Ask me anything on Climate and Energy

[zerogain]

So here we go again. I repeat below the text I have just posted on the other thread started today by @zerogain :

Aha, Theorist/Sustainer/James Blunt/ANEWDAWN/The Broken Soul etc., etc., back again, as yet another sockpuppet, with more nonsense.

It's been a while, but evidently too much to hope that he had gone away for good.

I wonder how his neuorological reference frames are coming along, these days........

Just so readers are aware, the game is usually to start a discussion based on some semi-scientific nonsense and then to keep it going by means of replies with just enough science to keep people responding, but simultaneously adding a drip-feed of new nonsense, requiring further requests for correction, requests for clarification and so on. I suppose the idea is see how long he can make it last before people give up or, on science forms at least, he gets banned as a sock or for time-wasting. (Here on RF he adds a bit of religious-sounding mumbo jumbo, hence the equation with God in it.)

Readers looking at the series of posts on @sayak83 's excellent thread here will note the process I have described is being followed exactly. He's just arrived on the forum and immediately he's going to fill a good science thread with trash, if people keep responding to him.

Anology - All heat goes to heaven , all electrical charge goes to hell !

 

[exchemist]

Anology - All heat goes to heaven , all electrical charge goes to hell !

 

[exchemist]

The problem with hydrogen currently is that the elctrolysis technology is still not as efficient as it should be and that the storage is big issue. Developing better electrolysis technologies and forms of physical and chemical storage is crucial for this to work in an economical manner. You can see the report below that shows that green hydrogen is still the costliest route to hydrogen production. That needs to change.
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/a...-b499-7ca48e357561/The_Future_of_Hydrogen.pdf

Figure from the report shows that at least till 2030 hydrogen from grid electricity remains the costliest option. Hydrogen production in standalone renewable energy systems becomes reasonably cost competitive especially as a means of storing excess energy that the grid does not need. So hydrogen could become an alternative to battery based energy storage systems for a renewable energy generation plant (wind or solar). It is also important to understand, using electricity to generate hydrogen is only carbon neutral when the electricity comes from a renewable source. Otherwise it is not. For current world electricity mix, H2 production will have high CO2 costs. So hydrogen production must be done in concert with shifting of electricity to renewables for it to be useful from a GHG reduction perspective.
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Another possibility of generating carbon free hydrogen is producing hydrogen from waste biomass (agro and forest waste) through gasification or stripping of hydrogen from methane producing hydrogen gas and solid carbon. Both are promising and is being researched actively.

Compressed hydrogen (at 700 bar pressure) has only 15% of the energy density of gasoline, so
storing the equivalent amount of energy at a vehicle refuelling station would require nearly
seven times the space. Also hydrogen is very light (and hence can escape more easily) and, to compound the problem, hydrogen is extremely explosive and its flame is almost colorless. So hydrigen transportation and storage infrastructure is a significant additional cost.

One option is the direct production and utilization of Ammonia (NH3) which can be easily liquified (like propane) and is much heavier and has lower flammability. It is much easier to transport. But it is toxic on inhalation, hence there are concerns about using it in cars. Another challenge is direct production of ammonia is difficult and the current conversion processes are not that cost effective or CO2 friendly. There is intense research going on in this sector and already start-ups are coming up that are producing direct green ammonia that can be used as a hydrogen carrier.
https://www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com/power-to-x/en/green-ammonia

I am currently working on both generation of hydrogen from biomass sources and the utilization of ammonia as fuel in internal combustion engines. The projects are under research stage. Similar efforts by other researchers are going on around the world.

Thanks for this. Looking at your first graph, why is electrolysis from renewables so much cheaper than electrolysis from the grid? Is it something to do with production at source, i.e. avoiding transmission costs and losses?

 

[sayak83]

Thanks for this. Looking at your first graph, why is electrolysis from renewables so much cheaper than electrolysis from the grid? Is it something to do with production at source, i.e. avoiding transmission costs and losses?

Yes. But also they are transforming excess electricity generated that is not being sent to the grid. So that electricity is cheaper.

 

[exchemist]

Yes. But also they are transforming excess electricity generated that is not being sent to the grid. So that electricity is cheaper.

Ah yes of course. Thanks.

By the way, I'm aware that NH3 is being seriously considered for ships. This is something I have a bit of an interest in, as I used to work on the fringes of the engine technology for ships and power stations (specialised lubricants for them). I must say it would turn the lubrication challenge on its head, as the issue was always how to neutralise sulphur acids from combustion of high sulphur fuel.

Now, the issue may be how to cope with a basic fuel instead. One issue with low sulphur fuels in low speed engines was abrasion of cylinder liners, because the hard phase of the steel was no longer preferentially attacked by acids and as a result could stand proud of the surface, causing abrasive wear.