Making fuel at "home"

 

Hydrogen fuel station with its own electrolyser, Canberra, Australia

Wether it be solar panels, batteries, wind turbines, pumped hydro, geothermal power, biofuels or green hydrogen, this renewable energy can be in your own country and some in your own community or home. What this does is reduce the extraction and transport of oil and gas from a few energy rich countries and makes your home/community/country more energy secure and independent.

Renewable electricity supply can now be made at home, can come from microgrids in remote locations, can be portable to natural disaster locations, can be large scale and can be stored thus making a country, community or home independent of imported fuel. An electric vehicle can be powered from a standard power point and a variety of local or remote chargers.

Green hydrogen can be produced from electrolysers which use water (and soon seawater) and renewable electricity. This can be large scale or small scale. Hydrogen can be used in a number of industries from transport fuel, heating and cooking fuel to large industries such as aluminium and steel making. By making its own hydrogen, a country can reduce the importation of fossil fuels.

In the example above, the public hydrogen fuel station makes its own hydrogen on site with a small electrolyser, water and renewable electricity. Canberra sources all its electricity from renewable energy and here it makes its own hydrogen. This reduces the sometimes dangerous transport of petrol, diesel or gas to Canberra. 

Further Reading:  

• Microgrids could help communities weather the next disaster.
• Stand-alone solar and battery systems now seen as the "new normal" in regions.
• Solar, battery and hydrogen microgrid to power Daintree Rainforest
• Sweden could take global lead in green steel production - report
• Australia's Fortescue sets sights on becoming world's first supplier of green iron ore
• Frequently Asked Questions - American Hydrogen Association
• Renewable hydrogen could reduce emissions in alumina refining.
• Northern Territory to trial off-grid system making hydrogen from 'water from air'
• Novel catalyst produces green hydrogen from seawater via solar

Electromotiv expands to supply more zero emission bus/truck powering hubs and bus/truck leases

Charging and Refuelling for Trucks. (Source: Electromotiv)

Electromotiv, based in the Australian Capital Territory, is in the business of supplying fast EV charging and green hydrogen fuel hubs for powering electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses and trucks. They also supply zero emission buses and trucks for lease. They are expanding from an electric bus trial in Canberra to business in Queensland and Auckland, New Zealand. 

In Auckland, Electromotiv have a contract to supply electric buses to Auckland Airport and in Queensland, they go into the final phase of design of a privately owned zero emissions bus hub. 

New Zealand has approximately 80 percent of its electricity coming from renewable sources which is mostly hydro and geothermal. This means the electric buses will be near zero emissions and these emissions will decrease as New Zealand moves towards net zero emissions by 2050. 

Queensland has only about 15 percent renewable electricity now but with the potential for much, much more. Such that Queensland is looking to improve that figure and becoming a green hydrogen producer through its Hydrogen Industry Development Fund. This fund is there to promote jobs in regional areas and to provide green hydrogen for local and export markets. The Queensland Government has also set a state target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. 

Read more: 

- Electromotiv expands team as electric bus plans ramp up. The Driven, June 16, 2020. 

– Electromotiv: https://www.electromotiv.com.au/ 

- New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. New Zealand Government. 

– Transition to a zero carbon economy. Queensland Government. 

See also:

- Queensland unveils “gigawatt” scale green hydrogen plans for Gladstone. RenewEconomy, February 27, 2020. 

– Evie to install ultra-rapid charging stations at Puma Energy truck stops. The Driven, July 16, 2020.

Renewable fuels from direct air capture could soon compete with petrol, diesel, jet fuel

Source: RenewEconomy

It may soon be possible to produced zero-emission petrol (gasoline), diesel and jet fuel from the direct air capture of CO2 and water vapour in a way that will compete with fossil fuels in price. A Silicon Valley company called Prometheus led by Rob McGinnis is aiming to do this. The process has been presented recently in the journal Joule. 

Although the science of making fuels from CO2 and water has been known for some time it has been far too expensive. The Prometheus process has CO2 and water in an aqueous electrolyte which is reacted with a copper catalyst to directly make alcohols such as ethanol, butanol, propanol, etc. with the power coming from wind and/or solar electricity. Originally, the alcohols would be extracted via distillation, which is expensive, but Prometheus has invented a carbon nanotube membrane that can do this economically. (Launch HN, 2019). 

This fuel can be used with existing infrastructure for cars, trucks, ships and aeroplanes, so can be employed quickly. It is not seen as a replacement of electric or hydrogen transport but as an addition to help speed up the transition to clean transport, particularly for heavy transport. Once the green fuel is cost competitive there is still one main drawback and that is that huge amounts of renewable electricity will be required. But one advantage is that the process can be stopped and started easily to fit in with the fluctuations in electricity supplies and costs (i.e. it would be another way to store excess renewable energy). 

References: 

- Prometheus: https://www.prometheusfuels.com/ 

- Remove CO₂ from air and turn it into gasoline. Launch HN: Prometheus (YC W19). 

- Renewable fuels could soon be cost competitive with petrol, gasoline, RenewEconomy, March 19, 2020. 

- CO₂-to-fuels: renewable gasoline and jet fuel can soon be price competitive with fossils fuels, Joule, Commentary, Vol. 4, Iss. 3, pp 509-511, March 18, 2020.