Alternatives to Electricity for GW-Scale Transmission and Firming Storage for Diverse, Stranded Renewables: Hydrogen and Ammonia

Author(s):  
William C. Leighty ◽  
John H. Holbrook ◽  
James G. Blencoe

COP15, Copenhagen, December 09, failed partly for lack of a credible, comprehensive vision for how we may, and must soon, “run the world on renewables”. We cannot, and should not try to, accomplish this entirely with electricity transmission. The world’s richest renewable energy (RE) resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in surface tanks, interconnected via underground pipelines in RE systems for gathering, transmission, distribution, and end use. Thus, we need to think beyond electricity as we plan new “transmission” systems for bringing large, stranded RE resources to distant markets as annually-firm C-free energy, to empower subsequent efforts to COP15. Recent press has extolled the global RE vision, but without adequate attention to the diverse transmission and storage systems required for achievement. [21] At GW scale, renewable-source electricity from diverse sources can be converted to hydrogen and byproduct oxygen, and/or to NH3, pipelined underground to load centers for use as vehicle fuel and combined-heat-and-power generation on the wholesale or retail side of the customers’ meters. The ICE, CT, and fuel cell operate very efficiently on GH2 and NH3 fuels. USA has extensive extant NH3 pipeline and tank storage infrastructure.

Author(s):  
William C. Leighty ◽  
John H. Holbrook

We must soon “run the world on renewables” but cannot, and should not try to, accomplish this entirely with electricity transmission. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world’s richest RE resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in surface tanks, both pressurized and refrigerated. “Smart Grid” is emerging as primarily a DSM (demand side management) strategy to encourage energy conservation. Making the electricity grid “smarter” does not: 1. Increase physical transmission capacity; 2. Provide affordable annual-scale firming storage for RE; 3. Solve grid integration problem for large, time-varying RE; 4. Alleviate NIMBY objections to new transmission siting; 5. Reduce the high O&M costs of overhead electric lines. The “smarter” grid may be more vulnerable to cyberattack. Adding storage, control, and quality adjunct devices to the electricity grid, to accommodate very high renewables content, may be technically and economically inferior to GH2 and NH3 RE systems. Thus, we need to look beyond “smart grid”, expanding our concept of “transmission”, to synergistically and simultaneously solve the transmission, firming storage, and RE integration “balancing” problems now severely constraining our progress toward “running the world on renewables”.


Author(s):  
William C. Leighty ◽  
John H. Holbrook

We must soon “run the world on renewables” but cannot, and should not try to, accomplish this entirely with electricity transmission. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world’s richest RE resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in surface tanks, both pressurized and refrigerated. “Smart Grid” is emerging as primarily a DSM (demand side management) strategy to encourage energy conservation. Making the electricity grid “smarter” does not: 1. Increase physical transmission capacity; 2. Provide affordable annual-scale firming storage for RE; 3. Solve grid integration problem for large, time-varying RE; 4. Alleviate NIMBY objections to new transmission siting; 5. Reduce the high O&M costs of overhead electric lines. The “smarter” grid may be more vulnerable to cyberattack. Adding storage, control, and quality adjunct devices to the electricity grid, to accommodate very high renewables content, may be technically and economically inferior to GH2 and NH3 RE systems. Thus, we need to look beyond “smart grid”, expanding our concept of “transmission”, to synergistically and simultaneously solve the transmission, firming storage, and RE integration “balancing” problems now severely constraining our progress toward “running the world on renewables”.


Author(s):  
William C. Leighty

The world’s richest renewable energy resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. The energy output of most renewables varies greatly, at time scales of seconds to seasons: the energy capture assets thus operate at inherently low capacity factor (CF); energy delivery to end-users is not “firm”. New electric transmission systems, or fractions thereof, dedicated to renewables, will suffer the same low CF, and represent substantial stranded capital assets, which increases the cost of delivered renewable-source energy. Electric energy storage cannot affordably firm large renewables at annual scale. At gigawatt (GW = 1,000 MW) scale, renewable-source electricity from diverse sources, worldwide, can be converted to hydrogen and oxygen, via high-pressure-output electrolyzers, with the hydrogen pipelined to load centers (cities, refineries, chemical plants) for use as vehicle fuel, combined-heat-and-power generation on the retail side of the customers’ meters, ammonia production, and petroleum refinery feedstock. The oxygen byproduct may be sold to adjacent dry biomass and / or coal gasification plants. Figures 1–3. New, large, solution-mined salt caverns in the southern Great Plains, and probably elsewhere in the world, may economically store enough energy as compressed gaseous hydrogen (GH2) to “firm” renewables at annual scale, adding great market and strategic value to diverse, stranded, rich, renewable resources. Figures 2 and 3. For example, Great Plains, USA, wind energy, if fully harvested and “firmed” and transmitted to markets, could supply the entire energy consumption of USA. If gathered, transmitted, and delivered as hydrogen, about 15,000 new solution-mined salt caverns, of ∼8 million cubic feet (225,000 cubic meters) each, would be required, at an incremental capital cost to the generation-transmission system of ∼5%. We report the results of several studies of the technical and economic feasibility of large-scale renewables — hydrogen systems. Windplants are the lowest-cost new renewable energy sources; we focus on wind, although concentrating solar power (CSP) is probably synergistic and will become attractive in cost. The largest and richest renewable resources in North America, with high average annual windspeed and sunlight, are stranded in the Great Plains: extant electric transmission capacity is insignificant relative to the resource potential. Large, new, electric transmission systems will be costly, difficult to site and permit, and may be difficult to finance, because of public opposition, uncertainties about transmission cost recovery, and inherently low CF in renewables service. The industrial gas companies’ decades of success and safety in operating thousands of km of GH2 pipelines worldwide is encouraging, but these are relatively short, small-diameter pipelines, and operating at low and constant pressure: not subject to the technical demands of renewables-hydrogen service (RHS), nor to the economic challenge of delivering low-volumetric-energy-density GH2 over hundreds or thousands of km to compete with other hydrogen sources at the destination. The salt cavern storage industry is also mature; several GH2 storage caverns have been in service for over twenty years; construction and operating and maintenance (O&M) costs are well understood; O&M costs are low.


Author(s):  
William C. Leighty ◽  
John H. Holbrook

Electricity from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources may be converted to gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and anhydrous ammonia (NH3) carbon-free fuels and stored at < $1.00 / KWh capital cost in large, solution-mined salt caverns for GH2 and in large, refrigerated, “atmospheric” liquid surface tanks as NH3. This stored chemical energy is gathered and transmitted and distributed via continental-scale underground pipeline systems and converted to useful work, at residential to industrial scales, via combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants, via direct space heating and cooling, and as transportation fuels. We thus solve RE’s severe transmission, storage, and integration problems via complete, optimized, systems design — from photons and moving air and water molecules to delivered energy services. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world’s richest RE resources — of large geographic extent and high intensity — are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity systems may be suboptimal, technically and economically, at such large scale. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free GH2 and liquid NH3 fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in steel surface tanks, both pressurized and refrigerated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Alvaro Cristian Sánchez Mercado

Throughout history the development of the countries has been generated mainly by the impulse in two complementary axes: Science and Technology, and Trade. At present we are experiencing an exponential scientific and technological development and the Economy in all its fronts is driven by the intensive application of technology. According to these considerations, this research tries to expose the development of Innovation Management as a transversal mechanism to promote the different socioeconomic areas and especially those supported by engineering. To this end, use will be made of Technology Watch in order to identify the advances of the main research centres related to innovation in the world. Next, there will be an evaluation of the main models of Innovation Management and related methodologies that expose some of the existing Innovation Observatories in the world to finally make a proposal for Innovation Management applicable to the reality of Peru, so that it can be taken into consideration by stakeholders (Government, Academy, Business and Civil Society) committed to Innovation Management in the country


Author(s):  
Manuel-Angel Gonzalez-Chapa ◽  
Jose-Ramon Vega-Galaz

Combined Heat and Power systems have been used all around the world due to their effective and viable way of transforming energy from fossil fuel. Indeed, the advantage of lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to those obtained in conventional power or conventional heat generation systems have been an important factor giving CHP systems an advantage over these conventional ones. Certainly CHP has been, and continues to be, a good practice while renewable technologies become more economically. While these technologies emerge it is important to continue minimizing these greenhouse gas emissions from conventional and CHP units as much as possible. This paper deals with the fuel optimization of power, heat and CHP systems including emissions and ambient conditions constraints. Ambient conditions variations are evaluated before solving the optimization and then introduced to the problem to consider their effects.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sinclair ◽  
J. O'Toole ◽  
M. Malawaraarachchi ◽  
K. Leder

Research on the potential of greywater reuse to reduce urban tap water demand has focused mainly on permanently installed greywater treatment or irrigation systems. These may be readily implemented in new housing developments, but experience in Australia shows their uptake by established households in urban areas is low. The majority of households employ simple and temporary methods for greywater collection and use, but their behaviour has not been well documented. We characterised the greywater use practices of over 1,000 Melbourne households during a 5-year period (2007 to 2011) which included 3 years of severe drought with stringent restrictions on outdoor tap water use. Greywater was most frequently collected from the laundry and bathroom, and generally used within 24 hours. Garden watering was the most common end use, and treatment of greywater to reduce microbial contamination was very rare. Volume estimates by householders suggest that on average around 10% of tap water used in the home was being collected for reuse. When drought conditions and water restrictions eased, over 40% of user households discontinued greywater use. Widespread adoption of permanent greywater collection, treatment and storage systems by households would be required to achieve a lasting effect on urban water consumption.


Author(s):  
Paul L. Joskow

Abstract Electric power sectors around the world have changed dramatically in the last 25 years as a result of sector liberalization policies. Many electricity sectors are now pursuing deep decarbonization goals which will entail replacing dispatchable fossil generation primarily with intermittent renewable generation (wind and solar) over the next 20–30 years. This transition creates new challenges for both short-term wholesale market design and investment incentives consistent with achieving both decarbonization commitments and security of supply criteria. Thinking broadly about the options for institutional change from a Williamsonian perspective – thinking like Williamson – provides a useful framework for examining institutional adaptation. Hybrid markets that combine ‘competition for the market’ that relies on competitive procurement for long-term purchased power agreements with wind, solar, and storage developers, ideally in a technology neutral fashion, and ‘competition in the market’ that relies on short-term markets designed to produce efficient and reliable operations of intermittent generation and storage, is identified as a promising direction for institutional adaptation. Many auction, contract, and market integration issues remain to be resolved.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Adam

Abstract Hydrogen holds enormous potential in helping the world achieve its decarbonization goals and is set to play a key role in the Energy Transition. However, two central building blocks are needed to make the hydrogen economy a reality: 1) a sufficient source of emissions-free (i.e., blue or green) hydrogen production and 2) a needs-based transportation and storage network that can reliably and cost-effectively supply hydrogen to end-users. Given the high costs associated with developing new transportation infrastructure, many governments, pipeline operators, and regulatory bodies have begun exploring if it is both possible and economical to convert existing natural gas (i.e., methane) infrastructure for hydrogen operation. This paper outlines opportunities and technical challenges associated with such an endeavor – with a particular focus on adaptation requirements for rotating equipment/compressor drive trains and metallurgical and integrity considerations for pipelines.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Ann Ernisse

This practical thesis project report contains a conservation survey, condition report and collections care proposal for the World War I portrait collection at State Records of South Australia. The plan prescribes immediate, short term and long term recommendations for the improvement of preservation techniques for the World War I collection. The paper also contains information and results gathered through the condition report of the collection sample and conservation survey. The survey investigated the current environment and storage facilities, access, security and disaster planning surrounding the collection. The paper also outlines the practices and methodologies of the applied thesis for both the conservation survey and condition report. The collection care proposal assesses current practices in order to provide State Records with accurate goals that offer flexible options. A detailed list of housing recommendations is included in the proposal; an advantages and disadvantages assessment if included for each option to help State Records better fit its needs and abilities in the future. Charts showing the results of the condition report and environmental assessment from the conservation survey are included in the appendix for further reference. This project is intended to draw attention to the urgent need for better preservation practices for the World War I portrait collection.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document