Energy and Environment Encyclopedias Articles

The construction of port infrastructures leads to the total and irreversible destruction of marine ecosystems and threatens coastal marine biodiversity. To conciliate the need for these infrastructures and the need to preserve the ecosystem, some countries are committed to rehabilitating port areas. Should this be considered as a real hope for the preservation of biodiversity or as additional greenwashing?

April 19th, 2021 (part 1) One of the main issues with solar and wind energy is their variability. At the same time, hydrogen and biomethane are two promising solutions to decarbonise the energy production. Power-to-gas processes enable to couple these two value chains, and therefore to optimise the whole system, deriving value from the excess renewable electricity generation. Similarly, Power-to-heat can contribute to the energy transition in the heating sector. However, this sector coupling solutions require significant investments, and will only become competitive if a right regulative framework is enforced (part 1). December 14th, 2021 (part 2) A major challenge for solar and wind energy is their intermittency. At the same time, hydrogen and "green gas" produced by methanation are aiming at developing the decarbonisation of energy production. The "Power to gas" processes enable the connection between these different sectors to optimise the entire sector, valuing the surplus electricity from renewable energies. In the same way, the "Power to heat" contributes to this energy transition, for heating. However, these couplings require strong investments and need support from governments to be competitive in open energy markets. Click below for part 2

Although solar radiation is the most abundant source of energy on Earth, its use is still quite marginal, even among the other renewable energy sources. This radiation can be converted into heat or electricity, which in both cases requires the use of physical principles to limit losses. How can the amount of sunlight received on a given surface be determined? What parameters influence a solar panel efficiency?

Discovered barely a century ago, nuclear energy developed strongly during the 20th century, first for military applications and then as an electricity generation technology. It has become a mainstay of the electricity mix in several countries, using different reactor technologies. Who are the pioneering scientists in the field? How was the nuclear programme developed in France and in the world?

Economic activity generates environmental costs, both in terms of resource exploitation and degradation of natural environments. This aspect can no longer be excluded from economic analysis, as was the case in the past, as the consequences are now far from negligible. Beyond standards, tools specific to economic theory have been used to try to regulate these environmental costs more effectively. What are these tools? Are, and will they be suited for this purpose? What are the limits of the economic theory and which could be the impacts on public policies?

Electricity storage is a major challenge for our energy systems. Today, only hydroelectric dams allow the storage of decarbonated energy in sufficiently large quantities and on sufficiently long time scales. However, the needs are always growing and economic interests depend largely on the regulation of the electricity sector. This article reviews the context in which hydroelectric storage is situated, its role and its capacities according to the different types of installations.

In countries committed to decarbonisation and security of supply, the public authorities are once again the main players in decision-making on investments in the electricity sector. Indeed, a hybrid regime has been developed in these countries, mixing public authorities and market mechanisms. What are the reasons for the emergence of this regime? Which impacts will it have on the efficiency of electricity markets and the decarbonisation targets of governments?

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three laureates, including Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann, for "laying the foundation of our knowledge of the Earth’s climate and how humanity influences it" as described by the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Why is their work on the role of human activities in global warming and the sensitivity of climate to the CO2 content of the atmosphere, fundamental to physical climatology?

Hydropower remains the most widely used renewable energy source to date. It combines environmental advantages with decisive operational qualities often reserved for fossil fuels, such as controllability and storage. Thanks to its long experience, the hydropower sector has been able to meet the technological challenges to take advantage of a wide variety of terrains. Unique and sustainable infrastructures have thus been created to adapt to each environment, benefiting from exemplary energy efficiency.

The Earth has always been subject to different climatic eras, which produce ice ages and warmer periods, longer or shorter. However, for almost 200 years, our planet has been facing unprecedented climate changes on much shorter time scales than in the past. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense: storms, fires, floods, droughts, etc. What is the causal link between climate change and these weather shocks?

Electricity systems based on a variable renewable energy sources (or VRE – sources based on natural, uncontrollable flows such as wind and solar) require the development of electricity storage facilities to guarantee the balance and stability of the system. But what economic conditions allow the implementation of various electrical storage solutions? To answer this question, we examine a variety of storage systems, the state of their development, and the services they can provide both to the various actors involved and to the electricity system as a whole.

In a context of more and more fake news, fraud and opacity of many systems, the blockchain is reversing the trend. This technology makes it possible to ensure the authenticity of information, thanks in particular to a history of operations stored in a decentralised manner. Bitcoin, the first product based on this technology, has thus developed very quickly: this cryptocurrency is by definition impossible to counterfeit and the transactions are transparent and validated by the network of users. Replace money with energy and let's see how to use the blockchain for energy management.