January 29, 2014

solar power for CO2 mitigation

Energy from the sun is clean, free and practically limitless.  Solar power represents a vast resource which could, in principle, meet the world’s needs for low-carbon power generation many times over.  The technology to generate solar power by conversion of light to electricity (PV) and conversion of light to power via heat (solar thermal) is already proven and widely deployed.

Ten years ago, solar power was considered too expensive to make any significant contribution to power generation. Today it has become a major and cost effective electricity source in Germany, kick-started by strong economic incentives and government subsidies, with other countries now adopting similar policies.  This leads researchers to ask how much of the world’s electricity might realistically be supplied from the sun?  And how far can solar power help us to reduce carbon emissions?

Speakers:

Prof Sir Brian Hoskins, Director, Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London

Prof Jenny Nelson, Professor of Physics at Imperial College London

Ajay Gambhir, Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London

Dr Ned Ekins-Daukes, Senior Lecturer in Physics at Imperial College London.