This week we are continuing our blog series where we dive deep into the question, will new technologies really solve climate change? So far we have presented (in our opinion) some huge strides in the renewable energy technology realm, but this week we are taking it one step further. Think back two weeks to our blog post where we discussed renewable energy. One of the limitations to renewable energy was the ability for the energy to be stored for later use. Renewable energy works great when the natural resource used to create that energy is plentiful, but when it is not available, renewable energy is basically useless. What if this problem could be solved?
That is exactly what we are going to talk about in this blog post.
Power-to-X is a new form of technology that would allow us to store the energy created from renewable sources to use at a later time. And for today’s blog post we are going to dive into how this technology works and how it could be used to change the way we look at and use renewable energy sources.
First off, we will start by defining what Power-to-X means. Basically, this is an umbrella term that covers turning renewable forms of power into another form so that they can be stored for later use. So for instance, Power-to-X is the umbrella term for Power-to-Hydrogen, Power-to-Gas, Power-to-Heat, etc...
Power-to-Hydrogen: “the process of using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity”
Power-to-Gas: “ uses electrolysis to generate hydrogen from renewable power, which is then reacted with carbon dioxide in the presence of bio-catalysts to produce methane”
Power-to-Heat: “involves using the electricity produced from renewable energy sources to generate heat through heat pumps or large electric boilers”
These processes allow renewable energy to be stored in different forms, which helps solve many of the issues we have with renewable energy. For instance, in some countries renewable energy sources have to be disconnected from the power grid because they generate so much energy that they could overload the system, but at other times they contribute little to the power grid. Having the ability to harness this extra energy on bountiful days, and store it as hydrogen, heat, or gas could limit the amount of fossil fuels needed to power our world.
However, this technology is not without its limitations, one being an unavoidable loss of energy. When changing the form of energy, it is inevitable that some energy will be lost during each change. So inherently this process loses a little energy. Along with this, researchers are still debating which Power-to-X transformation is the most effective for each sector (ex. transportation, industrial, etc..). These limitations aren’t complete roadblocks, but it is important to understand that not all energy solutions are perfect.
Hopefully this week you have learned more about renewable energy technologies, and have hope for a clean energy future! Many countries have already started making these transitions, and we encourage you to check out the links below to read about some! Stay tuned for next week where we will be discussing carbon capture and storage, our last topic in this blog series!
- Edible Landscape Initiative Team
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