A compendium of sustainable energy and cleantech innovation

# A compendium of sustainable energy and cleantech innovation Watch this first: https://youtu.be/O-kbzfWzvSI. "#CleanDisruption and the Collapse of the Oil, Coal & ICEV Industries. #1stWCWeC #EarthDay2020" This is a must-watch. > We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.—[Albert Einstein](https://www.businessinsider.com.au/we-cant-solve-problems-by-using-the-same-kind-of-thinking-we-used-when-we-created-them-2012-4) ![Sustainable energy innovation collage](https://i.imgur.com/mQ7sXI5.jpg "Sustainable energy innovation") This page is a compendium on sustainable energy innovation that I've put together over the years. Because of that, I wouldn't suggest trying to read it thoroughly in one sitting, but rather to use it as a reference and read it at your leisure. My apologies if you find it rather hard to read; it's a work in progress. There's also a labelling scheme [here](https://solarimpulse.com/efficient-solutions) by Solar Impulse. This page curates information on sustainable innovation from the idea stage of the technology life cycle through to commercial maturity, with technological measures also including policy and behavioural changes. Note that technology can be defined as a combination of people, artefacts (anything created, modified or used by people, which also includes institutions, organisations and policies) and knowledge. I do this research to find areas that I would be most interested in contributing my time, energy and money to in order to maximise positive impact; and to share findings with others in order to increase awareness, and hopefully further engagement with, such innovations. I'll lead with some ideas that I've come up with (most of them centre around leveraging Holochain and commoning for sustainable development): - a [global emissions trading market](https://climategaja.wordpress.com/) - carbon offset credits for suitable projects in developed countries, in addition to being already available in developing countries - mandatory disclosure for the emissions of products and services from the beginning of their life cycle, through to the point of sale. - proposals and ideas for [commoning electricity grids](https://medium.com/@James.Christopher.Ray/commoning-energy-assets-using-holochain-eb7be07bf3ed), and [EVs and charging infrastructure](https://medium.com/@James.Christopher.Ray/commoning-evs-ev-charging-stations-and-ev-services-65fa8faccde6) - [commoning for sustainability metrics like safe greenhouse gas levels](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6624064626860625920?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6624064626860625920%2C6624075873232531456%29&replyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6624064626860625920%2C6624227067670200320%29) - https://forum.holochain.org/t/draft-using-holochain-for-real-estate-and-other-economic-activities/1634 - https://forum.holochain.org/t/draft-renewable-energy-as-a-commons/1633/ Following is an attempted summary of some of the different kinds of innovations needed. Note that is still quite long and lists multiple examples. Some points in this list may not be included in the body of the article. You may also notice that there is some repetition and overlap between different kinds of innovations. Innovation often happens when technologies overlap, with interdisciplinary and out-of-the-box thinking, and of course with work to materialize ideas. Here we go: - Demand-side improvements: energy conservation, efficiency, demand-side response management (e.g. electric vehicle charging and using smart metering, software and IoT to programmably turn appliances off if the price of electricity [using variable and more cost-reflective pricing schemes such as spot pricing, network cost-reflective pricing, peak-demand pricing, location- and capacity-based pricing, etc.] that they are charged [rather than a flat rate] rises above x c/kWh), monitoring, control of appliances, IoT, more sustainable buildings (existing and new) and life cycle, cradle-to-cradle, regenerative treatment of goods and services; - Supply-side improvements: [oversupply of renewables](https://theconversation.com/a-radical-idea-to-get-a-high-renewable-electric-grid-build-way-more-solar-and-wind-than-needed-113635) with a mix of solar, wind, and any storage like pumped hydro and batteries to meet gaps in production (which are reduced with oversupply); reducing costs in installation, manufacture, decommissioning, recycling; enabling more mobile and lower cost PV systems, a la [5B](https://5b.com.au/) for ground-mounted systems and [Solpod](https://www.solpod.com.au/) for roof-mounted systems; novel generation technologies, e.g. photovoltaic glass (a la [Ubiquitous Energy](http://ubiquitous.energy/)), [Vortex Bladeless](https://vortexbladeless.com/), [solar paint](https://understandsolar.com/solar-paint/), solar films, [printed solar](https://www.newcastle.edu.au/research-and-innovation/centre/coe/research/organic-solar-cells), and floating PV; innovative and incremental improvements to existing technologies, CSP e.g. with [Vast Solar](https://vastsolar.com/); - storage improvements (supply-side): reductions in costs of batteries through economies of scale and technology learning; pumped hydro; compressed air using thermal storage e.g. like [Hydrostor](https://reneweconomy.com.au/energy-storage-start-targets-australia-promises-compressed-air-technology-half-cost-batteries-10043/), [Raygen](https://www.raygen.com/)'s thermal hydro storage soltion; thermal energy storage system e.g. with [1414 degrees](https://1414degrees.com.au/), etc. [Perovskite solar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell) and [here](https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/solar-panel-technologies-that-will-revolutionize-energy-production). - Grid-improvements: More interconnection of grids over larger areas and with stronger links; peer-to-peer (p2p) electricity trading; and virtual power plants/aggregation (one kind of p2p trading); - Finance improvements: changing electricity retailers to an ESCo model with membership fees, a non-profit structure, wholesale power prices, demand response, solar, energy efficiency and conservation, and more, such as via [Power Club](https://www.powerclub.com.au), [Amber Electric](https://www.amberelectric.com.au), and [Flow Power](https://flowpower.com.au/); [Clean Energy Investment Trusts (CEITs)](http://climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Beyond-YieldCos-1.pdf), ethical investment mutual and superannuation funds (e.g. [Australian Ethical Investment](https://www.australianethical.com.au/) and [Future Super](https://www.myfuturesuper.com.au/)), energy ETFs like those listed [here](https://www.investopedia.com/etfs/top-alternative-energy-etfs/), adaptive electricity trading and other fintech solutions like demand response; investing directly in stocks or private equity (for the latter which could be via platforms like [Birchal](https://www.birchal.com/) and [Republic](https://republic.co/)) community renewable energy, PPAs, service agreements, leases, solar financing PAYG schemes, [renting your roof space for solar](https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=rent+your+roof+space+for+solar+panels&addon=firefox&addonversion=4.0.4); [portable solar panels for renters](https://www.solarbeam.com.au/portable-solar-panels-renters/) personal loans, green loans (e.g. with Bright and Ratesetter), no-interest loans (planned by the NSW government), green bonds, debt financing, equity financing, [GreenPower](https://greenpower.gov.au/), etc. - Alternative solar schemes other than buy-and-own rooftop solar and utility-scale solar. For example, the above financial instruments; [solutions for apartments like one solar system shared for individual metered units with Allume Energy, and microgrids or embedded networks](https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-for-strata-apartment-blocks/); and solar awnings for BIPV or carports e.g. with [Solar RainFrame](https://solarrainframe.com/). - software and hardware improvements: software tools, including financial technology (fintech) tools, such as [Holochain](https://holochain.org/) look more promising than blockchains and may enable a transition to a fairer Internet and economy. Holochain enables [mutual sovereignty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3X5_zAUjlw), has a design that is inspired by nature, and is a scalable distributed app framework with data integrity. It enables creation of a new economy, that is much more compatible with the collaborative information age and the world we live in, than current models like capitalism and representative democracy, using mutual and reputational credit, and triple-entry accounting. This will also help to deal with the [massive levels](https://commodity.com/debt-clock/) of [global debt](https://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock) and instability caused by an [even larger derivatives market](https://money.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-money-markets-one-visualization-2017/). In addition to [holochain.org](https://holochain.org), more information about Holochain is also available via [holo.host/learn](https://holo.host/learn/) and [this excellent video introduction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3X5_zAUjlw). Holochain apps (happs) each run on their own network using Holochain as a framework, rather than having one massive global ledger like Ethereum or Bitcoin. Holochain and Holochain apps have much information and development in themselves. I like this proposal for a [gratitude flow ecology as a resolution for debt currency replacement](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G3aET-Cw0IVe7E__1g-OMmxWRcV9VEV-B6vWAtyJ7FQ/edit). [Redgrid](https://redgrid.io/) is one such happ that is a platform that aims to provide an Internet of energy, by building other happs on top of it, such as for demand response managment with IoT, monitoring and control; adaptive, peer-to-peer electricity trading (or trading of other commodities like environmental certificates); community renewable energy; and tracking and rewarding the production of renewable energy assests (as [Swytch](https://swytch.io/) and [Solarcoin](https://solarcoin.org/) aims to do but with a blockchain). Other innovations that would partner well with Holochain, Redgrid and the Internet of Energy include mesh networks (e.g. [Serval](http://www.servalproject.org/)), [broadband over power lines (BOPL)](https://www.explainthatstuff.com/broadbandoverpowerlines.html) (note that it can be over any low or medium voltage power lines, including microgrids and standalone power systems, not just grids), [Starlink](https://www.starlink.com/), and decentralised AI (a la [OpenMined](https://www.openmined.org/)). Other interesting software innovations includes [Open Climate Fix](https://openclimatefix.github.io/) working on solar forecasting, and previously energy disaggregation (to e.g. [recognize appliances from power signatures measured by a single meter](http://jack-kelly.com/open_repository_for_appliance_power_signatures_computer_science)); and optimising energy usage with emergent behaviour. sovereign accountable commons] These points aren't included below as each are quite different and hard to summarize without missing info. [Allume Energy](https://allumeenergy.com.au/) is a relatively new startup (as of Jan 2020) that allows for sharing solar in multi-unit buildings (e.g. apartments) where there are separately metered units. Smart energy apps like those under development by [Redgrid](https://redgrid.io/) and as ideated [here](https://medium.com/@James.Christopher.Ray/i-have-ideas-such-as-for-smart-energy-apps-experience-with-software-development-with-rust-and-81310be9c475). - Organic wealth redistribution and empowerment: Holochain and the Metacurrency project can help to achieve a more egalitarian society by using mutual credit, and currency designed for abundance and transacting, not scarcity and hoarding. The debit and credit limits can fluctuate with supply and demand, and with reputation and service. The distributed nature of happs make them more suited to democratic power relationships. When I say wealth distribution, I see it could be enabled in a more organic, voluntary way, aided by cryptocurrencies, distributed apps, Holochain, sovereign accountable commons, etc. - Mobile energy: hydrogen (which could be supplied by electrolysis from excess renewable energy) or batteries, as well as better transport (e.g. high-speed rail or Hyperloop and autonomous electric vehicles. That's not only autonomous cars, but [autonomous bikes](https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=autonomous+bike&addon=firefox&addonversion=4.0.4) as well, and public transport, and more). - Policies: e.g. renewable energy targets; emissions trading; investment; allowing local electricity trading; mandates e.g. for energy performance disclosure and [construction of solar on new buildings](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/california-approves-plan-to-mandate-solar-panels-on-new-homes.html); continual improvement in energy efficiency ratings (even in just one jurisdiction like California may be enough due to globalisation) and other enabling policies for the above improvements. The [Science Party has some good energy policies](https://www.scienceparty.org.au/energy_policy). - Reduction in human population until we can be confident that we are living within the carrying capacity of the environment, e.g. until we get to greenhouse gas concentrations of 350 ppm CO2-e, by non-violent means, e.g. celibacy, education, and other means of contraception where celibacy isn't practiced. Otherwise, with irreversible runaway climate change caused by tipping points, constraints placed by physics, biology and economics show that there will be suffering and loss of life through wars over water, food and resources; increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters like heatwaves, floods, tsunamis, cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes, bushfires; and rising sea levels. Unfortunately, those in poorer nations and those closer to the equator are more likely to suffer, especially without sufficient compassionate treatment. - Other innovations include energy, but can also be broader than it, such as life cycle assessment, carbon trading, and certification in supply chains, and also combine with software. It's difficult to give credit to everything that is helping the clean, sustainable, renewable, and regenerative energy industry to grow, but it's also important to mention the [millions of people](https://inhabitat.com/10-3-million-people-are-employed-in-the-renewable-energy-industry/) who are working in the industry, with professions and areas including manufacturing, engineers, procurement, construction, researchers, salespeople, business development, operations, recruiters, admin, marketing, software developers, policymakers, people who support all of these professionals, responsible consumers/prosumers, responsible lobbyists, activists, investors, investment institutions, logistics, data analysts, economists, journalists, and so on. - agrivoltaics, e.g. https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/23/special-solar-panels-for-agrivoltaics/  <p>There are innumerous entities that are innovating in the sustainable energy sector. Innovation can be defined as a change in technology. Usually, when people talk about innovation they talk about innovations that are useful, positive changes in technology. There are two kinds of innovators: radical innovators and incremental innovators. I will define radical innovations as a major change in a technology, or the use of an enabling technology with an existing one, or a disruptive technology, all causing a major change to reduce the cost of providing the technology service, and enabling new markets, which further drives down costs. Incremental innovations can be defined as learnings that cause smaller reductions in cost, e.g. prototype testing finding flaws to be fixed pre-production, increased manufacturing supply, and user feedback resulting in product development.</p>   <h2><b>Residential energy: solar, storage, local electricity trading and energy monitoring and control</b></h2>   <p>The Internet of Energy: this is a broad term for distributed or decentralized finance and other technologies and uses, which may use cryptographic technologies such as <a href="https://holochain.org/">Holochain</a>, Redgrid's Internet of Energy (IoE) platform, or blockchains like Ethereum for greater scalability, security, transparency, auditability, open data, etc., operating on a public network (such as the Internet). <a href="https://redgrid.io/">Redgrid</a> is one such example, as are others below.</p>  For more information about Redgrid and the Internet of Energy, please see e.g. [this book](https://ioe-book.herokuapp.com/), their [website](https://redgrid.io/), or [GitHub repo](https://github.com/redgridone/Internet-of-Energy/) to track development, which has only recently been open-sourced as of Dec 2019.  <p>Examples of<strong> local electricity trading</strong> include: <a href="https://gridplus.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Grid+</a>, <a href="http://lo3energy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LO3</a>/<a href="http://lo3energy.com/transactive-grid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Transactive Grid</a>, <a href="https://powerledger.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Power Ledger</a>, <a href="http://www.nexergy.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nexergy</a>, <a href="https://localvolts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Local Volts</a> and <a href="https://divvi.xyz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Divvi</a>. Grid+ uses Ethereum and <a href="https://github.com/gridplus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">they have released their code</a>. <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2079334-blockchain-based-microgrid-gives-power-to-consumers-in-new-york/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Transactive Grid uses Ethereum</a> and it has been rolled out in <a href="http://brooklynmicrogrid.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brooklyn with a microgrid</a>, however LO3 hasn't released the code for its Transactive Grid application, so I suspect they are using a private Ethereum-based chain. The others are still all under development, and they have been scant on the details of how they would implement their application, at the least not releasing their code. Power Ledger is having a token generation soon (as of 19 July 2017). Divvi say on its website that they will use the blockchain. Local Volts and Nexergy do not.</p>   <p><a href="https://solarcoin.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SolarCoin</a>: tokenization of and financially rewarding solar production with the blockchain.</p>   <p>Holochain seems to be much better than Ethereum and other blockchains, due to advantages such as better scalability while having data integrity, although it is still under development (as is Ethereum 2.0), and is not yet guaranteed secure with a closed alpha status. Granted, running on top of the public Ethereum blockchain (with a token) is better than using a private blockchain, or worse, not running on a blockchain at all (thus requiring a trusted third party which increases transaction costs). Running on the public Ethereum blockchain is more secure than a private chain, since the public chain is much longer and has many nodes mining and verifying it. A private chain is more prone to different kinds of attacks, particularly a <a href="https://learncryptography.com/cryptocurrency/51-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">51% attack</a>. Having open-source code is important to verify the security and performance of the software, as well as being able to innovate, e.g. with enhancements.</p>   <p><a href="http://redbacktech.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Redback</a>: local electricity trading, appliance control and monitoring, energy storage and inverters. Partially owned by <a href="http://www.goodwe-power.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Goodwe</a>, a Chinese inverter manufacturer.</p>   <p><a href="http://www.repositpower.com/">Reposit Power:</a> electricity trading with the utility (selling to the utility by getting grid credits at times of higher demand and spot market prices), appliance control and monitoring; http://www.repositpower.com/features/</p>   <p><a href="http://www.carbontrack.com.au/">Carbon Track</a>: solar and energy appliance monitoring, control, analysis and insights; smart home automation, spot market trading, demand response management;</p>   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://sustergy.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/2016-12-09-12_10_41-welcome-to-carbontrack-intelligent-energy-management-iot.png" alt="2016-12-09 12_10_41-Welcome to carbonTRACK - Intelligent Energy Management & IoT.png" class="wp-image-3648"/></figure>   <p><a href="http://www.smappee.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Smappee</a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.sunverge.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sunverge</a>: solar, storage and trading.</p>   <p><a href="https://www.solaranalytics.com/au/">Solar Analytics</a> and others, such as inverter manufactuerers, providing solar and energy monitoring (including comparing expected production with actual production in the case of Solar Analytics using weather data and algorithms) and diagnostics.</p>   <p><a href="http://www.wattwatchers.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Watt Watchers</a>: energy monitoring and control.</p>   <p><a href="http://efergy.com/au/">Efergy</a>: energy monitoring and control.</p>   <h1>Storage technology providers more focused on commercial and utility scale systems</h1>   <p><a href="http://www.greensmithenergy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greensmith Energy</a></p>   <h2><b>Demand Response Management</b></h2>  Redgrid will develop an app on its platform for this.  <p><a href="https://www.greensync.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greensync</a>: DRM for non-residential entities.</p>   <h2><b>Energy generation</b></h2>   <p>Energy generation from devices of a few watts for lights and appliances in developing countries (as well as outdoor solar lights in developed countries), to utility scale (defined as more than 100 kW in Australia to transition from small scale renewable energy certificates [RECs] to large scale RECs) is important to increase the affordability of energy and increase environmental sustainability. Household and commercial generators help to reduce consumption from the grid (or in some cases not being connected to the grid), while utility scale helps to reduce the cost of wholesale electricity low through the merit order effect. However, the intermittent nature of renewable energy can increase the cost of retail electricity. Energy storage, interconnection, demand side management, decentralised energy trading, energy monitoring, energy efficiency, and energy conservation then become more important to reduce costs for the end user.</p>  <a href="http://www.raygen.com/">Raygen:</a> utility scale concentrating solar PV with thermal hydro. (Previously they planned to use compressed air energy storage) They claim: > Our task now is to turn RayGen’s world-leading technology into a commercially viable system that can produce electricity at a lower cost than burning fossil fuels. We believe we’re well on the way to achieving this lofty ambition, and to giving humankind its best and most efficient mechanism to harness the power of the sun and to provide cheap and clean energy for all. They don't provide a more detailed economic assessment of cost-benefit calculations to different stakeholders, particularly the customer.  <p>When you add in the costs after generation of utility scale electricity, from transmission, distribution, retail, then costs add up. If you can bring the point of energy generation closer to the end user, then there is more potential to eliminate or nullify those costs by going off-grid or storing and trading energy, respectively. Utility scale energy has to compete on the wholesale market. Energy generation at the point of use only has to compete with the retail electricity market. (I've calculated the single rate national average at around 28.7 c/kWh ex. GST for FY2014/15 [see <a href="http://www.aemc.gov.au/getattachment/02490709-1a3d-445d-89cd-4d405b246860/2015-Residential-Electricity-Price-Trends-report.aspx">here</a>, p. 80: $1507/5248 kWh = 28.7 c/kWh]. Electricity pricing schemes include: single rate with a c/kWh component; daily fixed charges (usually a component of bills), time of use; electricity generation buyback rates at 6-10 c/kWh, spot-tied electricity pricing, capacity charges, imaginary power charges, charges varying by location, and peak demand charges. There are avoided costs, including for placing generators on the fringe of grids, and for avoiding the construction of peaking gas power plants and the cost of network augmentation.</p>   <p>Solar paint or printed flexible sheets: developed by the <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/research-and-innovation/centre/coe/about-us">Priority Research Centre for Organic Electronics</a>. The Centre is led by Professor Paul Dastoor, who said at a Innovators Re:volutionising Energy event at NSW Parliament House that he has had two PhD students do economic modelling (quipping that they were "sacrificed on the altar of scientific progress"), with the latest modelling finding that the levelised cost of electricity is about 10 c/kWh. I asked him for a citation for that finding by email, but did not receive a reply. This is quite a remarkable result, as the technology is on the cusp of pilot plant demonstration, i.e. it is early in technology learning, and so costs should reduce much more. By comparison, the LCOE in an Australian study in 2006 was $120/MWh, or $0.12/kWh (see <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source">here</a>, the original source is here. Given the global nature of the industry, costs for Australia can be estimated from more recent studies in other countries. The technology still needs to be tested more in pilot plants to find out potential challenges such as degradation rates. Because of the relatively low efficiency of a few percent, this technology would be less suitable for utility scale applications, but would work well for covering opaque building surfaces.</p>   <p><a href="http://ubiquitous.energy/">Ubiquitous Energy</a>: transparent solar cells that can be used for any transparent sunlight exposed surface (e.g. windows and screen technologies). Coupled with solar paint, you could cover pretty much every surface of a building with solar.</p>   <p><a href="http://sungrowpower.com/">Sungrow</a> and other renewable energy equipment manufacturers and entities working in the renewable energy sector. Sungrow is the largest inverter manufacturer globally by shipments, and seem to have similar quality and reliability compared to ABB, and SMA, plus Sungrow has a hybrid ready inverter, while the other two leading inverter manufacturers do not, per se (you have to add on a battery charger unit to the grid-connected inverter, which increases the system cost. Sungrow has an inverter with a built-in charger unit.) There are other hybrid ready inverter manufacturers such as Goodwe, Solax, and Fronius (three phase Symo).</p>   <p><a href="https://www.sunpower.com.au/">Sunpower</a>, <a href="http://www.trinasolar.com/au">Trina Solar</a> and other solar panel manufacturers. Sunpower has excellent performance and reliability, but is one of the premium solar panel brands, while Trina is one of the largest solar panel manufacturers globally). I am not sure how different solar module brands stack up in terms of the levelised cost of electricity.</p>   <p>Building integrated photovoltaics: this is an idea that has been around for some time (I first heard about it in a course called Low Energy Buildings and PV taught by Alistair Sproul at UNSW), but it has recently (as of November 2016) been implemented by Tesla. Read more about that <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/solar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> and <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-economics-of-teslas-solar-roof" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p>   <p>More established, commercially mature inverter and solar panel manufacturers help to reduce the cost of solar photovoltaic energy through <a href="http://www.intechopen.com/books/climate-change-research-and-technology-for-adaptation-and-mitigation/energy-technology-learning-key-to-transform-into-a-low-carbon-society">technology learning</a> (the link to technology learning is worth reading, discussing the importance to overcoming barriers to technology deployment, although it is 5 years out of date, so costs of solar has reduced significantly since then).</p>   <p>Utility scale renewable energy developers and operators, such as <a href="http://www.infigenenergy.com/">Infigen</a>, <a href="http://frv.com/">FRV</a>, <a href="http://www.acciona.com.au/business-divisions/energy/">Acciona</a>, <a href="http://www.res-group.com/">RES</a>, <a href="https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/renewable-energyhttps://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/renewable-energy">AGL</a>, OST Energy, and <a href="http://www.thewindpower.net/operators_en.php">many others</a>.</p>   <p>Nuclear fusion research: some entities include <a href="https://www.iter.org/">ITER</a>, <a href="https://lasers.llnl.gov/">NIF</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Advanced_Superconducting_Tokamak">EAST</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendelstein_7-X">Wendelstein 7-x</a>, <a href="http://trialphaenergy.com/">Tri Alpha Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.generalfusion.com/">General Fusion</a>, <a href="http://www.helionenergy.com/">Helion</a>, <a href="http://lppfusion.com/">LPP Fusion</a>, and <a href="http://firstlightfusion.com/">First Light Fusion.</a> Read more <a href="https://wordpress.com/page/sustergy.co/3402">here</a>. To my knowledge, no nuclear fusion technologies have achieved commercially viable energy production, and timeframes to net energy production (followed later by commercial viability) range from 3 years with companies like LPP Fusion that have a track record of not meeting deadlines, to at least four decades for commercial viability for ITER and following tokamaks (ITER is just to demonstrate net production, not to achieve commercial viability, DEMO aims to do that, followed by commercialisation).   <p>Other energy converters include biomass, geothermal, wave, tidal, ocean thermal, and piezoelectrics. There are other novel approaches such as <a href="http://www.vortexbladeless.com/">Vortex Bladeless</a>, <a href="https://www.solveforx.com/makani/">Makani</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower">solar updraft tower</a> and related ideas and applications such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_engine">Vortex Engine</a>.</p>   <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190412071742/https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Vmaxpower-Multifit-solar-panel-cleaning-brush_558708015.html?spm=a2700.8443322.0.0.27913e5fN0ScCQ">Robot solar panel cleaners</a></p>   <p><a href="https://5b.com.au/">5B</a>: modularity, faster installation, relocatable ground-mounted solar, reduced costs.</p> Planned to be used in the [Sun cable 3 GW project connecting to Darwin and Singapore](https://www.suncable.sg/)  <a href="https://www.solpod.com.au/">Solpod</a>: relocatable commercial solar.  <h2><b>Organisation structures</b></h2>   [Clean Energy Investment Trusts (CEITs)](http://climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Beyond-YieldCos-1.pdf), community renewable energy (e.g. Enova, Community Power Agency, Pingala, RePower Shoalhaven), yieldcos, investment vehicles, and accelerator/incubators (e.g. <a href="http://reneweconomy.com.au/energylab-proposes-first-incubator-for-australian-clean-energy-ideas-39760/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EnergyLab</a> and <a href="https://powerhouse.solar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Powerhouse</a>). Legal structures: public, private and B corporations; cooperatives, associations and social enterprises.     <h2><b>Energy storage</b></h2>   <p><a href="http://1414degrees.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1414 Degrees</a>: utility scale energy storage using molten silicon</p>   <a href="http://redflow.com/">Redflow</a>: flow battery company based in Brisbane. Flow batteries are claimed to be cheaper than lithium ion batteries on a levelised cost of electricity basis, plus will continue to decline in cost. See [here](https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-storage-2017/), for example.   <p><a href="http://www.lightsail.com/">Light Sail</a> (defunct): adiabatic compressed air energy storage.</p>   <p><a href="http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/australian-gel-based-battery-technology-attracts-major-uk-finance-73407">Gelion Technologies</a>: zinc bromide gel-ion batteries are non-flammable and flexible, and could be safely integrated into gadgets and building structures.</p>   <p><a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/powerwall">Tesla Powerwall</a>, <a href="http://www.lgchem.com/global/main">LG Chem</a>, <a href="http://www.samsungsdi.com/ess/index.html">Samsung SDI</a>, <a href="http://en.gclsi.com/site/ProductDetail3/68">GCL</a>, <a href="http://en.pylontech.com.cn/show.php?contentid=206">Pylon</a>, <a href="http://magellanpower.com.au/">Magellan</a>, and other lithium ion and lead acid battery manufacturers. Lithium ion batteries have achieved more market volume than flow batteries and compressed air, but <a href="http://rameznaam.com/2015/10/14/how-cheap-can-energy-storage-get/">modelling</a> suggests that the latter two can achieve a lower levelised cost of electricity with technology learning . Nevertheless, lithium ion batteries are better suited to mobile storage applications, such as electric vehicles and gadgets, due to their high power density.</p>   <p>Read more about energy storage <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here </a>and <a href="http://www.intechopen.com/books/energy-storage-technologies-and-applications/techno-economic-analysis-of-different-energy-storage-technologies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p>   <h2><b>Energy efficiency</b></h2>   <p>Energy efficient devices such as LED lights (with motion sensors where suitable such as in hallways, e.g. <a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/351510253652">here</a>), aerators on taps, water efficient showerheads, heat pumps (for air and <a href="http://earthworkercooperative.com.au">water</a>), insulation, shading, curtains, window treatments (e.g. glazing, heat mirrors, low-e coatings, secondary glazing), cool roof paint, and appliances (look at the energy star rating).</p>   <h2><b>Energy conservation</b></h2>   <p>Examples include wearing clothing appropriate for the temperature (e.g. not wearing a jacket in an office when it's warm in summer; wearing layers of warm clothes when it's very cold); natural ventilation; natural lighting (daylighting); shorter (cold) showers; reducing hot water usage; active transport (e.g. walking, cycling, and skating); public transport; motorcycles; and carpooling. Yes, these are all kinds of innovation too! Technology is not just artefacts, but also constitutes of entities, knowledge, and actions that change human lives.</p>   <h2><b>Mapping</b></h2>   <p><a href="https://www.google.com/get/sunroof#p=0">Project Sunroof</a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.solarcaptus.com/">AREMI</a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.solarcaptus.com/">APVI Solar Map</a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.solarcaptus.com/">Solar Captus</a></p>   <h2><b>Electric vehicles</b></h2>   <p><a href="https://www.tesla.com/">Tesla</a>, <a href="http://www.gm.com/index.html">GM</a>, <a href="http://www.ford.com.au/">Ford</a>, and other vehicle manufacturers who are either trying to innovate or are simply trying to meet regulation quotas for electric vehicle production. Tesla is a risky, possibly overvalued investment (see <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-earnings-the-moment-of-truth-1477422167">here </a>for example), and other vehicle manufacturers could manufacture a cheaper, long-range, mass-market electric vehicle, subsidized by profits from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). To me, this is unfortunate for Tesla, as without them, technology learning for long-range electric vehicles would probably be at an earlier stage. It is also more cost-reflective and sustainable to not have electric vehicles subsidized by profits from ICEVs. GM have a <a href="http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car.html">2016 hybrid EV Volt</a> for $33,170 US (before the $7,500 US tax credit); and a <a href="http://www.chevrolet.com/spark-ev-electric-vehicle.html">2016 Spark hybrid EV</a> for $25,120 (before the $7,500 US tax credit). This is cheaper than <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/model3">Tesla's Model 3</a> <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/10/teslas-self-driving-car-plan-seems-insane-just-might-work/">claimed self-driving</a> pure EV, with a much longer pure EV range, which Tesla announced would be $35,000 before tax incentives. However, comparing hybrid EVs with EVs is like comparing apples with oranges. Model 3 undercuts Chevrolet's 2017 pure EV <a href="http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html">Bolt </a>at $37,495 before tax. There are also smaller, shorter range pure EVs such as the <a href="http://www.nissan.com.au/Cars-Vehicles/LEAF/Overview">Nissan Leaf</a> and the <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/focus-electric">Ford Focus Electric</a>.</p>   <p>Model 3 has a range of 345 km / 214 miles, compared to Bolt's 383 /238 miles. Bolt is a hatchback without a boot, Model 3 is a sedan. "Model 3 is faster and features RWD. Bolt is available in late 2016. while Tesla will struggle to meet demand in 2017 and onwards. <a href="http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/tesla-model-3-vs-chevy-bolt-ev-5-key-differences.html/?a=viewall">Read more.</a></p>   <p>Without considering the financial health of Tesla and GM, I would buy a Tesla Model 3 over a GM Bolt. However, the financial health of Tesla is much more questionable than the financial health of GM. Their potential acquisition of Solar City will make them even more debt-laden and capital intensive. The stock is probably overvalued (analyse its debt, revenue, profits, market capitalization, balance sheet, and share capitalization), although it still has very strong growth potential. I'd be weary about investing in Tesla, and would only do so if I was prepared to lose all of my investment, in the event that it went bankrupt. Given that it would be an investment with a strong positive social and environmental impact, I would still be prepared to invest say, up to 5%, of my cash.</p>   <p>Tesla has become relatively unique in the sustainable energy industry recently by announcing Powerwall 2, an AC coupled inverter with built-in batteries; solar shingles; and trying to do a merger with SolarCity. In short, it looks like it is trying to be a vertically integrated one stop shop for energy solutions. This makes it easier for customers, marketing, and obtaining more market share. It may also make it harder to innovate and more prone to disruption from innovation outside the company. For instance, there are better forms of stationary energy storage. While lithium ion batteries have the volume and relatively low price compared to other forms of energy storage, they are prone to bursting into flames (a.k.a thermal runaway) especially if physically damaged, are not able to be deeply cycled to 0% SOC, and will lose capacity over time. Solar shingles may look attractive, but they are more expensive to install, and aren't ventilated, which reduces their efficiency and thus their economic performance.</p>   <p>There are several ways to increase the uptake of EVs. Broadly, these ways are: reduce cost to the end-user, increase the supply (but matching with demand), or increase the appeal of EVs to the end user.</p>   <p>Cost reductions include with manufacturing (which is what Tesla is trying to do by designing its Gigagactory using CAD, using vertical integration, and scale), shipping (e.g. economically optimised shipping routes, and crewless automated ships), weight reductions, high pressure thin tyres, electricity, maintenance, insurance, and government subsidies (e.g. tax credits, carbon pricing, and fuel taxes).</p>   <p>Increasing the supply could be done in tandem with reducing shipping costs by having more factories geographically spread out, but this needs to be balanced with demand and other considerations.</p>   <p>Increasing the appeal can be done in many ways, such as catering to different markets through a variety of car models, safety (e.g. stronger crumple zones, autonomous driving, making lithium ion batteries safer or using a safer alternative), autonomous driving, aesthetics; human-computer interfaces such as Android Auto (which apparently trumps Apple Carplay, read more here—<a href="http://www.stuff.tv/features/android-auto-vs-apple-carplay">http://www.stuff.tv/features/android-auto-vs-apple-carplay</a>) and auto-opening doors; longer range (Tesla's Model 3 or GM's Chevy Bolt have a range that is 5-6 times the average commute of 40 miles); better performance (e.g. aerodynamics, acceleration, traction, steering and suspension, which are more important than topspeed due to speed limits); energy generation on the car (e.g. windows using Ubiquitous Energy transparent cells, or [printed solar](https://www.newcastle.edu.au/newsroom/featured/public-debut-for-printed-solar) or solar paint developed at the University of Newcastle); storage space (depends on the target market); and better charging infrastructure (faster, more ubiquitous, and cheaper).</p>   <p>Retrofitting internal combustion engine vehicles to make them into electric vehicles. One example of a business doing this is <a href="http://www.kreiselelectric.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kreisel</a>.</p>   <p>Swapping batteries in electric vehicles. I am not sure whether this would be feasible. Tesla did a trial to gauge demand and found that demand did not seem to be sufficient.</p>   <p>Accelerating charging infrastructure for electric vehicles: e.g. <a href="http://www.parkspark.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ParkSpark</a>. Also, another idea is an advocacy group to support better standards, appropriate training (e.g. mechanics to retrofit internal combustion engine vehicles into electric vehicles), and more generally, removing barriers to the uptake of electric vehicles. Also, another idea is a community platform to act as a funding vehicle for EV uptake (e.g. for charging infrastructure), for bulk buying (like <a href="https://suncrowd.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Suncrowd</a>) or quote comparisons (similar to <a href="https://www.solarquotes.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SolarQuotes</a>) of electric vehicles. Another idea is to use energy trading coupled with charging stations to help increase the economic benefits of charging stations.</p>   <p>Another innovation is car sharing, e.g. with <a href="https://www.goget.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GoGet</a>. A GoGet representative said at a Climathon/EnergyLab event in Sydney that they provided electric vehicles, but said that there were issues with the vehicle not being fully charged when it was returned, which incurred a fee. If the car was booked immediately afterwards, it was returned. Their website does not list any electric vehicles in its fleet.</p>   <p>Mobility as a service is another innovation, e.g. <a href="https://www.uber.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uber</a> and <a href="https://www.lyft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lyft</a>.</p>   <h2><b>Other innovative applications of sustainable energy</b></h2>   Desalinisation: this could be used as a demand sink with [oversized renewable energy](https://theconversation.com/a-radical-idea-to-get-a-high-renewable-electric-grid-build-way-more-solar-and-wind-than-needed-113635), while hydrolysis can provide hydrogen fuel. Space transport: this was one of the first uses of solar PV systems: to power satellites. More recent innovations include the [Starlink](https://www.starlink.com/) network, which could in turn be used, to provide better internet away from urban locations, such as in cars like those manufactured by Tesla.   Solar power, electricity generation, fresh water production and hydroponics: <a href="http://www.sundropfarms.com/">Sundrop farms</a>   <h2><b>Investing in sustainable energy</b></h2>   Mutual funds such as <a href="http://australian%20ethical%20investment/">Australian Ethical Investment</a>; <a href="http://www.myfuturesuper.com.au/">Future Super</a>; and investing directly in sustainable entities.   <h2><b>Energy offsets</b></h2>   <p>Carbon offsets and <a href="http://www.greenpower.gov.au/">Greenpower</a></p>   <h2><strong>Innovations at a higher level than a business includes:</strong></h2>   <ul><li><a href="http://www.utilitymagazine.com.au/smart-grid-smart-city-the-future-of-australias-electricity-networks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here</a> is a Smart Grid, Smart City report summary. Key points include: network improvement recommendations; pricing reform including mandated dynamic tariffs for customer initiated meter upgrades (incl. distributed energy uptake) and a safety net for financially vulnerable customers "who are unable to make behavioural or tariff changes", smart meters, customer feedback technologies, and a "market mechanism which more efficiently values export from distributed energy resources... during market and network peak events".</li><li><a href="http://new.gbca.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Building Council of Australia</a>: best practice for sustainable buildings with rating tools and certification.</li><li>The <a href="http://www.abcb.gov.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australian Building Codes Board</a> (ABCB) National Construction Code (NCC).</li><li><a href="http://www.cleanenergyfinancecorp.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CEFC</a> and <a href="http://arena.gov.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ARENA</a>.</li><li>Mandatory Performance Energy Standards (MEPS)</li><li>The <a href="http://Climate Change Fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Climate Change Fund</a></li></ul>  Startups focusing on carbon removal: > Startups focused on carbon removal, otherwise known as carbon sequestration, are working on technologies that range from biology to geology: • Swiss startup ClimeWorks uses something called “Direct Air Capture” to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with what is, essentially, a large air filter that bonds to carbon dioxide. • Newlight and Carbicrete manufacture building materials—bioplastics and cement-free concrete, respectively—that are carbon negative, meaning the process to manufacture them removes carbon from the atmosphere. • Large-scale environmental initiatives are also underway. Project Vesta aims to cover shelf seas with volcanic rock, the weathering of which will, in theory, remove carbon from the atmosphere. — https://t.me/redgrid/1244  <h2><b>Conclusion</b></h2>   <p>There are a lot of innovations in the energy industry that can deliver many benefits. It is important that benefits are distributed equitably and not concentrated with a handful of stakeholders. It is important that non-technical and non-cost barriers to development are overcome in order to increase the uptake of renewable energy.</p>  ### Further information/resources/articles - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/opinion/microsoft-climate-change-technology.html

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