and pressure in the Earth’s crust. Solar and wind energy installations can take up a great deal of space. For many applications this is not an issue, solar panels can be installed on rooftops, wind turbines on hills or offshore, but there remain many applications, a primary example being transport, where this low energy density is a challenge.

Here are just some of the ways in which several of the Technology Domains are making advances in this Impact Area:

Fusion Power

• Development of theoretical models and understanding of plasmas and reactor geometries for fusion reactions.

Solar Power

• Analyses of solar panel installations in different locations around the globe and the local impact of these instillations.
• Development of new photovoltaic materials for converting solar energy to electricity.
• Detailed characterization of photovoltaic materials, enhancing understanding to inform future materials design.
• Development of new device structures, such as tandem silicon-perovskite cells, to enhance efficiency and affordability.
• Evaluation of the robustness and reliability of new solar cell technologies.
• Evaluation of how to best integrate solar power into the power grid.
• Analysis of how best to recycle and reuse solar panels at their end-of-life, and development of new designs to make them easier to repair and decommission.

Wind Power

• Development of more efficient turbine designs.
• Development of control systems to improve the efficiency of existing turbines.
• Development of computational simulations to inform the location of wind farms and turbine installation locations.
• Evaluation of how best to integrate wind power into the power grid.