DeepSummary
Ron Kent from SoCalGas and Kevin Harrison from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) give a tour of NREL's new bioreactor system that uses ancient microbes to convert renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide into renewable methane gas. The system starts by using excess renewable electricity to produce hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen is then combined with CO2 from industrial sources like wastewater treatment plants and fed to the microbes in the bioreactor, which naturally ferment it into methane.
The technology aims to solve two challenges: storing excess renewable electricity generated during times of oversupply, and producing renewable natural gas to help decarbonize the existing gas grid. NREL and SoCalGas have been working for 5 years to design and build the system, which has been running for about a week and already achieving 25% conversion of CO2 to methane, with expectations to reach over 98% conversion.
Both Kent and Harrison are optimistic about the technology's potential to scale up and be deployed widely, seeing it as a simple, efficient, and cost-effective solution compared to alternatives like batteries. They believe it can play an important role in integrating more wind and solar onto the grid while recycling CO2 emissions.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- NREL and SoCalGas have developed a new bioreactor system that uses ancient microbes to convert renewable hydrogen and CO2 into renewable methane gas.
- The system aims to store excess renewable electricity as methane and produce renewable natural gas to decarbonize gas grids.
- After about a week of operation, the system is already achieving 25% conversion of CO2 to methane, with expectations to reach over 98%.
- The bioreactor technology is seen as simple, efficient, scalable, and cost-effective compared to alternatives like batteries.
- Successful deployment will require continued research, cost reductions, and support from policymakers in the energy sector.
- The system addresses two key challenges: integrating variable renewable energy and reducing emissions from natural gas usage.
- NREL and partners have been designing the system for 5 years to optimize performance and integrate electrolyzer and bioreactor components.
- The ability to scale the technology to the "tens of megawatt" level is crucial for meaningfully impacting power grids.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The idea here is to start with gases, which can dissolve into water quickly, and that's straightforward. You're not breaking down components and then building them back up, which some technologies do. This starts with gases, so it is a fast reaction.“ by Kevin Harrison
- “It does need to be embraced by the community of policymakers in the energy sector. So to the extent that that happens, I think it can succeed.“ by Ron Kent
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Episode Information
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
10/15/19
This is a branded podcast made in collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and GTM Creative Strategies.
As grids get saturated with wind and solar electricity, there’s pressure to find new ways to store that energy across daily, monthly or seasonal variations.
Could the answer be a billion-year-old microbe?
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and SoCalGas are currently testing a new bioreactor that could turn renewable electrons into renewable methane -- allowing excess generation to be “stored” in existing natural gas pipelines.
The system relies on an ancient microorganism that ferments hydrogen and carbon dioxide and turns it into methane. By feeding the bugs hydrogen from renewable resources and CO2 from industrial sources, companies like SoCalGas could harness a new supply of renewable natural gas.
NREL has been testing the process in the lab for years. And it finally built a larger-scale version of the bioreactor.
We sent producer Catherine Jaffee to NREL’s lab in Golden, Colorado to check it out. We’ll learn how it works in the first part of the episode.
In the second half of the episode, we talk with NREL’s Kevin Harrison and SoCalGas’ Ron Kent about how the system is performing so far.
Learn more about all the world-changing research on clean energy happening at NREL.
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