Sustainable Energy Systems: The Strategic Role of Chemical Energy Conversion

In our globalized economy a multitude of energy systems are in operation. They present quite different structures and targets despite their common goal of supplying the energy needs for all societal activities reflecting the different boundary conditions of respective societies. The common quest for sustainability has given renewable electricity and “solar fuels” a high attention. The paper describes some underlying systemic aspects of integrating renewable with fossil energy and makes the point that without chemical energy conversion (CEC) this target will not be possible. A non-exhaustive list of grand challenges in CEC is derived. Some aspects of chemical energy science are discussed