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Pathways to Synthetic Natural Gas SNG a valid option for the storage of energy?

Gregor Waldstein | CEO Solarfuel

20 September 2012

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Gregor Waldstein / CEOSolarFuel GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

� Founded in 2007

� Cooperation with two leading research institutes

• ZSW, Stuttgart: Hydrogen technology, energy conversion, renewable fuels, battery technology

• Fraunhofer IWES, Kassel: Integration of volatile electricity from Wind and PV

� Company focus

• Build and sell Power-to-Gas plants

About SolarFuel GmbH

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� Why is Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) an interesting energy carrier?

� How can we produce Synthetic Natural Gas?

� What is the role of gas with respect to storage of electricity?

� Power to Gas today

Overview Key Issues adressed

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Fossil Natural Gas Synthetic Natural Gas

Gas Infrastructureallows Gas from different sources

� Clean

� Large reserves

� Relatively cheap

Broad/flexible areas of consumption

Commercial

transactions can be

made independent of

physical supply chain!

feed in at one point &

supply at any point

Market for fossil gas = Market for renewable gas

� Conventional technologies

� Green technologies

� Uniform molecules clearly

defined

� Easy to analyse and

measure

� Transport and storage

capacities in place

The gas infrastructure: flexible for clean fossile energy and ready for renewables

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Uphill reactions

Downhill reactions

CO2 + H2O + Energy

Chemical feedstock >10kWh

� Coal

� Biomass

� Photons

� Electrons

� Heat

� The formation of 1nm3 CH4 requires

more than 10 kWh irrespective of

the conversion route or technology

One cubic meter of SNG contains 10 kWh of energy

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+

SNG can be produced by gasification of coal

Basic chemical reactions

C + H2O � CO + H2 + 131,3 kJ/mol

CO + H2O � CO2 + H2 -41,2 kJ/mol

CO + 3 H2 � CH4 + H2O – 206,2 kJ/mol

Summary reaction

2C + 2H2O � CH4 + CO2

Basic chemical reactions

C + H2O � CO + H2 + 131,3 kJ/mol

CO + H2O � CO2 + H2 -41,2 kJ/mol

CO + 3 H2 � CH4 + H2O – 206,2 kJ/mol

Summary reaction

2C + 2H2O � CH4 + CO2

Examples

� Low value hydrocarbon input

� CO2 can be captured on site

� Conversion losses

� Complex and costly technology

� Not green

� Benchmark: export coal / import LNG-

Dakota Plant

� www.dakotagas.com

� Commercial(?) production facility

South Africa

� Sasol, Secunda

� 40% of SAs petrol is produced from gasified coal

Downhill Reaction 1

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+

Renewable SNG can be produced from biomass

Basic chemical reactions

� Photosynthesis: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O � C6H12O6 + 6 O2

algae, sugars, lingo-cellulose

Biomass conversion

� C6H12O6 � 3 CH4 + 3 CO2

Basic chemical reactions

� Photosynthesis: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O � C6H12O6 + 6 O2

algae, sugars, lingo-cellulose

Biomass conversion

� C6H12O6 � 3 CH4 + 3 CO2

Examples

� Green gas

� Benchmark: Highest fuel yield per hectare

of all biofuel technologies

� Low efficiency of photosynthesis is the limit

� To get 10 kWh of CH4

- approximately 20 kWh biomass is required

- which needs 2.000 kWh of solar radiation!

� Too high demand for biogas will raise the

price for food

-

Classic Biogas Process

� Anaerobic digestion

� Gas separation

� > 6000 Plants in Germany

Thermo-chemical

conversion to

syngas and subsequent

methanation

(Güssing, Götheborg and AER)

up to now Demonstration only

Commercially

viable process

broadly used

Commercially

viable process

broadly used

Commercially not

available (to high

value of wood?)

Commercially not

available (to high

value of wood?)

�

??

Downhill Reaction 2

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SNG can be produced by direct reduction of CO 2

� Electrochemical reduction using electrons and

catalysts (copper and other)

� Photo - electrochemical reduction using Photons

and electrons on semiconductor surfaces

� Other approaches to artificial photosynthesis

� Electrochemical reduction using electrons and

catalysts (copper and other)

� Photo - electrochemical reduction using Photons

and electrons on semiconductor surfaces

� Other approaches to artificial photosynthesis

Examples

+ � Theoretically interesting for scientists

� High over-potential is required

� Many side products are formed (we

observed only 1% of desired product!)

� The direct reduction of CO2 to Methane

involves 8 electrons

� Too difficult, no energetic advantage,

no commercial relevance

-

Stanford

� SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and

Catalysis, Department of Chemical Engineering

European Science Foundation

� Photocatalytical nanodevices

Uphill Reaction 1

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Indirect reduction of CO 2 using heat

� ZnO + Thermal Energy at 1000°C � Zn + ½ O2;

Zn+H2O � ZnO + H2

� CeO2 + thermal Energy at 950°C � Ce + O2; Ce +

CO2 +H2O � CO + H2 + CeO2

� ZnO + Thermal Energy at 1000°C � Zn + ½ O2;

Zn+H2O � ZnO + H2

� CeO2 + thermal Energy at 950°C � Ce + O2; Ce +

CO2 +H2O � CO + H2 + CeO2

Examples

+ � Theoretically interesting for scientists

� Technically feasible

� Solar heat at 1000°C only available for few

hours per year

� Benchmark: steam turbine ���� Electricity-

Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland

� Alexander Wokaun

� Demonstraion

ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

� Aldo Steinfeld

� Demonstration

Uphill Reaction 2

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Uphill Reaction 3

� Electrolysis:

H2O (l) + 285 kJ/mol � H2+1/2 O2

� Sabatier reaction:

CO2 + 4H2 � CH4 + 2 H2O (g) +165,5 kJ/mol

� Electrolysis:

H2O (l) + 285 kJ/mol � H2+1/2 O2

� Sabatier reaction:

CO2 + 4H2 � CH4 + 2 H2O (g) +165,5 kJ/mol

Examples

+� Process close to thermodynamic limits

actual results: 16,6 kWh(el) / nm3 CH4

� Flexible and controllable process

� Benchmark 1: Biofuel

� Benchmark 2: other energy storage

technologies

� Storage of electricity is only useful if excess

renewable electricity is available

� Legal framework for Energy storage

emerging slowly

-SolarFuel Beta Plant

� Audi e-gas Project

� 6,3 MW Commercial Demonstration 2013

SolarFuel Alpha Plant

� 25kW SNG fuel station 2009

� 250 kW research plant ZSW 2012

Indirect reduction of CO 2 using electrolysis of water (and intermittent, excess, green, electricity)

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Production and consumption of electricity

must be equal at each moment of time

Production and consumption of electricity

must be equal at each moment of time

Volatile sources like (Wind, Solar) power are the

cheapest form of renewable electricity with

significant potentials for growth

NO MATCH����

Supply of

Wind power

Demand for

Electricity

Power in %

Time (one month June 2010 Germany)

Power in %

Time (one month June 2010 Germany)

Storage is key for integrating high shares of volat ile renewable electricity

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Storage is used to compensate for lack of

flexibility in Production: Gas storage allows

flexible thermal generation

Storage is used to compensate for lack of

flexibility in Production: Gas storage allows

flexible thermal generation

Flexible thermal generation can close the gap

between wind power and demand at all times

Power in %

Time (one month, June 2010)

Power in %

Average consumption vs. Sorted power of wind (one month, June 2010)

Energy= power x time supplied

by Wind power 17%

Energy supplied by thermal

and other power 83%

If less than 17% 1 of Electricity is supplied by Windpowerno significant Excess Power occurs

1. Aggregate production of onshore wind in north east of Germany 2011

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“Export” of excess power requires:

� New transmission lines and

� Price dumping

“Export” of excess power requires:

� New transmission lines and

� Price dumping

Power in %

Time (Szenario hours of one year sorted wind data all Germany 2010)

Further increase above 17% wind power causes problems

We face >17% problems in:

� Germany today

� Europe 2025

Surplus energy occurs in short intervals,

storage is not economical

Excess power sold at

dumping prices

Marginal amount of

useful energy decreases

Requirement for

conventional generation

too high for government &

too low for producers

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A high degree of direct supply to consumers

reduces the demand for expensive green

thermal production

A high degree of direct supply to consumers

reduces the demand for expensive green

thermal production

Surplus energy accumulates and allows for

commercial use with Power to Gas

A high price for e-gas reduces the cost of

electricity

Power in %

Time (Szenario hours of one year sorted wind data all Germany 2010

A high share of Wind power makes storage economical and minimizes the cost of secure electricity

Enough excess power

For technical utilization

High degree of direct

supplyConventional generation

powered by green gas =

green generation

We see a storage business case in:

� North Germany today

� Germany 2025

Utilize

surplus

Maxi-

mize

direct

supply

Minimize

deficit

Optimisation triangle

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Power-to-Gas

Inclination over time:Cost of storage place x time of storage

Starting point : Conversion loss

Quelle: SolarFuel

Hours Weeks / MonthsDays

Duration of rotation cycle

The large emerging market for energy storage will b e segmented by the frequency/duration of storage rota tion

Least cost frontier

Cos

t per

uni

t of o

utpu

t ene

rgy

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Quelle: SolarFuel, Grafiken: Verbund AG, IIR Konferenz 2011

Recurring

Regularly

Hours Weeks / MonthsDays

Duration of cycle

Erratic

Windpower

Photovoltaik

Control Powercompensation for

weather cycles (High low Pressure)

Day / night rotation

Structure of requirements Field of application for storage technologies

Power-to-Gas is the cost minimizing storage technolo gy for a major share of the storage requirements

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Quelle: Specht, Sterner et al.

Solar

CO2

Electrical grid

CO2

H2

Gas to Power

Power to Gas

Gas network

Gas storage

CO2

ElektrolysisH2

CO2

H2

CH4Methanation

Wind

Electricity H2 SNG

BEV FCEV CNG-V

Mobility

BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle FCEV = Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle CNG-V = Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle

Power-to-Gas connects two fundamental infrastructur es and creates a flexible hybrid network for renewable s

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Power-to-Gas is a key element in Germanys „Energiewen de“-leading companies support the technology

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SolarFuel GmbH

Industriestraße 6

70565 Stuttgart, Germany

Dipl.-Ing. Gregor Waldstein, MBA

Contact:

Phone: +49 711 2296 45-11Email: waldstein@solar-fuel.net

Gas is key for a cleaner future…Thank you!