Topic
The main drivers for investment in renewable energy are the following:
–global warming (also called climate change);
— comparative costs of renewable and fossil fuel technologies;
— pollution and its role in pushing investment into renewable energy;
–the amount of money likely to be in play;
–government regulations—national, state/regional, or municipal and international agreements, such as that of Cop 21–including taxes and subsidies which may favor (or disadvantage) investment in renewable energy; the most prominent of these subsidies are those in the Inflation Reduction Act.
–the element of belief, sometimes called dreams, in major investment shifts;
–energy independence is often expressed as a major element of national defense—particularly since the Russian aggression in Ukraine;
–and the potential role of millions of electric car owners as a lobbying force to shift the world into renewable energy.
These electric cars can’t run without batteries, and batteries can be used not only for road vehicles but also for energy storage and filling some of the gaps in grid-scale renewable energy generation when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Some ferry boats are now powered by batteries and several companies are now developing electric airplanes and helicopters. So, the topic of the term paper is– batteries for vehicles, energy storage, and filling the gaps in grid-scale electricity due to the intermittency of renewable energy.
You may focus on any aspect of the topic that interests you: current major companies or minor ones, including start-ups, devoted to batteries; the battery industry itself; the safety issues with these batteries; the waste disposal issues, the recycling possibilities for batteries; the availability and market for the raw materials for batteries. You may also focus on a particular battery technology, e.g., solid-state, or iron-flow batteries.
Structure of the paper:
After an initial introduction, in the first part of your paper, which you should caption as Part I, you should discuss the drivers of the renewable energy investment story.
Each should be discussed under an individual subheading:
–global warming (also called climate change);
–comparative costs of renewable and fossil fuel technologies;
–the amount of money likely to be in play;
–energy independence in the name of national defense.
–pollution and its role in pushing investment into renewable energy;
–government regulations—Biden’s inflation Reduction Act, state/regional, or municipal laws, and international agreements, such as that of Cop 21–including taxes and subsidies which may favor (or disadvantage) investment in renewable energy;
–the element of belief, sometimes called dreams, in major investment shifts;
–the potential role of millions of electric car owners as a lobbying force to shift the world into renewable energy.
PART ll
In the next part of your paper, which you should label as Part II, you should explain the battery technologies that have been used and the one that you think is the best for each purpose: cars, trucks, and busses; energy storage for buildings; and filling the gaps in renewable energy for the grid. If you choose, you could also discuss batteries for ships and airplanes. You may, if you choose, focus Part II of your paper on only one of the above topics (batteries for vehicles, buildings or the grid), with just a brief discussion of the others. Discuss the costs of these battery technologies. Discuss also the issue of availability of, and market for, battery materials—commodities such as lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel, etc. Discuss recycling and pollution issues—in particular, Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) issues associated with mining, manufacturing, and recycling. Discuss potential and/or likely future battery technologies, such as solid-state batteries. Can the claims of the proponents of the various new battery types be believed?
You should conclude the paper with a recommendation (to a major company or a big investor) on whether to invest or not in the industry/company that is the focus of the paper.
The paper must be fully documented, with citations for specific claims.