Question.2775 - Green Energy Innovation Inc., - Improving Energy Storage Solutions for Renewable Energy Transformation.
Answer Below:
Green Energy Innovation Inc., - Improving Energy Storage Solutions for Renewable Energy Transformation. Background Green Energy Innovations Inc. is one of the leading construction companies with the primary objective of providing contracting services for commercial energy-efficient technology. The company is in California, serving 2006 across Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and New York. Some of its expertise includes green energy LED lighting, stadiums/sports field lighting, and EV charging across various sectors, including homes, schools, hospitals, churches, office buildings, county parks, tennis clubs, government agencies, and various retail establishments (“Geinnovations,” n.d.). Due to the surge and awareness of green technology, the industry is facing phase transformation in order to reduce greenhouse emissions; the challenge lies in the industry is to include renewable energy, but due to its intermittent and availability factors, unlike conventional sources, renewable sources are not available when needed, and the current energy storage technologies are exposed to several limitations casting a burden on the company through increase cost, restricted energy density wherein the existing capability to store energy is relatively small when compared to the company’s business scale, and safety concerns (Brouwer et al., 2014). A possible intervention to tackle this issue is to enable energy storage during the abundance period, which will aid in addressing the reliability and availability factors and ensure that the electricity grid always meets demand trends. Literature Review Due to the surge in negative consequences of climate change and demand for the replacement of conventional energy sources with renewable ones, there is a dire need to address renewable energy storage because it threatens the energy transition and also achieve a robust and sustainable framework throughout Green Energy Innovation's product/services line up. Although the existing global energy storage sector has stagnated in terms of technological advancements, the industry is expected to reach a heaping value of 17.5 billion by 2028 from 5.4 billion in 2023* in the United States alone, which highlights an increased need for technology transition (“Battery Energy Storage Market Value 2023-2028,” 2023). Conventional energy storage is often through lithium-ion batteries, which are phasing out due to the increased cost and dependency of raw materials over other nations. For instance, Cobalt, one of the raw materials utilized in batteries, is heavily procured from African countries; lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to explosive behavior when exposed to heated temperatures and have high performance in storing energy, which calls for a safer and more reliable energy storage solution (Frankel et al., 2016). CAES is one of the technologies that will be explored in the research, which is referred to as "compressed air energy storage" by compressing air in underground caverns, and when there is a need for electricity, the stored compressed air is expanded through the turbines that generate the electricity (Olabi et al., .2021). Flywheel is another renewable storage technology that will be evaluated in the research, wherein energy is stored at a heavy mass wheel, and this rotational energy is converted into electricity; this technology provides a longer cycle life with increased energy density (Koohi-Kamali et al., 2013). Some of the benefits Green Energy Innovation Inc. could benefit from are: Improved adoption of renewable energy storage technologies that will help both the company and the world to expand the adoption of renewable energy sources and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. Better mitigation of climate change; a report released by the International Energy Agency in 2020 showed that when compared to 2020, 2040 will have eight times more demand for energy-storing technologies, and the industry will be in high demand for more efficient, cost-effective, and scalable energy-storing technologies (Esmaeili Shayan & Hojati, 2021). With similar intent, another study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2021 showed that the existing technologies, such as pumped hydro storage, are exposed to geographical availability, which makes the technologies vulnerable and requires more research and development (Qiu et al., 2021). Drastically reduce the cost; when renewable energy is freely accessible, the cost of storing conventional energy is reduced. Creation of new jobs and industries, which will lead to boosting economic growth and innovation. The research limitations include researching newer technologies, which will increase cost and time for research and development, poor brand presence when compared with the existing products/services line up, regulatory hurdles, and policy/standard differences that could impact the product with compliance issues. Purpose of the Research The goal of the research is to assist Green Energy Innovations Inc. in developing a new, improved energy storage solution that will enable the company to expand its scope of business through the implementation of renewable energy on a larger scale. The research will assist in the following primary areas: Development of new renewable energy storage technologies. Development of new battery materials and chemistries in accordance with renewable sources of power, such as flow batteries and solid-state batteries. Reduce the battery cost and improve the performance rate. Research Design and Sample Design The research is drafted to employ a mixed methods approach, in terms of combining both qualitative (which will include surveys in order to understand the grassroots level and customer reality) and quantitative methods (which will comprise the laboratory experiments and simulations in terms of observations during research and development phase). The research will also study the performance of energy storage technologies through prototype testing, which includes renewable energy storage batteries, pumped hydro storage, and compressed air energy storage. Sample data will be gathered during research to depict the performance of a varied range of technologies that are currently being developed and implemented across other developed nations. Budget and Time Schedule Stages Time Period Estimation 1: Literature review and project planning 3 months $5,000 2: Laboratory experiments and simulations 12 months $100,000 3: Development of prototypes 12 months $50,000 4: Field testing of prototypes 12 months $100,000 5: Commercialization of new energy storage solutions 18 to 24 months $200,000 Total = 57 months (at earliest) / 63 months (with buffer time at maximum delay) = $4,55,000 References Battery Energy Storage Market Value 2023-2028. Statista. (2023, October 24). https://www.statista.com/statistics/1307133/forecast-battery-energy-storage-market-value/ Brouwer, A. S., Van Den Broek, M., Seebregts, A., & Faaij, A. (2014). Impacts of large-scale Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources on electricity systems, and how these can be modeled. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 33, 443-466. C. Frankel , T., Chavez, M. R. (2016). This is where your smartphone battery begins. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/congo-cobalt-mining-for-lithium-ion-battery/ Esmaeili Shayan, M., & Hojati, J. (2021). Floating solar power plants: a way to improve environmental and operational flexibility. Iranian (Iranica) Journal of Energy & Environment, 12(4), 337-348. Koohi-Kamali, S., Tyagi, V. V., Rahim, N. A., Panwar, N. L., & Mokhlis, H. (2013). Emergence of energy storage technologies as the solution for reliable operation of smart power systems: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 25, 135-165. Led: Water heater: Contractor: Green Energy Innovation. Geinnovations. (n.d.). https://www.geinnovationsinc.com/ Olabi, A. G., Wilberforce, T., Ramadan, M., Abdelkareem, M. A., & Alami, A. H. (2021). Compressed air energy storage systems: Components and operating parameters–A review. Journal of Energy Storage, 34, 102000. Qiu, L., He, L., Lu, H., & Liang, D. (2022). Pumped hydropower storage potential and its contribution to hybrid renewable energy co-development: A case study in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Journal of Energy Storage, 51, 104447.More Articles From Ethics
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