Feasibility of an " All electric " energy system: A prospective study to 2050

In 1881, two electricians built the world's first power system in England. It supplied seven arc lamps at 250 volts and 34 incandescent lamps at 40 volts. However, supply to the lamps was intermittent and in 1882 Thomas Edison and his company, The Edison Electric Light Company, developed the first steam-powered electric power station on Pearl Street in New York City. From this first attempt, several systems started to spread across the United States and Europe. and power companies had built thousands of power systems (both direct and alternating current) in the United States and Europe. Years after, it has become possible to transport electricity over long distances. Power distribution then started to expand throughout the world, propelling the second industrial revolution, and becoming progressively a major source of energy supply. Global electricity consumption has increased by around 70% since 2000, and it accounts for 19% of total final consumption today compared to just over 15% in 2000. The steady rise in demand for electricity means that it is now the second largest fuel by end-use, but the level of electricity consumption remains less than half the level of oil consumption. The emergence of renewable power sources over the last twenty years alongside the further digitalization of power grids are perceived to play a major role if carbon emissions are to decrease significantly. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficiency of an ‘all electric world’ to decarbonize energy systems. It finds that an ‘all electric’ world scenario, with 4 times more electricity in final energy consumption would require an inevitable climate policy response to support the migration of uses towards clean electricity. The steady decreasing costs of renewables would not be enough to switch to clean power systems. Furthermore, 5.3 GtCO2eq of CCS is to be installed between 2040 and 2050 to compensate CO2 emissions (2.5 GtCO2eq if electricity is to reach 49% in total final energy consumption by 2050). Our analyses come up with massive breakthroughs in power generation, USA would see ¾ of its dispatchable power capacities switched into intermittent renewable sources. a complete redesign of the grid power system towards one that is more decentralized and more digitized is then required to accompany the transitio