this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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You take renewable energy and make a high density gas. Typically you make hydrogen (easy) then methane. Methane, unlike hydrogen, is highly dense and can be sent with existing gas pipelines.
It's a way to store and trsnsport enormous excess energy usage thats far better than electrical butteries.
It's already in use, but further research would only make it more efficient.
All natgas infra can deal with hydrogen blends and some with pure hydrogen. All new infrastructure should be made hydrogen-proof.
Another great option is synfuels like methanol which are also an universal chemistry feedstock.
Hydrogen is the least dense fuel possible. And it fucks up tanks (with pitting) so it has to be replaced often.
Yup, "hydrogen-proof infrastructure" doesn't exist. I like the idea of hydrogen, but it's just not a nice gas to work with and transport.
Yep, that's why you convert it to methane
That's awesome, I don't think I have heard of that. I'm going to look into that for sure, thanks for the quick explanation.
That reminds me of that idea of a solar panel farm that uses its excess energy to lift a boulder during the day and then during the night the boulder falls and turns alternators that create electricity from the weight of the boulder slowly falling back down overnight
Yes but I think methane is far more practical
Google "synthetic methane"
Ah, I have. Yes, I see what you mean. That is a useful technology.
Is that specific field still very prototypical? I can't find any real-world applications yet.
Can it scale or has it only been experimented within laboratory settings so far?
Oh wait, Japan of course, what's going through with trials. Cool
There's a huge plant in California and France. theres a lot.