Turning Photons Into FuelGeorge Cook MCAD Sustainable Design Fall 2015

Solar Potential

Earth receives 2X more energy from the sun than all non-renewables combined

Unrealized potential: Only 1% of worldwide electricity generated by solar

Solar Growth TrajectoryU.S. Energy Information Administration estimates growth from 13% to 18% by 2040

All renewables combined

Solar continues to be minority share of renewable mix

IPCC Targets

EIA’s Estimates: Trajectory between “maintain” & “migrate”

Nowhere near the IPCC target

EIA

Current Challenges

Most panels are made in China

Chinese share is expected to rise to 70% by 2017

Solar PV manufacturing requires lots of electricity

73% of China’s electricity came from coal last year

Photo: Beijing Air Pollution by Kentaro Iemoto

Sludge & contaminated water

California, produced 46.5 million pounds of sludge and contaminated water from 2007 through 2011.

Silicon production health risks

Silicosis in miners

Toxic chemicals in manufacturing and end-of-life

Silicon tetrachloride, hydrofluoric acid, cadmium telluride, cadmium sulfide, gallium arsenide…

Resource scarcity

Silicon tetrachloride, hydrofluoric acid, cadmium telluride, cadmium sulfide, gallium arsenide…

Incremental SolutionsReduce impacts from toxic substances

Improve efficiencies, lower costs

Power as a service

Practice Extended Producer Responsibility

Strategic Recommendations

Support Earth Systems

Move beyond incremental change

Instill net-positive values and culture

Stay in planetary boundaries

Learn from Living Systems

Physical, chemical & biological processes

Self-sustaining

Balancing growth & decay

Real world examplesAquagy: Carbon-negative wastewater treatment

ARDEC Algae-based demilitarization

Boeing biofuels from halophytes + recycling aquaculture waste

Photo: Clean Technica

Real world R&D, prototypesHydrogen from algae:Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Bioreactors for buildings: BIQ prototype, Grow Energy, Inc.

“Bionic Leaf” research: Harvard’s Wyss Institute

Real world R&D (continued)Hematite based artificial photosynthesis research: Boston College

Mimicking nature to split water: Max Planck Institute

Thin layer manganese oxide to improve efficiency and cost: Florida State University

ConclusionsSolar PV: Continue to iterate, improve and innovate. Continue to grow share.

Design solutions to replace chemical energy that close the carbon loop.

Use an Earth systems perspective: Holistic designs that value ecosystems services on an equal footing.

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