Energy
The supply of energy, water, and food to every human being in a fairer way and the generalized access to healthcare are the basic challenges our global society will face in the decades ahead. The energy issue is at the forefront, as without energy, nothing is possible. This communication will address the question of energy supply and explain the major role that chemical engineers will play in addressing the energy needs of the future.
The consumption of energy per capita is one indicator of economical development. A brief review of the main drivers supporting the energy demand will first be made along with a description of the carbon-based energy system that has been built over the last century to ensure the supply of both electricity and liquids for transportation. The present system is not sustainable due to increasing concerns about the environmental impact, and the availability of enough hydrocarbons from fossil origin for the long term. New efforts must therefore be made to invent a new energy system for the benefit of future generations.
Many new energy scenarios have been proposed based on renewable sources. It is important, however, in the establishment of a “realistic vision” of the future to make a clear distinction between electricity generation and the production of transportation fuels, as well as to consider time horizons. In the next 25 years, no significant global changes are expected in the energy portfolio but a technological transition will undoubtedly occur. In the power generation sector, the combustion of natural gas and coal will develop significantly, nuclear energy will make a limited comeback, and the contribution of renewable energies (solar and wind-based plant) will progress but remain marginal versus the global consumption, although they may play a strong role in local markets. As for transportation liquids, the consumption of oil is expected to progress further, supplied partly by oil from non-conventional sources (extra heavy oils and tar sands). Biomass alcohols will increasingly contribute on the transportation fuel side although its global share will remain limited. On the longer term, the contribution of oil and gas will decrease and hopefully will be substituted by primary energy from renewable sources.
Chemical engineers are at the core of this transition period and the new era that will follow. Likewise the golden age of chemical engineering in the 20th century was linked to the development of the oil and chemical industries, the role of chemical engineering in the 21st century will be not less critical to the future development of humankind. In the coming decades, the main challenge will be to adapt and develop the production technologies needed to provide electricity, fuels, and base molecules from less conventional sources of hydrocarbons while addressing seriously the problems of water and air quality. More efficient and greener processes, biochemical engineering, and nanotechnologies are seen as ways to achieve these objectives. On the longer term, before the advent and the promises of the so-called hydrogen economy, purely bio-based processes with a net zero balance of CO2 emissions will undoubtedly be part of the solution for power generation, the production of alcohol fuels at a massive scale and bio-molecules for base chemicals. All these changes will require a new education paradigm and a thorough evolution of our profession.
In the presentation, several examples of the ongoing contributions of chemical engineering to the changing field of energy will be given.
Philippe A. Tanguy
Total Professor and Director, URPEI
École Polytechnique de Montréal
Chair of the Organizing Committee