Resource, recycling and waste challenges for storage resources in a 100% renewable economy

In this thesis, the battery storage needed for a 100% renewable economy was calculated. It was determined that the use of batteries as a worldwide energy storage solution is not viable. Other systems, such as power-to-gas, would undoubtedly be a better match, as they are much less resource-intense, and they could be combined with the existing natural gas infrastructure for lowered costs. Data was gathered for two regions that would be studied in detail. These regions were (1) Germany, Austria and Luxemburg, and (2) California. An in-depth analysis of the load and renewable generation (from solar and wind) profiles was done, which was used to calculate the amount of battery storage that would be needed in the area, as well as the requirements that an electrolyzer should be able to meet. Data was also gathered for the world, which enabled a study about consumption, generation and current renewable capacity, among others. Solar irradiation and wind maps were used to estimate the potential of each of the renewable sources studied to provide energy in the scenario of a 100% renewable economy. A theoretical approach about electrolyzer technologies, batteries and practical aspects of hydrogen as a gas fuel can also be found in the thesis. The available data for the two regions studied, along with the results of their storage calculations, was used to calculate the fraction of energy that was provided by each of the renewable sources studied. With this information, an equation was obtained and used to calculate the storage needed for other regions in the world if their approximate renewable potential (fraction) and consumption were known. The estimated total energy storage for the world was then calculated considering each of the continents and was found to be a total of 19,981 TWh (100% roundtrip efficiency – ideal battery). Since the average energy density of batteries is known, it is estimated that this amount of storage would require a 133,205 Mt battery, and since the

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