Building a renewable energy network
James J. Y. Hsu (許正餘)

After lashing the Philippines, Typhoon Krathon with sustained maximum winds of 160kph and gusts exceeding 200kph struck Taiwan. Heavy rain, seawater backflow, flooding and landslides were reported. The storm left at least two people dead and two missing, while more than 100 were injured.

Half a world away, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, slamming through multiple states and killing more than 200 people, knocking out power to millions, and immersing vehicles and trapping families in floodwaters. It created an 800km path of destruction and hundreds of people remain unaccounted for.

Phoenix, Arizona, where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is building chip fabs, has recorded temperatures of more than 38oC for more than 100 days and still counting. Larger and more frequent hurricanes and tornadoes are trending and have become routine. While deniers of global warming claim these have nothing to do with human activities, there is one simple but important physical law, the principle of causality — the cause and its effect that cannot be ignored.

The Earth is perfectly vacuum sealed. Heat cannot escape from Earth except black body radiation, the thermal electromagnetic radiation given off by an opaque, nonreflective body. According to Newton’s laws of motion, an object in motion stays in motion, only to be limited by friction so that energy is applied in our daily lives to counter that and in the end all the energy consumed on Earth, except a small fraction, becomes heat waste.

It is wishful thinking that the ever-increasing demand for energy by humans would not cause global warming or that human activities are not related to catastrophes on Earth, with some choosing to believe that it is some mysterious or invisible hand that is at work. The sad truth is that we could be slowly “cooking” ourselves to death without recognizing it.

Improvements in lifestyles tend to increase energy consumption. Under the circumstances, only two energy policies make sense: renewable energy and smart energy.

The UN’s advice — reduce, reuse, recycle — has to become a permanent lifestyle to give the Earth a chance.

In this regard, nuclear energy can hardly be considered green energy as it adds tremendous amounts of new energy to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution will increase energy consumption due to heavy computing, but if it could improve the efficiency of everything else, it might help. Otherwise, renewable energy without adding additional energy to Mother Earth is critical in this undertaking.

One shortcoming of renewable energy is the mismatch between the production cycle and the demand cycle. During daytime, in California, for example, power generated from solar energy exceeds demand. However, batteries for electric vehicles have progressed to store surplus electricity for consumption at a later time. With this improvement, renewable energy can offer a better and safer alternative than nuclear energy.

Taiwan needs to build a renewable energy network if it wants to stay as the leading nation on AI technology.

James J. Y. Hsu is a retired professor of theoretical physics.

This article was originally published in Taipei Times Editorial: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2024/10/10/2003825044.