BBC News - German tariffs make green energy too expensive to store
That's impressive, make gas, store it and use gas turbines to generate electricity as needed. With hydro it was a couple of days storage, now they could achieve 3-weeks with gas generation.
It seems to me this technology will deliver results long before fusion.
Wish it were the UK that were leading in this technology.
One of the most promising technologies is a system called Power-to-Gas, which converts green energy into both hydrogen and methane. The technology has been developed at the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Stuttgart.
Electricity from the grid drives a process of electrolysis that creates the hydrogen and oxygen from water. Carbon dioxide is then added to the hydrogen which creates synthetic methane that can be pumped into the gas distribution grid. It can be used for heating or to make electricity.
According to the scientist behind the technology, Power-to-Gas has some major advantages over other ideas that are being tested.
The Power-to-Gas facility not only stores green energy but takes care of carbon dioxide as well
"If you want to store energy over a long time, then I think a chemical energy carrier is the only option," Dr Michael Specht told BBC News.
"The other ideas such as pumped water or large batteries, typically have storage times of one or two days - but with this system we have storage times of weeks or months."
Electricity from the grid drives a process of electrolysis that creates the hydrogen and oxygen from water. Carbon dioxide is then added to the hydrogen which creates synthetic methane that can be pumped into the gas distribution grid. It can be used for heating or to make electricity.
According to the scientist behind the technology, Power-to-Gas has some major advantages over other ideas that are being tested.
The Power-to-Gas facility not only stores green energy but takes care of carbon dioxide as well
"If you want to store energy over a long time, then I think a chemical energy carrier is the only option," Dr Michael Specht told BBC News.
"The other ideas such as pumped water or large batteries, typically have storage times of one or two days - but with this system we have storage times of weeks or months."
That's impressive, make gas, store it and use gas turbines to generate electricity as needed. With hydro it was a couple of days storage, now they could achieve 3-weeks with gas generation.
It seems to me this technology will deliver results long before fusion.
Wish it were the UK that were leading in this technology.
On a bright Sunday in June this year, solar and wind provided 60% of Germany's power needs. So much solar was being produced that wholesale prices were for a time in the negative.
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