Energy production, storage, and future technologies

Panasonic Energy Partners with Sila for Procurement of Next-Generation Silicon Anode Material for EV Batteries​



 
Can ammonia replace LNG?

Europe's First Ammonia Fired Power Generation Facility
Low carbon ammonia has a higher volumetric density than hydrogen, enabling the utilisation of low carbon hydrogen in a form which is easy to transport and store, resulting in a fuel that can be combusted with no carbon emissions at point of use.


  • Energy storage – ammonia is easily stored in bulk as a liquid at modest pressures (10-15 bar) or refrigerated to -33°C. This makes it an ideal chemical store for renewable energy. There is an existing distribution network, in which ammonia is stored in large refrigerated tanks and transported around the world by pipes, road tankers and ships.
  • Zero-carbon fuel – ammonia can be burnt in an engine or used in a fuel cell to produce electricity. When used, ammonia’s only by-products are water and nitrogen. The maritime industry is likely to be an early adopter, replacing the use of fuel oil in marine engines.
 
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“Reports of the death of the internal combustion engine are wildly exaggerated”​

Andy Palmer thinks that the internal combustion engine, in partnership with e-fuels, still has a big role to play if the application is right

 
Interesting but also wrong. Most manufacturers are pulling out of hydrogen, and while efuels are definitely a good thing, they are too expensive and difficult to produce and therefore not viable for the larger public. I do see them powering our old classic cars when everyone drives EVs as a daily though.

It is true however that just because new ICE cars wont be sold by 20XX (insert year there), this doesn't mean you won't be allowed to drive one on the road anymore (which is what many people seem to think).
 
Yes, hydrogen (as far as personal cars go) is pretty much a dud by now. You see leftovers of closed down hydrogen filling stations here and there, where fast chargers have been put up in stead.


View: https://youtu.be/-Xtc_Bd18OA?si=L8yuoclaN4GuZ8dh
Yes, Elon Musk was trolling when he labelled hydrogen fuel cells "fool cells", but it's hard to get away from the fact that he had a point. After all, FCEVs are essentially just BEVs with extra steps, and way more complications. (Apart from the wrong spelling of "motor" this pretty accurately demonstrates that point)

IMG_3702.jpeg


As for e-fuels, that will still have a role to play if "the application is right" aka, it's going to be a nice, reserved for those who can and will spend lots of money to fuel up their classic and expensive exotic cars. It makes little sense for the mainstream.

As for converting existing internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen, that has been trialled since the 90s and has been found to be so horribly inefficient that it makes no sense at all:
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U.S. pauses build-out of natural gas export terminals to weigh climate impacts​



Currently, there are 17 planned projects awaiting permits — all now delayed by the administration's decision. The pause doesn't affect more than a dozen plants that are already operating, or that are under construction or have received permits. Nor will it halt the export of gas.
From the start of his administration, Biden promised to lead the transition away from fossil fuels. The decision to pause the natural gas expansion comes after climate activists ramped up election-year pressure on the President to take a look at the facilities' contribution of planet-warming emissions.


In 2022 the U.S. led the world in natural gas production, and last year the U.S. became the world's largest gas exporter after increasing capacity in response to European energy needs. In 2022, the war in Ukraine reduced the Russian gas supply to Europe, and Biden pledged to help European allies avoid an energy crisis.


Within two years, the U.S. has tripled gas exports. By 2030, the country could have double the capacity it has now with the proposed facilities that have already been approved or are already under construction, according to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.


Granholm said her agency's current assessment of the country's need for natural gas export terminals is now outdated after changes to the LNG landscape.


"We need to have an even greater understanding of the market need, the long-term supply-and-demand of energy resources and the environmental factors," she said.


Aside from assessing the impact on global warming, the Energy Department will analyze how adding new gas export terminals would affect the economy. A report released by the Institute for Energy Efficiency and Financial Analysis in November found that exporting more American gas drove up utility bills for citizens.
 

Europe’s deepest mine to become giant gravity battery
"Estimates suggest abandoned mine shafts could store enough electricity to power the planet"
 

Europe’s deepest mine to become giant gravity battery
"Estimates suggest abandoned mine shafts could store enough electricity to power the planet"
I can't take an article seriously that speaks of "2 MW of energy" (MW is a unit of power, not energy. Globally speaking, 2MW is nothing - a single midsized wind turbine) and "70TWh of energy – enough to meet global electricity demands" (okay, but enough for what time? Global annual electricity consumption is north of 25000TWh, so it would be one day from all mines combined - would require 3TW of power though, 3000000MW)
 
I'll just say that I friggin' love a gravity battery. I've always liked the idea of hooking an exercise bike up to a winch via gears to lift a weight, giving some purpose to the cycling. The reality is that the energy put into that system in a cycling session, and therefore the recoverable energy, is very small.

The Electric Mountain in Wales has proven that this kind of 'battery' can work. The important thing is it's able to offer a burst of energy on demand, which is going to be important as the EV adoption increases and more people go to pull 7KW from the grid every evening. I'm not sure the idea of mine shafts is good though, a system like this needs good maintenance to make it reliable and efficient and I'm not sure that can be done in dangerous old tunnels.
 
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I'll just say that I friggin' love a gravity battery. I've always liked the idea of hooking an exercise bike up to a winch via gears to lift a weight, giving some purpose to the cycling. The reality is that the energy put into that system in a cycling session, and therefore the recoverable energy, is very small.

The Electric Mountain in Wales has proven that this kind of 'battery' can work. The important thing is it's able to offer a burst of energy on demand, which is going to be important as the EV adoption increases and more people go to pull 7KW from the grid every evening. I'm not sure the idea of mine shafts is good though, a system like this needs good maintenance to make it reliable and efficient and I'm not sure that can be done in dangerous old tunnels.
We've been using large-scale gravity batteries for decades (centuries?) - pumped storage. Pump water up a hill, let it rush through turbines down the hill when needed.
 
...and when there's no hill but a deep mine shaft, I'm sure you can lay some pipe 😏 and get busy down there too.
 
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