Introduction

Abstract

The expected growth of the world population to 9 or 10 billion towards the second half of the century and renewed economic growth after the current economic crisis will immensely increase the demand for energy. At the same time, the carbon dioxide emissions inherently linked to current fossil fuel use need to be reduced substantially over the century to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” As a consequence, there will be a tremendous need for the development and large-scale diffusion of a range of new technologies for conversion, storage, transport and efficient use of energy. Scenarios by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest an increase of 87% of electricity demand from 19,014 TWh in the year 2006 to 35,400 TWh in the year 2030.