Pictures of the Future      Spring 2008

Energy for Everyone – Scenario 2020

New World

China , 2020. Pensioner Jun Yang has been invited by his nephew to visit the new Ministry of Energy. The small village where Jun Yang lives has been connected to the electrical grid for only a few years, so he’d like to know where the energy that has changed his life comes from. He reports on his experiences in a letter to his friend Wan.

^{Pensioner Yun Jang listens to his nephew explain how China is stilling its hunger for energy. An IGCC power plant uses coal to produce climate-friendly energy. The CO₂ it generates is stored underground. Wind turbines feed electricity into an intelligent network, and automated building management systems are linked with weather forecasts. People drive to work in plug-in hybrid cars that are fueled by solar energy}

Wan, my old friend, do you remember what our life was like just a few years ago? Do you recall the days when our little village was still one of the few places in China that wasn’t connected to the electrical network? I’m sure you’ll agree with me that those were literally dark days, even though there was sometimes a greater sense of community. After the sun went down it was usually impossible to play Mahjong, as the petroleum lamp in your hut was too dim. I’ve come to believe that you actually didn’t mind a bit—you’re simply a bad loser. That’s probably also the reason why you bought yourself a television as soon as we had electricity. Ever since then, our Mahjong games have been a thing of the past. You sit all evening in front of that thing, looking at a world that you don’t understand.

For my part, I at least want to understand the thing that has changed our little world so much. I’m sure you remember my nephew Li, who is doing well professionally at the Ministry of Energy. He’s a very modern person, and he’s the one who gave my wife all of those electrical household appliances. Ever since then she’s had a lot more free time, and that has also made my life much more complicated. But I’m digressing—pardon me. At any rate, Li invited me to visit him in the Ministry’s brand-new administration building. Of course I accepted. He thought this would broaden my horizons. By now, dear Wan, my horizons are so broad that I can no longer see their limits.

It all began this morning at the train station. Li had said he would send a car to pick me up. The car came very soon, but I couldn’t hear the sound of an engine as it came around the corner. The driver seemed to be amused when I asked him if there was something wrong with the engine. He explained to me that the car was a plug-in hybrid that was powered almost entirely by electricity. It had a small combustion engine, but that was only used when the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were empty. And the batteries could be recharged by simply plugging them into a wall socket. When we reached the Ministry, the driver parked the car in a parking lot under a roof equipped with a solar collector and the vehicle was automatically connected to a docking station power plug. A lot of other hybrid cars were already there, filling up on solar energy—and the driver told me they generated no emissions whatsoever.

The administration building loomed into the sky, and I felt a little bit lost in the gigantic entrance hall. A friendly receptionist accompanied me to a glass elevator. She told me my nephew was waiting for me on the 40th floor and pressed a button. At just that moment I was catapulted upward, and I felt as though my stomach had stayed on the ground floor with the nice lady in the foyer. The earth became smaller so fast that I had to close my eyes. When I opened them again I saw Li’s beaming face in front of me. "Welcome to our energy management headquarters, Uncle Jun," he said and led me—I was still a bit shaky—into a big room with a gigantic window.

"From here we always have a good overview of the country’s entire energy supply," he said. "As you know, about ten years ago China passed the U.S. as the world’s biggest generator of CO₂ emissions, and that’s why we had to boost our efforts to preserve the environment. Today we already produce a large percentage of our energy in ways that protect the climate," said Li proudly as he pointed to the many wind turbines on the horizon. "By the way, all of the wind turbines are linked via Internet with continuously updated local weather forecasts, so that we can effectively predict how much electricity they will produce."

Next, he pointed to a message that appeared on the window as though written by a spirit’s hand. "A bad storm has just been forecast for our region. Our warning system recommends that we turn off all the facilities that will be affected so that power networks won’t be overloaded." A short time later, it suddenly became comfortably warm and bright—just as it does after I’ve had a good cup of plum wine at your house, Wan. But Li assured me that in this case it was due to the building management system. This system is also linked with the weather forecast, and it automatically adjusts the room temperature and lighting accordingly. By the way, there are no lamps in the entire building. Instead, there are highly efficient light-emitting diodes. All that saves a lot of energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions, says Li.

I was surprised to hear that our old coal-burning stoves in the village emit more CO₂ than the gigantic coal-fired power plant not far from this building.

My nephew explained that this brand-new power plant was what they call an IGCC facility, which doesn’t burn the coal directly, but instead transforms it into a gas containing hydrogen that then fuels a turbine. The CO₂ is separated out in the process. You won’t believe what happens next. The gas is collected, removed through pipelines, and finally pumped deep into the earth. There, in an underground depot that used to be a natural gas reservoir, it can remain for thousands of years without escaping to the surface, according to Li.

Li obviously noticed my skeptical look, because he laid his hand on my arm reassuringly and said, "That’s really true, but now we’re also building power plants that don’t need any coal at all—for example, facilities that generate electricity only from the ocean waves and floating wind turbines that are used on the open sea." Basically, it’s crazy, isn’t it? What a lot of effort just to operate your TV and my wife’s washing machine!

Incidentally, my nephew gave me a very unusual present when we parted: Mahjong as a computer game. This way, I can even play it alone, he said. Unfortunately, I don’t have a computer, but he said that the game will also work with a TV. Wan, my old friend, are you doing anything next Sunday evening?
                                                                                                               Florian Martini