Energy Harvesting

One solution to growing economic uncertainty, energy price increases, and fuel uncertainty may be turning towards oil and gas reserves that have previously been untapped. This article covers technologies including carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery and gas separation membranes.

Solar power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies. In 2023 alone, over 340 GW of new solar power was installed. With rising energy demands, concerns over energy security, and increasing decarbonization goals, solar power installations are only anticipated to rise.

IDTechEx forecasts the second-life EV battery market to grow to US$4.2B in value by 2035, given the increasing availability of retired EV batteries over the coming decade. Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles may be used for 6-15 years, depending on the application and their degradation over time. Once these batteries reach a capacity, or State-of-Health (SOH), that is too low to facilitate the driving range requirements of the EV, these are retired. These batteries could be recycled to reclaim critical and valuable raw materials, which could be reintroduced into new EV battery manufacturing.

The e-fuels sector stands at a critical juncture in its evolution from laboratory innovation and demonstration projects to industrial-scale production. While significant progress has been made in technology development and market interest, evidenced by substantial corporate investments and supportive policy frameworks, considerable challenges remain.

Major CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) players converged in Houston, Texas, in the last week of June for the 2024 iteration of the Carbon Capture Technology Expo North America. Co-located with the Hydrogen Technology Expo, the event boasted over 8000 attendees and 400 exhibitors - including IDTechEx.

Owing to their exceptional design flexibility, structural versatility, and high porosity, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are gathering interest for a wide range of applications, such as water harvesting for HVAC, direct lithium extraction, refrigerant reclamation, hydrogen storage, chemical purifications, and many more.

Creating a circular economy is an essential sustainability target for numerous stakeholders in the supply chain: governments, brands, suppliers, and consumers. A key element of this is reducing plastic waste; the OECD estimated that over 350 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated globally in 2019

Heating and cooling accounts for approximately 50% of global energy consumption, with 30% of this consumption represented by heating demand from industry. Given that the great majority of industrial heating processes use fossil fuels to generate heat, this has caused industrial heating processes to be responsible for ~25% of global emissions.

According to IEA's 2023 update to its net zero roadmap, carbon capture technologies, more efficient space cooling equipment, and clean energy transitions are all cornerstones of achieving net zero by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Emerging technologies utilizing metal-organic framework (MOF) materials for carbon capture, refrigerant reclamation, direct lithium extraction, HVAC equipment, and various other chemical separations and purification processes can see the advent of disruptive next-generation technologies that are essential for industrial decarbonization.