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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: [email protected]
Gas is key for a cleaner future…Thank you!