Abstract
Time mismatch between renewable energy production and consumption, grid congestion issues, and consequent production curtailment lead to the need for energy storage systems to allow for a greater renewable energy sources share in future energy scenarios. A power-to-liquefied synthetic natural gas system can be used to convert renewable energy surplus into fuel for heavy duty vehicles, coupling the electric and transportation sectors. The investigated system originates from power-to-gas technology, based on water electrolysis and CO2 methanation to produce a methane rich mixture containing H2, coupled with a low temperature gas upgrading section to meet the liquefied natural gas requirements. The process uses direct air CO2 capture to feed the methanation section; mol sieve dehydration and cryogenic distillation are implemented to produce a liquefied natural gas quality mixture. The utilization of this fuel in heavy duty vehicles can reduce greenhouse gases emissions if compared with diesel and natural gas, supporting the growth of renewable fuel consumption in an existing market. Here, the application of power-to-liquefied synthetic natural gas systems is investigated at a national level for Italy by 2040, assessing the number of plants to be installed in order to convert the curtailed energy, synthetic fuel production, and consequent avoided greenhouse gases emissions through well-to-wheel analysis. Finally, plant investment cost is preliminarily investigated.
Highlights
The increase in renewable energy source (RES) penetration in the energy scenario, as remarked in the Paris Climate Conference COP21 [1], is a fundamental element for the future clean energy transition
Commercial vehicle quantities are considered equal between diesel, electrical, and compressed natural gas (CNG)/H2 technologies; electrical conversion is not developed for heavy duty vehicles (HDV) and natural gas consumption for transportation is expected to grow
The concept of exploiting surplus energy in a high-RES scenario is investigated here at a national level through a recently developed P2LSNG process in order to produce a renewable fuel for HDV
Summary
The increase in renewable energy source (RES) penetration in the energy scenario, as remarked in the Paris Climate Conference COP21 [1], is a fundamental element for the future clean energy transition To this aim, energy storage systems (ESSs) integration is necessary to avoid risks for the operational stability of the power system [2]. A power-to-liquefied synthetic natural gas (P2LSNG) system can be used to provide energy storage [2] with the consequent mitigation of RES curtailment, and, at the same time, can produce renewable fuel to improve the renewable share in transportation [12]. LSNG can be used after regasification in ordinary compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled vehicles and even in different sectors, such as electricity generation or grid injection to supply distribution to industrial or civil users when the downstream systems can tolerate the H2 content (a specific evaluation is necessary for domestic utilization)
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