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I've definitely wondered about doing similar things with renewable methane generation, which has the advantage of being able to also reuse existing natural gas
by NickM 3y ago
I've definitely wondered about doing similar things with renewable methane generation, which has the advantage of being able to also reuse existing natural gas infrastructure (and therefore lets people keep their precious gas stoves, among other things).
Methane does have the downside though of exacerbating climate change if it leaks into the atmosphere, and it takes a lot of energy to cool it down to a liquid, so I can definitely see how methanol might have the edge for grid-scale storage like this.
- engineer_22 3y agoYou may be aware methane biogas has other problems. It is typically very moist and contains corrosive contaminants. Moisture content can be problematic because the presence of water vapor in biogas can lead to corrosion in pipelines and combustion engines, potentially shortening their lifespan. Moisture in biogas can reduce its calorific value, making it a less efficient than the genuine item. Another issue is the presence of volatile sulfur compounds in biogas. These compounds, contribute to corrosion and also pose environmental and health risks when released into the atmosphere. These problems aren't deal breakers by themselves, but the bottom line, is that when analyzing biogas we've got to take into account the extra capital expense associated with these drawbacks.
- hommelix 3y agoI understood the parent comment as generating renewable methane like methanol, using renewable electricity -> hydrogen (and CO2) -> methane. This doesn't requires bacteries and feedstock in a wet disgester, so it removes the issue with moist and sulfur.