Beyond Hydrocarbons: Who Powers Tomorrow?
While Energy Giants Sleep, Who Keeps the Lights On?
In 2024, total global energy consumption amounted to approximately 173,000 terawatt hours*, which is roughly equivalent to 14.3 billion tons of oil equivalent. Every year, the global economy’s energy demand grows by 1-2%. Hydrocarbons remain the main source of energy. Oil, gas, and coal account for more than 80% of global energy consumption due to their high energy density, well-established infrastructure, and relatively low cost of extraction and transportation. But what is happening in the market for the remaining 20%? What supplies energy to the regions, industries, and areas that hydrocarbon energy cannot reach?
*Data from BP Statistical Review of World Energy and International Energy Agency
Why Alternatives Matter
Several factors prevent oil and gas from achieving complete hegemony in the global energy market.
One of the key factors is the geographical remoteness of electricity consumers from the main grids. It is not economically viable to lay cables to a research base on the Arctic coast or a gold mine in the taiga. Electricity sources have to be found locally.
Another important factor is the decentralisation of energy systems, which is intended to increase their stability, safety and efficiency. In addition to large hubs such as thermal power plants, small and medium-sized energy sources located close to consumers are being integrated into the energy system. This reduces transmission losses, hedges against the risk of accidents and makes demand management more flexible.
Companies and consumers can reduce their dependence on centralized suppliers by generating part of their energy at their own facilities. Obviously, the signs of the times are also taken into account: a decentralized system is more sustainable in terms of energy sector safety.
The search for alternatives to burning hydrocarbons is also driven by considerations of progress. Sooner or later, organic fuel will run out, or the cost of extraction will put an end to its further use. This fact is spurring a race for technology in alternative energy in all its diversity, from controlled thermonuclear fusion to ocean power stations that mimic the movement of algae.
Last but not least, another important factor is environmental protection. More than 75% of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are directly or indirectly related to the burning of fossil fuels (the remaining 25% is mainly due to land use, including deforestation). With the current level of environmental awareness, this is too much to ignore.
Pioneers of Future Energy
Together, these factors are driving the development of a large, knowledge-intensive and diverse technological market called ‘promising energy sector’. While the use of renewable energy sources (taking advantage of solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal energy) is gradually becoming part of the ‘traditional energy sector,’ their place on the technological frontier is being taken by more exotic developments.
For example, the modern nuclear energy sector includes not only traditional nuclear power plants but also several relatively new directions.
The first one is mini nuclear power plants: small modular reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MW (large nuclear power plants have a capacity of over 700 MW). The advantages of these power plants are decentralization (mini nuclear power plants reduce dependence on large power stations and are suitable for regions with poor energy infrastructure), modularity (power supply can be quickly deployed and scaled up or down depending on demand) and cost-effectiveness.
The second area is controlled thermonuclear fusion. Unlike traditional nuclear power plants, tokamak reactors use a mixture of hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and tritium) as fuel. The thermonuclear reaction is not a chain reaction, so it cannot get out of control or cause an explosion, making a potential thermonuclear power plant safer than traditional nuclear reactors in terms of radiation. Despite its many advantages, the era of thermonuclear electricity is still a long way off. Although there is steady progress in research, scientists regularly encounter new problems, and tokamaks are still laboratory devices rather than industrial machines. It is even unclear how cost-effective it would be to produce electricity using thermonuclear fusion.
Unlike the vague prospects of thermonuclear fusion, one area of promising energy technology has proven its effectiveness and shown a number of advantages over hydrocarbon-based generation. This is electrochemistry, a range of technologies that enable chemical energy to be converted directly into electrical energy. Fuel cells convert fuel energy (hydrogen is the most promising fuel) into electricity through an electrochemical reaction, providing clean and efficient generation. Batteries store and release electrical energy through chemical reactions. Osmotic power plants use the difference in the concentration of salt and fresh water to generate electricity. All of these methods are environmentally friendly, scalable, safe, and can be used to decentralize energy systems. Most importantly, they offer higher efficiency compared to traditional energy sources: the efficiency of serial fuel cells is 75%, while the electrical efficiency of modern combined cycle power plants is limited to 62–64%. For thermal power plants, this is the ceiling due to thermodynamic, mechanical, and economic limitations, while fuel cells have the potential to reach 80% efficiency. Taken together, these factors make electrochemical solutions a diamond in the rough in the advanced energy sector, and Russia is fully capable of cutting it.
On the Path to Leadership
Today, most forward energy technologies are concentrated in a few countries. Germany has adopted and implemented a multi-billion-euro National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies. In Japan and South Korea, the authorities have created pilot areas where electrochemical technologies are tested in real conditions and demonstrate their economic feasibility. Russia also has the potential to join this exclusive club and become one of the leaders in groundbreaking energy technologies. In addition to reducing dependence on foreign suppliers of technologies and components, the development of electrochemical energy in Russia minimizes geopolitical and international economic risks.
For a long time, Russian electrochemistry was in a state of disarray. There were separate strong scientific schools that had experience in the field of promising energy production. The production base and extraction of minerals necessary for the manufacture of electrochemical installations and batteries developed independently. Russian technologies for storing electrical energy, hydrogen fuel cells, and so on were improved. However, the disintegration of the industry prevented it from advancing beyond prototypes or isolated, narrow solutions.
In 2022, H2 Invest was founded as an integrator in the field of the promising energy sector. Striving to become the technological leader in the industry, the company has set itself the task of bringing the domestic advanced energy sector to maturity. H2 Invest’s portfolio already includes Russian developments in batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, autonomous power sources, and hydrogen storage and transportation systems. They are on par with foreign technologies and, in some cases, surpass them.
H2 Invest works to ensure that different, sometimes unrelated scientific schools and start-ups, products and production capacities, government regulations, and support measures form an environment where synergy ensures high rates of development in the industry. This is essential for achieving technological independence and joining the club of leaders in vanguard energy technologies.
