Chapter 1
Introduction
The aim of this thesis is to investigate new electro-catalysts for the oxygen
evolution reaction, which is key to improve the feasibility of water electrolysis.
Water electrolysis in turn holds great potential as a technology for storing electrical
energy as a chemical. This brief "bottom-up" motivation is meaningful
for researchers in the eld, however, for others it may be of greater interest
to know why electrochemical production of hydrogen is relevant in the bigger
scope of things. In the following I will therefore attempt a top-down motivation
to why the world needs energy storage technologies. As a starting point for
the introduction, the current energy landscape will be presented along with the
global distribution of resources. The challenge of future energy demand is then
discussed and nally energy storage will be introduced.
1.1 A world divided in energy
In the last decades, energy related issues, such as nite fossil fuel resources and
climate changes, have lead to serious debates among the world's policy makers.
Excellent examples are the Conference of the Parties, COP, sessions of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which have been held since the
mid 90's all around the world. In these sessions the worlds leaders aim to set
an ambitious framework for the future emission of green house gasses, which
are closely related to how each country produces its energy. Unfortunately, it
has proven extremely dicult to reach binding agreements between the parties,
despite the fact that most leaders seem aware of the urgency of the situation.