New replacements for natural gas

A great many gasification technologies exist - all of which were developed before the price of solar PV panels fell dramatically. 

 This fall in the price of solar PV panels  has ground-breaking implications for natural gas replacements. 

All plant material is assembled inside plant cells from water and carbon dioxide using solar energy. The process is photosynthesis and it stores solar energy. Bush fires burn ferociously because of the amount of solar energy stored in plant material such as leaves, wood and grass. 

All reactions that store solar energy in plant material are minor variations of:

• One molecule of carbon dioxide from the air is split into a carbon atom and an oxygen molecule, 
• The oxygen molecule is released into the atmosphere, and 
• The carbon atom is added to a cross-linked molecule of plant material (such as cellulose or lignin) together with one molecule of water.

This simplified model could be represented:

(CH₂O)_n + CO₂ + H₂O =>  (CH₂O)_(n+1) + O₂

The resulting plant material can be considered approximately to be cross-linked collections of carbon atoms with one water molecule for each carbon atom. 

Because of the collapse in the price of solar PV panels, all existing methods of making replacements for natural gas from plant material use some of the energy embedded in the plant material, creating carbon dioxide and methane. 

It is inevitable that the methane created embodies LESS energy than was present in the plant material. 

The low cost of solar PV panels crucially changes the feasible processes for making methane from plant material. 

The plant material can be reacted with pure hydrogen, and NOT oxygen, to make methane and water vapour at a high temperature. 

The water vapour can be split into hydrogen and oxygen molecules with high-temperature electrolysis with electricity generated solar PV panels. 

The hydrogen produced by high-temperature electrolysis of water vapour is reacted with more plant material, continuing the conversion of all the available plant material is converted into methane and oxygen. 

There is no carbon dioxide produced, so no carbon dioxide storage is required and the cost of storing carbon dioxide is avoided. 

The methane produced embodies the energy that was available in the plant material PLUS additional energy from the solar PV panels used to electrolyze water vapour into hydrogen and oxygen. 

 

Further reading: "Coupling hydropyrolysis and vapor-phase catalytic hydrotreatment to produce biomethane from pine sawdust" at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37423544/ .

 

Replacing natural gas for domestic use and LNG exports

Farms in Australia have an opportunity to earn income from crop and animal waste streams. Queensland in particular has a network of coal seam gas pipelines crossing farmland. These could be exploited to make and sell bio-methane on farms with renewable energy. 

This avoids the need for construction of connections to Australia's electricity grid, and the wait for approval to connect solar and wind farms to the grid. 

One tonne of bio-methane stores approximately 55 gigajoules of energy. It consists of 750 kilograms of carbon and 250 kilograms of hydrogen. 

Biomass created on farms, whether crop waste or animal waste, is a mixture of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. It represents solar energy stored by photosynthesis in plants that have removed the carbon from the atmosphere. 

Biomass containing carbon and hydrogen to make one tonne of bio-methane would also contain about two tonnes of oxygen. 

If the biomass was, say, sawdust, the quantity required to make one tonne of bio-methane would be two tonnes dry weight with a moisture content of about 30 percent - equal to one tonne of water. 

To start the process of bio-methane production, an initial supply of hydrogen is needed.

After the process has begun, steam that is a by-product of making bio-methane would be converted to hydrogen and oxygen in a steam electrolyser using renewable energy. 

World’s Largest High-Temperature Electrolysis Module Deliveries Started

"...the electrolyzer processes water steam to hydrogen at highest conversion efficiencies. As the steam reduces electricity demand, Sunfire’s SOEC (solid oxide electrolysis cell) technology is the most efficient electrolysis solution on the market..." Read more >>>

The hydrogen made in this step would then be used to create more bio-methane, and more steam. An external hydrogen supply is not needed to continue the production of bio-methane. 

Also note that no supply of water is needed. The process obtains the water for electrolysis from the biomass that is used to make bio-methane. 

Recent articles on the process include:

• Methane Production from the Pyrolysis–Catalytic Hydrogenation of Waste Biomass, and
• Hydropyrolysis to produce biomethane from pine sawdust.

This approach to making bio-methane stores renewable energy from two sources:

• The solar energy stored by the plants that made the biomass via photosynthesis, and
• The renewable energy from wind and/or solar photovoltaic panels that splits the hydrogen from oxygen in the steam electrolysis step. 

Other advantages include:

• There is no need to wait for the cost of making "green hydrogen" to become viable.
• There is no need to wait for the development of hydrogen supply lines to be built.

---

Hydrogen to Substitute Natural Gas

Australia recently examined the development of a hydrogen industry - Briefing Paper: Hydrogen's for Australia's Future.
Converting hydrogen to methane can reduce CO₂ emissions from electricity generation - in the short term at least - while production capacity of hydrogen is growing.

The arithmetic analysis.
If a region is considering thermal power options to provide electricity, two options may be:

1. Three coal-fired power plants running at 40% efficiency or
2. Two combined-cycle gas turbine power stations running at 60% efficiency.

An assumption is that each power plant consumes fuel with the same amount of chemical energy.

Because the coal-fired power plants are only two-thirds as efficient as the combined-cycle gas turbine power plants, a third coal-fired power plant is needed to produce the same electricity output as the two combined-cycle gas turbine power plants.

The CO₂ emissions are about 900 grams per kilowatt-hour generated for the coal-fired power plants and only 310 grams per kilowatt-hour for the combined-cycle gas turbine power plants.

NOTE: A reduction of two-thirds use of coal by 2030 is required to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
This ratio of CO₂ emissions of 310 to 900 grams per kilowatt-hour is equivalent to a 65% reduction in coal use.

By 2030 utilities would have to cut 2/3 of the coal they burn now to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The cut is more than twice as steep as the boldest scenario outlined by the International Energy Agency. https://t.co/UyDjjfYl9p

— Janae Steville (@StevilleJanae) October 1, 2018

If sufficient hydrogen was produced to fuel one combined cycle gas turbine power plant, when three coal-fired power plants were the option being used, then one and a half coal-fired plants could be idled. This would cut coal-use in half and cut CO2 emissions from electricity generation in half. Average CO2 emissions for all electricity generation - from the coal-fired plants and the hydrogen-fueled combined cycle gas turbine power plant - would be 450 grams per kilowatt-hour.

However, if the same amount of hydrogen was reacted with carbonaceous material, such as coal, to produce synthetic methane, the resulting fuel would be sufficient to run two combined cycle power plants: all three coal-fired plants could be shut down. This would cut coal-use by two-thirds and cut CO2 emissions from electricity generation by two-thirds. Average CO2 emissions for all electricity generation - from the synthetic methane-fueled combined cycle gas turbine power plant - would be 310 grams per kilowatt-hour.

This process results in a greater cuts in CO₂ emissions. It also doubles the energy value that the hydrogen possessed before it was combined with carbon to form methane.

That is, it is preferable from both commercial and environmental perspectives.

The benefits are greater than just the cuts in CO₂ emissions arising from electricity generation.

In December 2018 the Australian Government released a document on projected CO₂ emissions - Australia’s emissions projections  2018.
This shows substantial fugitive emissions arise from natural gas production and from coal mining.

Out to 2030, several LNG plants are expected to source gas from new basins as current feed gas sources deplete. As the percentage of CO₂ is higher for some of these new feed gas sources the overall emissions intensity of Australia’s LNG projections increases which increases emissions.

Fugitive emissions for natural gas (other than LNG) are projected to be 17 million tonnes of CO_2-e each year from 2018 to 2030. The fugitive emissions from LNG production are projected to rise from 11 million tonnes of CO_2-e a year in 2018 to 13 million tonnes of CO_2-e a year in 2030.

The Australian Government's National Greenhouse Accounts Factors - July 2017 shows fugitive emissions from open cut coal mines in NSW are 200 times greater per tonne of raw coal mined than those of open cut coal mines in Victoria. The brown coal available in Victoria is also far cheaper than thermal coal mined in NSW.

As an indication of the amounts of fugitive emissions involved: Australia burns about 60 million tonnes of black coal a year for electricity generation. If sourced from open cut NSW coal mines, the fugitive emissions would be 60 million x 0.054 = 3.24 million tonnes of CO_2-e.

Total electricity generated in Australia from black coal in 2016-2017 was about 120 thousand gigawatt-hours. At an emission intensity of 900 grams of CO_2-e per kilowatt-hour (1 gigawatt-hour is 1 million kilowatt-hours), the generation of this much electricity from black coal would result in annual emissions of about 108 million tonnes of CO_2-e.

In  2016-2017 Australia also burned about 57 million tonnes of brown coal to generate about 44,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity. At an emission intensity of 1,100 grams of CO_2-e per kilowatt-hour (1 gigawatt-hour is 1 million kilowatt-hours), the generation of this much electricity from brown coal would result in annual emissions of about 44.8 million tonnes of CO_2-e.

The conversion of brown coal to synthetic methane with hydrogen would be commercially attractive in upgrading the value of this low-cost fuel stock and environmentally superior - cutting fugitive emissions that arise in both coal-mining and natural gas production.

Saving $1 million allocated to reinvent the wheel

The Australian Government announced it was allocating another $1 million for research into ways to make something useful from brown coal reserves in Victoria.

Senator the Hon Matt Canavan
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia

Investing in brown coal research and development

31 August 2018

The Coalition Government continues to focus on harnessing the economic benefits that can come from the nation’s vast brown coal resources by making $1 million in funding available to Brown Coal Innovation Australia (BCIA).

BCIA will use the funding to focus on advancing Australia’s economic prosperity by researching low emissions technologies for both electricity generation and products derived from brown coal.

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said BCIA was at the forefront of research into low-emissions, low-cost, coal technologies and novel, high-value products derived from brown coal. Since 2009, the Government has provided more than $7 million to BCIA through the Commonwealth’s funding of the Australian National Low Emissions Coal Research and Development initiative.
...
This funding comes on top of the $620 million already being administered by the Australian Government to accelerate the deployment of low emission fossil fuel technologies.

Australian Governments have been "investing" in "harnessing the economic benefits that can come from the nation's vast brown coal resources" long before 2009.

For over thirty years no progress has been made.

Victoria's brown coal in the Latrobe Valley still has a moisture content of more than 50%:

Research is still fixated with the presumption that before any value can be made of this vast resource that "coal drying is essential":

In 2012 the US granted a patent for converting 'wet carbonaceous material' (such as "brown coal") to methane:

Method and apparatus for steam hydro-gasification with increased conversion times

 Patent: US8143319B2

Abstract

A method and apparatus for converting carbonaceous material to a stream of carbon rich gas, comprising heating a slurry feed containing the carbonaceous material in a hydrogasification process using hydrogen and steam, at a temperature and pressure sufficient to generate a methane and carbon monoxide rich stream in which the conversion time in the process is between 5 and 45 seconds.

It could be applied in a plant with a design such as the following, or one that uses hydrogen produced by electrolysis from renewable energy in place of the steam reforming unit, or one that produces any combination of hydrogen and/or synthetic natural gas:

Converting brown coal - without drying - to methane (and/or hydrogen)

Energy transition

Final Report Summary - HELMETH (Integrated High-Temperature Electrolysis and Methanation for Effective Power to Gas Conversion), 25 July 2018

A highly efficient Power-to-Gas process has been realized by the European research project HELMETH. It has the potential to be the most efficient storage solution for renewable energy utilizing the existing natural gas grid without capacity limitations and to be a source for “green” Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) to avoid fossil carbon dioxide emissions.

The objective of the HELMETH project is the proof of concept of a highly efficient Power-to-Gas process by realizing the first prototype that combines a pressurized high temperature steam electrolysis with a CO2-methanation module.

The demonstration plant was assembled at the sunfire facility in Dresden. The methanation unit, developed and built by KIT in Karlsruhe, was set up inside a container and transported to sunfire to perform combined operational tests.

The steam outlet from the methanation cooling circuit is fed to the electrolyser and the hydrogen output from the electrolyser is fed to the methanation unit. The steam is converted to hydrogen in the electrolyser.

Coupled Power-to-Gas plant (left container: methanation; right container: electrolyser)

The efficiency is significantly increased by using the heat of reaction from the exothermic methanation reaction to produce steam for the high temperature electrolysis.

Since the produced SNG is fully compatible with the existing natural gas grid and storage infrastructure, practically no capacity limitations apply to store energy from fluctuating renewable energy sources.

Steam Hydrogasification

By replacing the CO2 methanation module in the Power-to-Gas process realized by the HELMETH research project with a lignite methanation module, Australia can manufacture 50% renewable methane. That is, synthetic natural gas containing 50% renewable energy (as hydrogen) and 50% fossil fuel (from low-cost wet lignite).

This can fuel dispatchable generators in conjunction with renewable intermittent generators to provide 100% reliable electricity generation: the intermittent renewable generators supplying 50% of electricity and dispatchable generators powered by 50% renewable methane providing the other 50%.

The lignite methanation module has been developed in the U.S.

Making synthetic natural gas from hydrogen and a variety of waste streams and coal has been researched for some time.

For example:

UC Riverside researchers receive two grants to advance steam hydrogasification reaction for waste-to-fuels, 15 September 2011

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CERT) at the Bourns College of Engineering have received two grants to further explore a steam hydrogasification process they developed...

A $650,000 grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) extends its commitment to $2 million to CERT for the patented steam hydrogasification reaction (SHR), which can turn any carbonaceous material into transportation fuels or natural gas. The CEC grant will allow for the completion of a process demonstration unit at CERT that will provide data needed before a proposed pilot plant is built at the city of Riverside’s waste water treatment facility.

Synthetic natural gas made from wet carbonaceous feedstock such as lignite

Transition from thermal coal exports

Australia exports 200 million tonnes of thermal coal each year.

Japan is the largest importer, importing 80 million tonnes per year. In planning to eliminate its reliance on fossil fuel imports, Japan is looking to CO2-free hydrogen to replace its imports of coal and LNG, used primarily for electricity generation, and oil, used primarily for road transport.

One step in the 20-year transition timetable is to invest in large solar PV installations in Saudi Arabia and construction of a 'hydrogen pipeline" to deliver hydrogen produced by electrolysis to Japan.

Another step is the construction of combined-cycle gas turbine power stations that have integrated gasification plants to convert imported coal to gas to fuel them. These plants can later run on hydrogen when sufficient supply is available.

Australia and Japan could co-ordinate projects in this transition of Japan's energy systems.
One of the benefits of co-ordination is that Australia's industry and workforce has a planned transition in how it prepares energy for export, adapting employment skills and infrastructure as the plan progresses.

Another of the benefits is that part of the infrastructure development is undertaken by Australia, sharing the effort so that Japan can focus its investments on the most efficient technology to use the energy it imports.

The long-term transition would see Australia's coal export terminals replaced with hydrogen export facilities and the fleet of bulk ore carriers replaced with specialised hydrogen shipping vessels. The coal mining workforce would gradually be replaced with a workforce that constructs and operates hydrogen production plants.

During the early years of the transition it may be beneficial to convert hydrogen and coal to methane and make use of existing natural gas pipelines, LNG export terminals and LNG tankers to transport the hydrogen to Japan's existing LNG import facilities.

One benefit for Japan would be to avoid the time and cost of building integrated coal-gasifiers with new combined-cycle gas turbine power stations and fuel cell generators. The gasification can be carried out in Australia before exporting the coal with hydrogen as LNG.

Large-scale solar farms are currently built with inverters that are a significant part of the cost.
The inverters change direct-current electricity produced by the solar panels into alternating-current electricity for distribution on the electricity grid.

Inverters aren't needed when the goal is to produce hydrogen by electrolysis with the electricity generated.

A second income-stream from renewable electricity production will assist farmers struggling with drought near coal-mining regions. Solar PV installations could be designed to be "stock-friendly" for Australian livestock producers, and not copies of European installations where fields are covered with closely-spaced solar panels just above ground level.

Cattle and solar PV systems

The renewable energy generated would be fed to electrolysis units creating hydrogen.
The hydrogen is to be transferred into methanation units that have pulverised coal handling equipment where the hydrogen and coal is transformed into methane, ready for transfer to LNG export terminals.

Thyssenkrupp coal handling system

Gasification technologies

See Thyssenkrupp Australia - "Power-to-gas: Storing wind and sun [energy] in natural gas"

The 2015 Japanese government report "Overview of Assessment by Power Generation Cost Verification Working Group", Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) explained that renewable energy costs are higher in Japan than in other countries, and showed Australia has a comparative advantage in large-scale wind and solar installations.

"Unit construction costs for solar PV and wind power generation systems in Japan are higher than in other countries. ...Apparent factors behind the cost gap include higher personnel costs, complex topography and FIT scheme introduction backgrounds in Japan." (at pages 8-9)

"Saudi Arabia and Japan's SoftBank expanded their partnership on Tuesday, announcing the world's biggest solar power generation project at a press conference in New York."
The 200 gigawatt solar power project was estimated to cost $200 billion. https://t.co/MOsH9HvsMG

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) August 10, 2018

"This new material provides superior hydrogen production with lower energy requirements. This enables hydrogen production from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind generated power." @UNSW https://t.co/rZBIg7PDjz #ausbiz #jobs #ausunions @CFMEU_ME

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) August 7, 2018

Related posts:

Australian energy exports

Keeping waste plastic out of landfill

 

Consumerism in an ecosystem

Rain forests are centres of great activity that depend on quite small reserves of nutrients.

Plants continuously absorbing sunlight transform water and carbon dioxide into polymers, mainly cellulose, and release oxygen.

On the rain forest floor, a myriad of animals and insect munch their way through fallen leaves and branches, breaking the polymers into water and carbon dioxide. Their waste releases the very small nutrient reserves back into the thin soil layer where they are once again available to the plant community.

Caterpillar eating a leaf

A productive rain forest ecosystem harboring a great variety of living organisms is a stark contrast to a desert landscape in which far fewer living things eek out a sparse existence.

Human activity might be viewed as damaging and harmful to the environment, and though this is sometime a reasonable observation, it does not have to be.

Consumers supporting producers and discarding obsolete items provide a level of economic activity to engage people and allow their participation in economic and social life.

That discarded items accumulate and are not reprocessed is a problem that can be solved.

Steel and aluminium can be reprocessed more or less indefinitely. Demand for new steel and aluminium eventually declines in economies as the accumulated volume being recycled meets more and more of demand.

Collecting municipal waste, then sorting, recycling and reprocessing at large central plants has been a fairly universal approach for some time. New technology may allow for some waste material to be reprocessed at or near the point of origin, reducing the cost and complexity of large-scale collection and sorting.

Many waste items that are compounds of only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen can be completely decomposed into a gaseous fuel and may be substituted for natural gas in space heaters and hot water systems.

There is no need for waste materials to accumulate and degrade the environment. Creative solutions can be found. Many creative solution exist but simply aren't well known, hence the word "found" rather than "developed".

Energy in the Future

One creative solution that does not exist but may be developed is a business model and technology for virtually unlimited energy at little or no cost.

One possibility is a process to transform materials from one nuclear structure to another that is commercially viable and that generates energy as a byproduct. The energy byproduct can be distributed for a nominal charge.Transforming nuclear waste into safe, naturally occurring and valuable isotopes is a possible additional benefit.

Australian energy exports

Japan intends to establish a "hydrogen pipeline" to replace its existing imports of energy from Australia and elsewhere.

To speed up the development of a "hydrogen pipeline" for Japan, Australia may be able to adapt existing energy infrastructure for the purpose.

Hydrogen produced by renewable energy creates a number of challenges for special-purpose overland transport and shipping. An interim processing strategy can skip over these challenges and re-use existing infrastructure, saving time and money. A little chemistry explains how this can work...

When hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide to form methane and water, the energy content in the methane is about the same as the energy that was present in just the hydrogen:

CO2 + 4H2 → CH4 + 2H2O

In the above reaction half of the hydrogen combines with oxygen from the carbon dioxide to form water. The other half of the hydrogen combines with the carbon from the carbon dioxide to form methane. This is known as the "Sabatier reaction". It is used commercially by Audi to create "e-gas" for its Compressed Natural Gas vehicles.

Natural gas is essentially methane with smaller amounts of other gases such as carbon monoxide and ethane. Methane made from hydrogen can be transported through natural gas pipelines and shipped as LNG - liquefied natural gas - from Australia to Japan using existing LNG terminals and LNG tankers.

When methane is combined with water to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide, the energy content in the hydrogen is about the same as the energy that was present in just the methane:

CH4 + 2H2O → 4H2 + CO2

In the above reaction oxygen from the water combines with carbon from the methane to form carbon dioxide. All the hydrogen that was part of both the methane and water is separated. This is known as "Steam Methane Reforming". It is widely used in industry to manufacture hydrogen from natural gas.

The carbon dioxide produced in the above reaction may be liquefied in Japan and returned to Australia on the empty LNG ships that delivered the methane.

This allows the carbon dioxide to be re-used indefinitely in Australia to convert hydrogen to methane for shipping to Japan using existing natural gas pipelines, LNG terminals and tankers.

Three-eighths of a coal power station

Some notable milestones to pass on the way to 100% renewable energy are one-quarter, one-half, and three-quarters renewable electricity generation.

The average CO2 emissions per kilowatt-hour for all electricity generated at each of these milestones might be 660 grams, 440 grams and 220 grams respectively.

But they could be much less.

We'll look at the halfway milestone to see why this is so:

At this milestone, one-half of all electricity is delivered from renewable energy sources with no fossil-fuel CO2 emissions - solar PV and solar thermal, wind farms, hydroelectric including pumped hydroelectric storage, and battery storage.

The other half of electricity is delivered from fossil fuel power generators. These power plants are only dispatched at times when total demand exceeds the total capacity of all the available renewable energy sources.

These fossil fuel power plants may have average CO2 emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity of 880 grams.

Average CO2 emissions and efficiency of a coal-fired power plant

In this case the average CO2 emissions per kilowatt-hour for all electricity generated at the halfway milestone will be 440 grams: (Zero for the half from renewable energy sources plus 880 grams for the half from fossil fuel power plants) divided by two.

It isn't necessary for the CO2 emissions from the electricity generated by fossil fuels to be nearly this high. They can be reduced to three-eighths of 880 grams per kilowatt-hour of electricity.

A way of doing this allows the use of power plants that are far more efficient than coal-fired power plants, are far cheaper to build, and are able to start more quickly in response to increases in demand.

A further advantage is that they use only three-eighths of the coal to generate each kilowatt-hour of electricity so the cost of mining and transporting coal for electricity generation is cut to just three-eighths of the cost with the less efficient, more expensive coal-fired power plants.

This way of supplying electricity at the halfway milestone reduces the average CO2 emissions for all electricity generated to just 165 grams: (Zero for the half from renewable energy sources plus 330 grams for the half from fossil fuel power plants) divided by two.

Average CO2 emissions and efficiency of a combined cycle power plant

The reduced quantity of coal for fuel for the combined cycle power plants can converted to methane by a reaction with hydrogen. The hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis using excess renewable energy generated whenever total demand is less than the output of renewable energy sources.

A coal-fired power plant that is emitting 880 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour burns coal containing 240 grams of carbon for one kilowatt-hour of electricity. Coal containing just 90 grams of carbon (three-eighths of 240 grams) is all that's needed for a combined cycle power plant to generate a kilowatt-hour of electricity.

Coal may be converted directly to methane by reacting it with hydrogen:

Hydrogen - A Key to the Economics of Pipeline Gas from Coal, C. L. Tsaros, Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, Illinois

The objective in manufacturing supplemental pipeline gas is to produce high- heating-value gas that is completely interchangeable with natural gas - essentially methane.

The basic problem in making methane from coal is to raise the H2/C ratio. A typical bituminous coal may contain 75% carbon and 5% hydrogen, a H2/C mole ratio of 0.4:1; the same ratio for methane is 2:1. To achieve this ratio it is necessary to either add hydrogen or reject carbon. The most efficient way is to add hydrogen. The hydrogen in the coal can supply about 25-30% of the required hydrogen, but the bulk must come by the decomposition of water, the only economical source of the huge quantities needed for supplemental gas.
…
In the second, or direct, method, methane is formed directly by the destructive hydrogenation of coal by the reaction:

C + 2H2 → CH4

There is a steadily growing list of commercially available systems to produce hydrogen using excess renewable energy:

Clean and Low-cost Hydrogen for Industry

The Sunfire steam electrolysis system, based on solid oxide cell (SOC) technology, promises lower onsite hydrogen production costs compared to legacy technologies. The ability to supply steam directly to the electrolysis module is unique and maximises efficiency.

Renewable natural gas

The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association - "the voice of [one part of] Australia's oil and gas industry" - held its annual conference in Perth recently. The Twitter feed about the conference is under hash tag #APPEA2017

Approaches for increasing the supply of natural gas were on the agenda, but renewable energy production of natural gas didn't get a mention. The absence of Bioenergy Australia which is holding a Bioenergy Business Breakfast in Adelaide next week left the struggling oil and gas industry bereft of a host of ideas to address the intractable problem of rising costs of extracting natural gas. The problem it faces is that there aren't any more low-cost natural gas reserves to exploit.

New methods for producing natural gas from renewable energy are being developed and refined, continually lowering costs and improving efficiency.

At the same time:

1. The cost of extracting coal seam gas is constantly increasing.
   
2. The domestic price of natural is continuing to rise.

   

   The wholesale price of natural gas in Australia has risen steeply

These factors are making it more commercially attractive to produce natural gas from renewable energy. 

There are 3 underlying processes for making renewable natural gas no matter how the various technologies achieve them:

1. Carbon dioxide can be converted into carbon-containing compounds and oxygen by algae and other plants using sunlight to drive photosynthesis.
   
    
2. Carbon dioxide can also be converted into natural gas and water using hydrogen produced from electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable energy generation. Oxygen is produced as a by-product as in the first process.
    
3. Any carbon-containing compounds including those produced by algae and plants in the first process described above along with farm waste and municipal waste, can be converted into a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. About half the carbon in the input feed stock is converted into methane, and the other half into carbon dioxide. After the carbon dioxide produced as a by-product is separated, it can be converted into methane by recycling it into either of the first two processes. No "carbon capture and storage" required, avoiding a susbstantial cost of using natural gas from fossil fuel reserves.
    
• Long established technologies use methane-producing bacteria that create methane and carbon dioxide in anaerobic fermentation ponds or tanks.
• More recently plants have become available that use supercritical water as a gasification medium to create methane and carbon dioxide. These complete the gasification process more quickly and so don't need large tanks where methane-producing bacteria gradually transform the feed stock. This newer technology is especially well-suited for wet feed stock as there is no need to dry it.

  Making renewable natural gas from wet biomass, no #CSG -
  1/ https://t.co/cbAnvLLgQi
  2/ https://t.co/bA1a1XcUY1
  3/ https://t.co/Xyy79DHFEo

  — Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) 3 April 2017

  Waste and cheap coal in hot water. The produced gas is rich in hydrogen. Reforming in supercritical water. #energy https://t.co/Og47qUDG8Y

  — Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) June 17, 2017

These more recent technologies can also efficiently convert low-grade coal with high moisture content into natural gas. Existing coal-fired power could use this option to improve efficiency and lower emissions until it is feasible to decommission them.

Researchers at ENN Group, China and Carleton University, Canada recently investigated supercritical water lignite gasification technology. See "Coal-based Clean Energy Production", Advances in Energy Engineering (AEE) Volume 1 Issue 4, October 2013.

Supercritical Water gasification of wet biomass and low-grade coal

More recently the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland, completed an assessment of the option of Australia becoming a major exporter of renewable energy to Asia - making use of the Queensland LNG export facilities - to ship natural gas made with renewable energy. See "Can Australia Power the Energy-Hungry Asia with Renewable Energy?"

Improving old coal-fired power stations

Existing coal-fired power stations using low-grade coal might continue to generate particulate and sulphur dioxide emissions until they are decommissioned. Some are fitted with scrubbers and other post-combustion filters to reduce these emissions. This approach reduces the efficiency of already inefficient coal-fired power stations:

The heating value of Indian coal is, on average, about 60 percent of the heating value of coal burned in the United States. This increases the amount of coal that must be burned to generate a given heat input, implying higher auxiliary electricity consumption to run coal grinding equipment, conveyors, and pumps.

Auxiliary generation... will also increase if electricity is used to run pollution abatement equipment, such as electrostatic precipitators ( ESPs ) and flue-gas desulfurization units ( scrubbers ) . We note although coal-fired power plants in both countries have ESPs, only three plants in India currently have scrubbers.¹

In the meantime there are options to increase efficiency and reduce harmful emissions until it is feasible to decommission these coal-fired power stations.

One of these options is to pre-process the low-grade coal before combustion. The technology available to do this has several advantages. It eliminates the particulate and sulphur dioxide emissions and, more importantly, increases the efficiency of these coal-fired power stations. Scrubbers and other post-combustion filters are no longer needed.

Low-grade coal contains relatively high levels of contaminants and moisture content. The moisture content reduces the energy available for power generation when its burned because energy is wasted converting the moisture into water vapour. The contaminants increase the energy that is used to run pollution abatement equipment.

To understand the available technology this simplified model gives a reasonable approximation of what takes place; Consider a process in which carbon and water are placed in a reaction vessel and an environment is created to promote a desired reaction that uses little or no external energy. The reaction breaks down some of the water into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen reacts with half of the carbon to form carbon dioxide and the hydrogen reacts with the remainder of the carbon to create methane. The energy released by the reactions with carbon provide the energy needed to break down water  into oxygen and hydrogen.

The methane can be separated to use in place of low-grade coal in the existing coal-fired power stations. There are no particulates or sulphur dioxide to be removed from the exhaust gases. When methane burns, about half the energy is produced by the reaction of carbon with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, and about half is produced by the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen to form water vapour. Note that the total amount of energy is the same as would have been produced if all of the carbon had been burned and not pre-processed into carbon dioxide and methane. The moisture content that was present in the low-grade coal has been separated, as water, before combustion. No energy is wasted converting that moisture into water vapour.

Research on this technology was conducted in several countries interested in producing methane from biomass that contains significant amounts of water. That research has advanced into at least three commercially available products. These can be adapted to carry out the desired pre-processing of low-grade coal into methane:

Making renewable natural gas from wet biomass, no #CSG -
1/ https://t.co/cbAnvLLgQi
2/ https://t.co/bA1a1XcUY1
3/ https://t.co/Xyy79DHFEo

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) April 3, 2017

Upgrading low-grade coal to methane

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1 Chan, Hei Sing (Ron), Maureen L. Cropper, and Kabir Malik. 2014. "Why Are Power Plants in India Less Efficient Than Power Plants in the United States?" American Economic Review, 104(5): 586-90. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.5.586

Australian gas industry operates in the dark

Exploration & development the only long-term answer to addressing eastern Australia's tight #natgas supply @Yes2Gas @Gas4NT #nswpol #auspol pic.twitter.com/W26wfYRkOg

— APPEA Comms (@APPEAComms) March 27, 2017

.@APPEAComms @yes2gas @Gas4NT Innovation is a long-term answer to low-cost renewable #natgas. 'Explore' documents. https://t.co/fsLTXSiWdU pic.twitter.com/XpGtRuO5RP

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

Remember how hot rocks, wave energy & biofuels were going to save the world? Research is good but we must also plan based on current reality https://t.co/lbKhdZRtL9

— APPEA Comms (@APPEAComms) March 27, 2017

APPEA deleted the above Tweet - here is an image as it appeared on 27 March 2017

 

.@APPEAComms The Australian gas industry ignores research and reality "Coal-to-gas is off-the-shelf energy solution" https://t.co/fsLTXSiWdU

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

.@APPEAComms Equipment to cut energy consumption is real.
Higher #natgas price reduces payback period, lifts #ROI https://t.co/jCJznp4pcw

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

@Askgerbil That post was published 8 years ago. Yet no-one has acted on this wonderful opportunity since then. Old tech, bad waste products

— APPEA Comms (@APPEAComms) March 27, 2017

APPEA deleted the above Tweet too - here is an image as it appeared on 27 March 2017

 

.@APPEAComms Poor analysis of facts.
Not surprising Aus gas industry in trouble.
Compare US and Aus coal/gas priceshttps://t.co/n2vESmDOlb

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

.@APPEAComms Marketing w/out knowledge bad for #natgas industry
World's largest substitute natural gas plant online: https://t.co/Q8GQzikem5

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

World’s largest #SNG plant starts operation in China http://t.co/0NoX8aF161 Haldor Topsoe A/S announced that Hu... pic.twitter.com/M1tEJii7cI

— worldofchemicals (@worldofchemical) November 18, 2014

@Askgerbil You do realise that's only 16PJ of gas/year - before liquefaction? Plus 7 times the emissions of #natgas!https://t.co/w1bBlUn61K

— APPEA Comms (@APPEAComms) March 27, 2017

.@APPEAComms A very different answer to: "That post was published 8 years ago. Yet no-one has acted on this wonderful opportunity..."

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 27, 2017

Nothing that @appealtd @appeacomms makes sense, used to be sanguine 20plus years ago now a sycophant to @theIPA #auspol https://t.co/DRTln97Zqf

— John Powell (@CeltPowell) March 27, 2017

What happens when your offer innovation advice to the Australian gas industry

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Fossil fuel energy is unreliable

Natural gas power is increasingly unreliable in Australia.

A simple law of physics explains why natural gas power stations are unreliable:

6 gigajoules of natural gas are needed to generate 3.6 gigajoules of electrical energy in a combined-cycle gas turbine power station.

Each 3.6 gigajoules of electrical energy (which is 1 megawatt-hour or 1 MWh) has a price of about $50 in the Australian Energy Market Organisation's National Electricity Market.

The natural gas used to generate this electrical energy costs about $9 per gigajoule in the Australian Energy Market Organisation's Wholesale Gas Market.

The result:

It costs about $54 for the natural gas used as fuel to generate each megawatt-hour of electricity. This has a wholesale price of only $50.

Renewables helped keep Sa powered while a fire knocked out the switching of gas generators at Torrens island. We are asked to reduce use

— Leon Byner (@LeonByner5AA) March 3, 2017

Gas-fired power fails to supply South Australia electricity.
Wind power keeps SA lights on. https://t.co/eGvQzgfSUj via @ABCNews #saparli

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 4, 2017

Rising domestic gas prices

In terms of production costs, over the last decade the finding and development costs for the petroleum industry have increased six-fold. And, in the three years to 2013, total Australian finding and development costs averaged $4.16/GJ, which was 2.7 times the average for the three years to 2007. These rising costs are partly explained by the fact that unconventional gas production involves significantly higher capital expenditure than that of conventional off-shore wells, given that CSG requires multiple wells to be drilled in order to access equivalent volumes of gas.

SANTOS July 2, 2015
Public Submission to ACCC East Coast Gas Inquiry

Natural Gas price in the U.S. - 1 million BTUs = 1.055 gigajoules

Liquefied natural gas #exports expected to drive growth in U.S. natural gas trade https://t.co/voUoq8kGCv #natgas #LNG #energytrade pic.twitter.com/Qt2qBvo1OC

— EIA (@EIAgov) February 22, 2017

The projected US exports of around 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or about 140 million tonnes of LNG is almost double the projected Australian exports of 85 million tonnes of LNG per year.

1 metric ton liquefied natural gas (LNG) = 48,700 cubic feet of natural gas.
1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is about 20 million tonnes of LNG.

Given the much higher cost of producing coal seam gas in Australia, the ramping up of US LNG exports to 2020 is likely to bring the enthusiastic expansion of coal seam gas in Australia to a sudden end.

U.S. liquefaction capacity continues to expand https://t.co/fzDmgOPdQw #LNG #natgas #energytrade pic.twitter.com/uaOb1CNnNf

— EIA (@EIAgov) March 3, 2017

@abcnews24 No State Govt has 'gone rogue'. The LNP just doesn't get need for energy policy. Qld has added a gas reservation policy. #auspol pic.twitter.com/4u1jNMlXBZ

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) March 15, 2017

Development of combined cycle using solar reformed gas - CSIRO

Project report: Development of Combined Cycle using solar reformed gas in North Western Australia

This project launched in March 2013 and ran for a 12 month period, with the final outcome being a detailed assessment of the potential for solar thermal steam reforming to be integrated into a combined cycle power station. The project is led by CSIRO, with project partners GE Global research (GE GRC) and GE Australia (GE AUS).

Hydrogen turbines generate clean electricity

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) has developed near-zero-emission gas turbines using pure hydrogen as a fuel. But because this LSI (low-swirl injector) technology also can use other fuels, it has the potential to help eliminate millions of tons of carbon dioxide and thousands of tons of nitrous oxides (NOx) from power plants each year. In fact, burners with the LSI emit 2 parts per million of NOx, more than five times less than conventional burners. The multi-patented technology is currently available for licensing.

A more significant benefit of the LSI technology is its ability to burn a variety of different fuels from natural gas to hydrogen and the relative ease to incorporate it into current gas turbine design — extensive redesign of the turbine is not needed. The LSI is being designed as a drop-in component for gas-burning turbine power plants.

This technology is available for license for gas turbines and certain other fields of use. For information, go to http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/techs/lbnl0916.html.

A cutaway view of Solar Turbines' Taurus 70 engine. The research team has adapted the low swirl injector for use in this technology, which is similar to a jet engine, but is used to generate electricity in power plants on the ground.

Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, CA. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit our website at http://www.lbl.gov.

Siemens Gas Turbine H2 Combustion Technology ...

Combustion System Development for the SGT6-5000F - SIEMENS IGCC Hardware Description

• Diffusion flame nozzle based on the design that successfully operated at the SGT6-3000E (formerly known as the W501D5) Dow Chemical Plaquemine site.
• Dual fuel design: Natural gas as startup & backup fuel, H2 / Syngas as main fuel.
• Dilution is premixed into the fuel.
• Combustor basket is an improved Siemens diffusion flame basket design.
• The transition segment and downstream turbine hardware is the standard design, no change is necessary for IGCC.

Coal mining CEOs are failing their shareholders

With thermal coal prices falling to five year lows and the price of natural gas soaring to unprecedented highs, coal-mining CEOs selling coal at or near the cost of production are failing their shareholders.

According to ACIL Allen Consulting coal in New South Wales is currently valued at around $2 per gigajoule. This low price cuts the dividends shareholders can expect to receive. It also reduces the valuation of coal reserves on the which the price of their shares depends.

Photo: Sam Walsh has faced investors at his first AGM as Rio's chief executive. (AAP)

It can only be a matter of time before shareholders' complain of inaction by coal mining directors to substantially increase the value of coal and coal reserves.

Shareholders have a right to know why coal mining directors are selling coal for just $2 per gigajoule instead of converting it to natural gas that can be sold at $9 per gigajoule.

Update February 4, 2017

Australian thermal #coal sold in 2015-16 for just $2.69 per GJ.
The LNG export price fell from $13.20 per GJ in 2014-15 to $8.60 in 2015-16

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) February 4, 2017

Update, 15 February 2016

Chinese LNG demand falls for the first time on record

Innovation pushing #CSG out of natgas market. Chinese LNG demand falls for the first time on record https://t.co/BHY4v57Es3 via @ABCNews

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) February 5, 2016

World’s largest SNG plant goes on-stream in China. #Innovation @DennisJensenMP @p_hannam https://t.co/zjHjH3NWrj | https://t.co/4KKY6MtxPU

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) February 5, 2016

Update, 19 January 2015

South Korean steelmaker sets up synthetic natural gas subsidiary

Latest Oil and Gas News:  April 7, 2014
- POSCO, South Korea's top steelmaker, said April 3 it has set up a subsidiary to operate a synthetic natural gas business to trim its LNG consumption.

The subsidiary, POSCO Green Gas Technology, was established in POSCO's Gwangyang complex on the country's southern coast, where it is building a synthetic natural gas plant with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons per year.

The plant will produce SNG by processing low-cost coal. It will be completed by August and start up in January 2015.

.@YourSayAGL South Korea's POSCO grabs market lead converting cheap Aus coal to natural gas. Beats #LNG, uses no #csg http://t.co/0TR6zU5ign
— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) January 28, 2015

.@YourSayAGL Coal-to-SNG - Synthetic Natural Gas - avoids #CSG costs and headaches. South Korea grabs market lead: http://t.co/DF1urQ6rYv
— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) January 28, 2015

Update, 15 February 2016

One year later the message sinks in...
"In the interest of our shareholders and customers AGL will not proceed with the Gloucester Gas Project and will cease production at the Camden Gas Project."

AGL to exit gas exploration and production; Gloucester Gas Project will not proceed. More info here https://t.co/Lq6glrzo2O

— AGL Energy (@aglenergy) February 3, 2016

Energy retail giant #AGL reports a statutory loss after #tax of $449 million on gas asset write-downs https://t.co/PGQcn7W016

— ABC News (@abcnews) February 10, 2016

Published on Jan 27, 2015

http://www.dakotagas.com

This is the video shown to tour guests at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.

• Category

   Science & Technology

• License

   Standard YouTube License

Update, 20 January 2015

Leading businesses call for senate reform to restore order

Tony Boyd and Michael Smith :  January 6, 2015
Leaders of Australia's biggest businesses have blasted the nation's Senate as obstructive and demanded reform to restore order to government.

What leaders of Australia's biggest businesses have blasted is democracy working properly. Its review body is putting the brakes on outlandish and unreasonable decisions by the Abbott Government.

Any similar review on corporate decision-making is clearly lacking in Australia's leading businesses:

• Natural gas exporting business executives are pressing ahead blindly with expensive coal seam gas fracking technology and 
• coal mining executives insist on the correctness of their absurd decisions to export increasing volumes of coal at steadily falling prices.
• Both decisions lack the common sense shown by South Korean business leaders who have done the sums and realised it is in their shareholders' interests to buy cheap coal from Australia and manufacture their own natural gas from it.

@RioTinto shareholders were most angry about the $14 billion worth of writedowns and a $3 billion annual loss. http://t.co/cl74Y4AaZQ #coal
— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) September 10, 2014

High priced natural gas from bargain priced coal http://t.co/7Sk4mmPbEe
— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) September 10, 2014

Gas and coal prices

Natural gas and coal prices used in 2013 emissions projections work

Source:
ACIL Allen Consulting, Electricity Sector Emissions:
Modelling of the Australian Electricity Generation Sector, September 2013