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This is hydrogen electrolysis and the Sabatier process. There have been attempts to do this, but difficulties continue to prevent it from being deployed at scal
by Manuel_D 4y ago
This is hydrogen electrolysis and the Sabatier process. There have been attempts to do this, but difficulties continue to prevent it from being deployed at scale. Hydrogen electrolysis is less efficient and maintaining the electeolysis systems expensive.
The Sabatier process (aka power to gas) requires hydrogen as an input so it shares all of the above. It also requires a source of carbon dioxide to fix into hydrocarbons. Usually this is only done opportunistically when industrial processes produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at too low a concentration to be useful. This could be delivered through biofuels but there's not much energy density in them.
If they can actually deliver these systems at viable costs, great. But no one has accomplished this so far.
- pfdietz 4y agoThe main thing that prevents it from being applied at scale is the availability of cheap natural gas unburdened by CO2 charges. But right now, renewable electrolytic hydrogen would be far cheaper than natural gas in Europe, where NG prices have reached 8x those in the US.
- Manuel_D 4y agoIf this were true, then Europe would be building lots of hydrogen electrolysis plants. Get back to me when they're actually built.