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Author Archives: ahilanraman

Professional chemical engineer,specializing on clean energy and water technologies.He has more than 35 years of industrial experience in various process industries.Bulk of his experience were in R&D and commercialization.He has few innovative National and International patents on desalination and power generation. His latest patent is to store renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal in the form of SNG (synthetic natural gas) to generate base load power. You can eliminate the usage of fossil fuel and substitute with SNG with Zero Carbon emission. He is also a writer on Eastern philosohopy ,especially on Advaita Vedanta.He believes that science and vedanta are two side of the same coin.Science is applicable to this physical world and it has its limitations .But spirituality is beyond science and beyond this physical realm.It is your TRUE NATURE.

Renewable synthetic methane gas (RSMG) and Ramana Power Cycle (RPC) for Zero emission base load power.

RSMG is an abbreviation for ‘Renewable synthetic methane gas’ and it is a new form of a Carbon negative synthetic fuel to substitute natural gas. It is synthesized using  CO2 extracted from the sea or from power plant using Oxy combustion CO2 power cycle at the site such as CES, Graz cycle or Allam cycle (using supercritical CO2 as working fluid)  and Renewable Hydrogen (RH) by the following reactions using a renewable energy source.

  1. CO2=> CO + ½ O2 (electrochemical reduction)
  2. CO + 3 H2=> CH4 + H2O (catalytic conversion)

There are other methods too can be applied but our patented process uses a unique method to synthesize RSMG from CO2 and renewable Hydrogen with a heating value (LHV) around 52 Mj/kg.

By using only, the sun and sea water, RSMG is continuously synthesized using continuous renewable energy such as OTE (ocean thermal energy) or geothermal energy or Hydro power on 24 x 7 basis by adjusting the pH of the feed water to acidic and extracting CO2 mechanically or electrically. Such a unit can be incorporated with seawater desalination plants (SWRO).

HCO3 + H+ ⇄ H2CO3 ⇄ H2O + CO2 (g).

Ocean is the largest reservoir for clean drinking water, Carbon dioxide, Hydrogen and thermal energy and it is imperative that the absorbed CO2 is extracted along with  stored thermal energy in order to restore the warming ocean to pre-industrial state to mitigate climate change. The success of the system depends on the availability of the lowest cost of renewable energy on 24 x 7 basis such as Hydro or OTEC. Alternatively, the cost of renewable energy should be less than $0.025/kwh.

What is RSMG?

RSMG is like natural gas with higher heating value consisting of pure methane and Hydrogen with no other impurities such as sulfur compounds or CO2. It is synthesized using a proprietary technology using CO2 extracted from seawater and renewable hydrogen (RH) using a renewable energy sources such as OTEC or Solar/wind etc. It can be compressed like CNG or liquified like LNG and can be transported or shipped to various destinations. RSMG is a Carbon negative fuel because it uses already absorbed CO2 from the sea and not from burning fossil fuel and it is also renewable because the O2 from CO2 emission is substituted with renewable Hydrogen (RH) constituting synthetic CH4. The purpose of this technology is to recycle Carbon indefinitely at the site of usage and that is why transportation in the form of CNG or LNG is discouraged.

Ramana Power Cycle (RPC)

RPC is a new patent (pending) technology to generate a base load power 24 x7 using a renewable synthetic methane gas (RSMG) with Zero emission. By constantly recycling CO2 in the form of RSMG during Oxy combustion CO2 power cycle we can eliminate usage of fossil fuel completely. Moreover, there will be no need to extract further CO2 from seawater for a specific power plant because Carbon is being recycled constantly. Only further RH will be required to run the base load power plant.

How RPC works?

RPC uses an Oxy combustion power cycle such as CES, Graz cycle or Allam cycle (using super critical CO2 as a working fluid) to generate a base load 24 x7 power. It uses 80% of CO2 generated internally leaving 20% high purity pipeline grade CO2 which is used to synthesize RSMG at site for recycling. That is why RSMG is renewable. Thus, RPC continues to generate a base load power with Zero emission. The electric efficiency of RPC is nearly 70 % and the cost of power is competitive to any other power source. By continuously generating RSMG and recycling CO2 it achieves Zero emission without any requirement of fossil fuel such as natural gas. Thus, the process can decarbonize the fossil fuel industry completely at the fastest time frame. Using 100% renewable hydrogen (RH) in gas turbine is still a long way off to achieve a commercial reality. Currently only up to 30% RH has been tested along natural gas (30:70) and there are several technical problems to be solved with combustor. Moreover, the maximum efficiency in Hydrogen based gas turbine will not exceed 35% at the maximum.

How RPC is different from Allam cycle, for example?

Allam cycle has been selected by IEA (International energy agency) as the most efficient (electric efficiency at 55.4%) Oxy combustion power cycle to generate a base load power using natural gas. It generates 20% pipeline grade CO2 as by-product suitable for CCS applications. It requires natural gas as a fuel. It generates pure Oxygen from air using ASU (air separation unit) by cryogenic process. Air separation is an energy intensive process consuming as much as 15% generated power internally thereby reducing overall electric efficiency of the system. Moreover 20% CO2 discharged from the plant requires long distance piping and sequestration both are expensive thus increasing the cost of power.

RPC uses pure Oxygen generated as by-product of renewable hydrogen (RH) by electrolysis for Oxy combustion of RSMG and to continue to generate a base load power at highest electrical efficiency at competitive rate. Synthesis of RSMG is highly exothermic chemical reaction which generates superheated steam as a by-product which generates additional power using steam turbine thus enhancing the overall electric efficiency of RPC.

RPC is suitable only for large power generation such as 100 Mw and above. The process requires the cheapest and continuous renewable energy source such as OTEC, offshore wind turbines supplemented by PV solar. The main advantage of the system is it does not require large scale energy storage and the base load power can be exported directly to the grid using a substation as it has been done over several decades.

RPC has the potential to decarbonize the fossil economy at the fastest rate than any other methods currently used.

Any power generation technology should be able to meet the following seven criteria in order to be successful.

1.Power availability.

2.Power dispatchability.

3.Zero emissions.

4.Lowest levelized cost of power

5.Potential to decarbonize the fossil economy at the shortest time frame.

6.Potential to Completely eliminate fossil fuel

7.Sustainable and has a potential to achieve circular economy.

RPC can meet all the above seven criteria.

Ramana Power Cycle (RPC)

RPC is a newly developed patent (pending) technology from Australia to generate a base load power (24 x 7) using Renewable Hydrogen and CO2 with Zero emission,

The process discloses a method and system to generate CO2 from seawater along with Hydrogen using any renewable energy source to produce synthetic methane gas known as renewable synthetic methane  gas (RSMG) to generate a base load power. The CO2 can be from various sources apart from sea such as power plants using fossil fuel, steel, cement, coke oven gas, or any syngas generated from various known methods from various sources such as steam methane reformer etc. The process can use any Oxy-combustion CO2 power cycle such as CES, Graz cycle, Allam cycle (using super critical CO2 as a working fluid) or a conventional combined cycle power plant using air combustion to generate a base load power 24 x 7 with ZERO EMISSIONS. The cost of power is estimated to be competitive even in the absence of Carbon pricing or Carbon tax. Needless to mention the unit cost of power can be further reduced by using Carbon pricing or Carbon tax. It is up to individual governments to introduce such a mechanism in order to deploy RPC on a larger scale.

The advantage with the system is it can generate electric power from RSMG with the highest electrical efficiency up to 70% while achieving Zero emissions. It effectively solves the global warming and climate changes problems using existing technologies and infrastructure without a need to develop a new power technology from scratch.

It can be retrofitted with any existing and operating fossil fuel-based power plant OR any large-scale renewable energy plant. It does not require storage batteries or any energy storing devices. The minimum viable capacity starts with 100 Mw and can be scaled up to 500 Mw and beyond and power can be exported to the grid directly through a substation. Optionally the process requires only sun and sea (ocean is the largest reservoir of Carbon, Hydrogen and heat to generate a base load power along with potable water with Zero Carbon emission and achieves circular economy).

Can Hydrogen substitute Carbon and avoid catastrophic climate change

The answer is most likely NO for the following reasons.

It has been established that man-made GHG emissions mainly by CO2 is causing the globe to warm by a phenomenon known as “Greenhouse gas effect” triggering change in climate. Therefore, many are suggesting Hydrogen as an alternative clean fuel to reduce or eliminate CO2 emission. But replacing Carbon with Hydrogen we will only substitute Oxides of Carbon (CO2) with Oxides of Hydrogen (H2O). But water vapor too is a potent greenhouse gas GHG and it may enhance the warming of the globe by a phenomenon known as Feedback effect as explained by NASA and American chemical society (ACS) by the following references:

  1. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/climatesciencenarratives/its-water-vapor-not-the-co2.html
  2. https://phys.org/news/2014-03-effect-vapor-climate.html
  3.  http://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-carbon-dioxide-has-such-outsized-influence-on-earths-climate-123064
  4. https://www.nasa.gov › topics › earth › features › vapor_warming

Moreover, Renewable Hydrogen is still very expensive compared to Hydrogen derived from fossil fuel such as coal and gas even though cost of renewable energy has reduced substantially in recent past. By injecting valuable renewable Hydrogen into existing pipeline carrying natural gas one will generate additional issues because of varying physical and chemical properties of Hydrogen and its flammability and explosive nature compared to natural gas. Only a mixture of Hydrogen 30% and natural gas 70% has been tested using gas turbines. The combustor is a critical component of the turbine and still problems like flame back firing, Hydrogen embrittlement and suitable materials of construction for 100% Hydrogen are still a long way off. The heat of combustion of Hydrogen and natural gas using pure Oxygen can be shown as below;

2H2 (g) + 2 O2 (g) > 2H2O  – 286 kj/mole

CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g) > CO2 + 2H2O – 889 kj/mole

Clearly the heat of oxy combustion of natural gas is high even though the heating value of Hydrogen is high compared to natural gas. For the same energy output one will require Hydrogen more than 3 times the volume of natural gas which means a very large volume of Hydrogen needs to be handled in a gas turbine. It will substantially increase the size of gas turbine due to low density of Hydrogen. Even with 100% Hydrogen, gas turbine will emit water vapour along with Oxides of Nitrogen which is still need to be addressed. I cannot imagine using pure Oxygen for Hydrogen combustion. Combustion of Hydrogen or combustion of  a mixture of hydrogen and Natural gas will emit water vapour or a mixture of water vapour, CO2 and oxides of Nitrogen and they will not help mitigate the climate change. Imagine thousands of cars running on Hydrogen emitting water vapour! It will certainly change the climate in the shortest period because the atmosphere will be saturated with water vapour increasing the ambient temperature. The feed back effect of water vapor will enhance the global warming in presence of CO2 as shown above. This will be a major challenge for Hydrogen in the near future.

Hydrogen is an unstable atom and readily forms a bond with Oxygen and Carbon and that is why Nature does not produce free Hydrogen. It requires a Carbon backbone. Only an emission free power generation technology can solve the problem of global warming. It is only possible by recycling Carbon (Carbon recycling technology) with the help of renewable Hydrogen and to achieve a circular economy. There is no shortcut.

 

New realities of decarbonizing fossil economy and the science of climate change

Global warming and climate change are the topics of the day and doomsday predictions are abounding. In a divided world of differing ideologies and dogmas, emotions play a major role and all conclusions are drawn out of such emotions. Emotional intelligence is the key and in-depth analysis will clear the clouds of doubts and disbeliefs and not just raw emotions.

When quantum science emerged as a mainstream science substituting classical science the world changed dramatically often leading to spirituality or eastern philosophy of ancient India. When Albert Einstein said, “I hope the moon is still there when I am not looking at it”, it had huge implications and a few decades later quantum science confirmed that Einstein was wrong. In other words, it is the conscience that creates the reality. With  this is the reality of science  one may wonder whether “reality” has anything to do with “science” at all. Albert Einstein in his own words said, “As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain they do not refer to reality”.

Let us examine about the science of global warming due to man-made GHG emissions resulting in climate change. Electricity was a new form of energy discovered in eighteenth century and it became part of human civilization ever since. But it was already existed in nature in the form of lightning, but we were unable to recognize it or reproduce it in the scale that can be useful to us. Then the question is whether electricity was discovered by human beings at all and if so, can we reproduce “lightning?” and use this electricity without emitting any carbon emission at all. The answer is no, at least for now due lack of technology to predict lightning, tapping it economically and storing it for distribution. Theoretically lightning alone can supply all the electricity world needs but practically it is almost impossible to utilize it for the above reasons. When electromagnetism and electricity were discovered they did not relate it to “lightning” but claimed as a separate discovery between the relationship between magnetic and electric charges which resulted in generating electricity. Then later we were able to explain “lightning” due to positive and negative charges between the cold clouds and rising hot air with water.

Science is nothing but explaining nature with theoretical concepts and physical demonstrations. That is why yoga sutra describes the world as a phenomenal world and it is an irreducible experimental substance. That is the peculiarity of science because it is the human conscience that creates this scientific reality. I too conclude that “as far as law of science of climate change refers to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain they do not refer to reality.” Similarly, science has nothing to do with economics and but we human beings made economics as a measure of one’s life and his or her success. This is the fundamental flaw in human thinking. One can conclude that all man-made theories and practices are fundamentally flawed which is evident from the world of turmoil we are witnessing and living in. We failed to ask emotionally intelligent questions by endless pursuit of happiness through money and materials in the name of science.

As I mentioned in my previous article we developed generating electricity from thermal source and we ended up digging fossil fuels at enormous cost and added further value by combustion with air generating huge amount of CO2.But we never estimated the cost of CO2 at that time and we never realized the future impact of such a CO2 emissions from fossil fuels till now. Even now we do not want to put a price for CO2 emissions and continue to emit by simply denying the fact that such unabated emissions will have consequences. We conveniently use science and economics when it suits us, otherwise we reject them outright when it does not suit us. All climate change denials come from the fear of economic collapse unconsciously.

Therefore, the first step in achieving zero carbon emission is to eliminate fossil fuels completely or impose penalty to discourage emissions if we accept global warming and climate change as the reality. Without taking this first step we cannot move forward.

Now there is a new awakening that Hydrogen will substitute fossil fuels with zero emissions. This is again a mistake. Imaging all cars and power plants using hydrogen and fuel cell and emit (only) water vapour into the atmosphere. I am sure that will drastically change our climate in a very short span of time. The atmospheric moisture will dramatically increase trapping enormous amount of heat and precipitation. The consequences will be dire. Every kg of Hydrogen will require 9 kgs of water. Renewable Hydrogen is a precious commodity and it can be used only to decarbonize the fossil economy and cannot be used a fuel directly. Such an attempt will be a failure.

Alternatively, we can continue to use fossil fuel as usual but eliminate CO2 emission by simply recycling in the form of RNG (renewable natural gas) using renewable hydrogen. This may look as an expensive proposal at the first instance, but it will become a norm in the long run and we human beings have a capacity to adopt to this new reality.  It is now possible to capture CO2 economically and substantially while generating power using direct Carbon fuel cell with highest electrical efficiency. It can be easily recycled in the form of RNG. Why Governments don’t act?

In the absence of above alternative, we may have to face the consequences of climate change due to man-made emissions and simply be content with an American slogan, “In God we trust”.

References:

  1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.11.122
  2. ,DCFC by Fuelcell Energy and Exxon.

 

 

CO2 capture using DCFCMCFC for bottom cycling for CO2 capture

Carbon Recycling Technology (CRT) is a potential solution for Zero Carbon Emission.

What is CRT?

CRT is a process technology that captures CO2 from existing and operating base load (24 x 7) power plants using fossil fuels and substituting the Oxygen in CO2 with renewable Hydrogen thereby converting CO2 into RNG (renewable natural gas). Then RNG becomes the renewable fuel for the above power plant. It is a perfect example of a circular economy with Zero Carbon emissions.

CRT becomes a link between fossil power industry and renewable industry, and it can achieve zero Carbon emission in the shortest possible time frame averting a catastrophic climate change.

Why CRT?

The climate change is a global issue and it requires a global solution and eliminating CO2 emission by few countries will not address the problem and it will require a collective solution. CRT can provide such a solution.

The world is now divided than ever before into two segments. One segment believes Carbon emission is causing global warming and climate change and therefore CO2 should be curtailed or eliminated completely, and all future energy should come only from renewable energy sources such as solar wind etc to avert climate change.
The other segment believes the science of climate change is not well established and dismisses the theory that CO2 causes global warming and climate change. They believe such a change is a natural phenomenon and it has nothing to do with CO2 emissions.  They fear by simply eliminating fossil fuel usage in the absence of a clear substitute the energy industry will be seriously disrupted causing economic collapse and the security of a nation. For example US has become the largest exporter of oil and gas in the world due to their aggressive policy of exploiting oil and gas reserves using techniques such as fracking. However these resources are finite and their CO2 emissions will become a stumbling block in the near future.

It is a useless exercise to engage in argument without a clear path forward. But I am sure they will certainly agree and support a substitute fuel such as renewable natural gas (RNG) that can generate a base load power with zero carbon emission.

CRT will be able to convince both the above segment of people because it will meet the requirements of both the parties.

The bottom line is we need a system that can guarantee to generate an uninterrupted power 24 x7 with zero Carbon emission irrespective of a method we use if it is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

How do crew in space shuttle get rid of their CO2 emission from their cabin is shown below by NASA.

Carbon recycling technology is like the above process except CO2 is generated by combustion of natural gas as a by-product of base load power generation which is being removed and recycled in the form of RNG (renewable natural gas) using renewable

Hydrogen. Capture Carbon recycling in space

 

(Utility scale battery storage)

Advanced-Batteries-for-Utility-Scale-Energy-Storage-880x660Methan from CO2SNG plant(Methanation plant for CO2 to SNG)

Renewable energy is a low efficient and intermittent source of energy and it may not meet the world’s energy requirement at the current rate. It will require massive energy storage technologies to be deployed in the shortest possible time frame. According to NREL report a 100 Mw PV solar with 240 Mwh storage battery will cost approx. USD 188 mil. To meet a base load power of 2400 Mwh/day the cost of the system will be USD 1.88 billion. The life of storage battery is assumed only at 12 years and will require replacement at least twice in 24 years of its life cycle. The same capacity 100 Mw combined cycle power plant using natural gas will cost only USD 105 mil with a life of at least 25 years. Therefore, renewable energy alone cannot solve the problem of climate change in its current form. It will be prudent to use renewable energy to generate renewable Hydrogen (RH) from water (even seawater) and use it to decarbonize the fossil economy. In fact, this is the solution  world needs right now.

Large(utility) scale battery will require massive amount of exotic material such as Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt etc which are not renewable and will have a large carbon footprint and disposal of depleted batteries will create massive environmental problems in the future. They are simply not sustainable.

Combined cycle power generation using natural gas is a proven technology that has been used for decades and all the infrastructure required are already in place.

What is involved in CRT?

CRT will involve the following three sections:

  1. Renewable energy facility such as PV solar, Concentrated solar or wind, geothermal, OTEC and hydro etc.
  2. Renewable Hydrogen facility to generate and store Hydrogen using the above renewable energy sources.
  3. Combined cycle base load power plant with CO2 capture and storage using either pre or post combustion technologies.
  4. Conversion of captured CO2 into renewable natural gas RNG which can substitute natural gas in the above base load power plant with zero Carbon emission.

There are number of renewable energy industries established all over the world in the past decade and they are currently operational. The lowest power tariff quoted by renewable energy industry in India is as low as $ 0.035/kwh making it an attractive clean energy source. There are issues in exporting it to the grid due to peak hour supply and demand gap. This renewable energy can be used to generate renewable Hydrogen (RH) by electrolysis of water. Hydrogen can be used as a storage medium to generate power during peak hours using fuel cells. It can also be used to fuel Hydrogen (Fuel cell) cars. Hydrogen cars have many advantages over battery cars based on life cycle assessment. Renewable Hydrogen (RH) is going to help accelerating the decarbonization process of the world soon.

Currently bulk of the power is generated using fossil fuel such as coal, oil and gas. The CO2 emissions can be reduced by 25% by simply switching over from coal to gas. Exiting coal fired power plants can be modified to gas fired plants by replacing their existing boilers. By using RNG the power plant can achieve zero carbon emission while generating base load power.

CRT is a simple and straight forward process technology that can avert global warming and climate change without disrupting existing fossil fuel infrastructure and its power generation while achieving ZERO CARBON EMISSION in the shorted possible time frame. It will promote renewable energy industries in a big way and help decarbonize our economy on a global scale. The cost of renewable energy should further come down so that renewable hydrogen (RH) as well as renewable natural gas (RNG) will become cheaper. Removal of fossil subsidies, taxing carbon emission and subsidizing renewable energy can facilitate such a transition and quicken the process of decarbonization and avert the climate change. A detailed financial model will reveal how quickly and effectively CRT can help countries reduce their emissions.

High CO2 emitting countries such as China, US, India, Australia, Japan, EU and others should adopt this technology .This technology is compatible with transportation technologies such as electric vehicles and Hydrogen (Fuel cell) vehicles because it can generate base load power (24 x 7) with Zero Carbon emission which are essential for the success of the above transport applications. WithoutCRT the transport applications will collapse even if they are “the state of art” technologies. CRT will be an ideal technology for energy intensive industries such as Caustic soda, Aluminium, Steel as well as Carbon intensive industries such as cement.

 

 

 

The real solution for Carbon problem:

 

When mother nature buried Carbon under the ground by way of fossil, we human beings mined them at enormous cost and added further value by combustion with air converting it into CO2 (carbon dioxide). In fact, we human beings added enormous value to carbon that remained buried (with zero value) for millennia. We were interested in the heat of combustion but forgotten about the CO2 emission. This is the fundamental flaw in the commercialization of thermal power using fossil fuels. Now there is a price to pay. There are only 2 options to overcome this problem.

  • We can completely ignore and ban fossil fuel all together at enormous cost (we have already invested in trillions in mining, processing, transporting and storing) and seek completely a new solution without any Carbon at all. This is unlikely to happen.
  • We can continue to use fossil fuel and generate base load power as we have been doing for decades but capture CO2 and convert it back into fuel so that it can be recycled with Zero CO2 emission. This is certainly feasible.

Many “so called innovators” are suggesting alternatives to fossil power generation using renewable source of energy. These sources were available with us from the beginning of the world as we know it, but they are intermittent. We are used to 24 x7 base load power using fossil fuels.

The real solution lies in using intermittent renewable energy to generate base load power with zero Carbon emission. Renewable Hydrogen (RH) can achieve this goal. In doing so battery can also play a small role but not a major role. Couple of things should happen to achieve this goal.

  1. Capturing CO2 at the lowest cost. It can be best achieved using Oxy combustion of fossil fuel such as LNG (because it is a purified form of natural gas) using Brayton cycle with 100 % CO2 capture.
  2. Generate renewable Hydrogen (RH) using electrolysis using renewable energy source such as solar and wind etc. Technology is well proven and commercially available.
  3. Convert captured CO2 into CH4 using methanation reaction (which is already commercially practised) and recycling CH4 as a fuel to continue the base load power generation as usual. The newly generated CH4 becomes a renewable natural gas (RNG) substituting fossil Hydrogen with renewable Hydrogen(RH). The above described technology is known as Carbon Recycling Technology (CRT) dveloped by CEWT, Australia. The process uses LNG only for a start up and then continue to generate its own RNG to continue the power generation using RH.

The above process is the only economical, commercial and environmental solution to the problem of global warming and climate change. All other methods will be expensive, time consuming with no guaranteed results and are unlikely to happen in the shortest time we have. By scraping fossil subsidies and taxing Carbon @ $100/Mt of CO2 (at least) and offering liberal subsidies to renewable energy the cost of renewable Hydrogen (RH) will be reduced. The cost of renewables is coming down and it can generate RH to the lowest so that CRT can be deployed everywhere. This technology will help achive Zero carbon emission while  a base load (24 x7) power is generated while keeping the Carbon below the earth as nature has done for a long time.

We at CEWT (Clean Energy and Water Technologies, Australia) sco2-power-cycleCO2 cloudcoal power plantoxy-fuel-directly-heated-sco2-power-cycle-flow-diagram-1have the solution (not just theoretical but practically and commercially implementable immediately) and we seek like-minded partners and investors to team up with us so that we can show case the technology and implement them worldwide. ( https://www.clean-energy-water-tech.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renewable Hydrogen, an emerging alternative to fossil fuel

Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas have helped transformed our power and transport industries for decades till now. But recent geo-political situations, depleting fossil sources and Carbon pollution, global warming and climate change have raised serious questions about the future of fossil fuels. However, countries who have massively invested in fossil fuel infrastructure and who have been heavily relying on supply of fossil fuels have started realizing an inescapable truth that they are running out of time to find an alternative to fossil fuels. Recently Hydrogen has been suggested as an alternative source of energy and many countries are gearing up to promote Hydrogen on a massive scale. The countries who have been traditionally using fossil fuels are now focussing on generating hydrogen from fossil fuels as an easier option. But the basic problem with this approach is they still depend on fossil fuels which means they still contribute to Carbon emission and climate change. They can conveniently dispute or deny the fact that man-made Carbon emissions cause global warming in order to score political points among the ‘gullible public’. Democracy is all about numbers and as along as these number stack up the political parties will take advantage of the system and try to push their agenda. But all these efforts are only short term and they still cannot escape the truth that man made Carbon emission is transforming our world for the worst and the future looks bleak.

However, there is a silver lining in the dark clouds of global warming and climate change in the form of renewable Hydrogen. It is now possible to generate Hydrogen using renewable energy sources such as Hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion systems) that can used not only decarbonize our present economy and also has the capacity to transform future energy and to a cleaner and more sustainable environment. It is now possible to achieve a circular economy in energy sector which means the CO2 emission from existing and operating power plants using fossil fuels can be reversed using renewable Hydrogen so that one can continue to generate power but with Zero Carbon emission. This is a huge transformation.

However, the usage of fossil fuels will continue in other industries such as petrochemicals, polymers and additives, and other synthetic materials. But one can take advantage of using renewable Hydrogen even in such industries using Green Chemistry initiatives so that they can become more sustainable.

However Renewable Hydrogen is a currently very expensive though it is generated from abundantly available natural resources such as sun, wind and water because PV solar panels are made from high purity silicon material again made from simple sand. We cannot afford to take natural resources lightly because they are precious commodities. With limited usage of renewable energy at current levels the cost of PV solar panels is still very expensive but likely to come down as we deploy more and more solar panels in the future. We should also be careful how we use renewable Hydrogen. Our first and foremost usage of renewable Hydrogen should be to decarbonize the fossil economy and achieve a circular economy. It means we must convert CO2 emissions into renewable natural gas (RNG) suing renewable Hydrogen so that the Carbon can be recycled indefinitely with Zero Carbon emission while power plants using fossil fuels can continue to generate a base load power. By this way we will be able to address two issue namely meeting the rising energy demand at a cheaper price while eliminating global warming and climate change. All other use of renewable hydrogen such as Hydrogen vehicles for transportation using fuel cell etc will be secondary because they are not our priority. If we can generate a base load power (24 x7) using renewable Hydrogen with zero Carbon emission, then that should be our focus whether we believe it climate science or not. This will also help us conserve fossil fuels that may be rarely used to meet certain critical needs while substantially reducing the carbon emission.

Renewable hydrogen will require massive deployment of renewable energy projects all over the world. One can generate renewable energy and use it directly for domestic or commercial use. But they are intermittent and require large scale energy storage. Moreover, all HT transmission lines are old and designed for transmitting base load power. Such an approach will not help decarbonizing fossil economy currently widely used. That is why renewable Hydrogen will have to play a key role in the future energy mix. Renewable hydrogen can be used as a fuel for transport industries using fuel cell and Japan is leading the way in this field. But such an application has along way to go and it requires massive investment and creation of infrastructure by way of filling stations. Countries like Japan do not have vast land area for solar industries, and they are likely to use cheap nuclear power and sea water to generate large scale hydrogen infrastructure. By this way they can supply power to both hydrogen as well as electric (battery) vehicles. Alternatively, they are looking to import liquified hydrogen (LH2) from countries like Australia who are ready to use cheap brown coal to generate Hydrogen by gasification despite CO2 emissions. Currently Australian government is not very keen about cutting CO2 emissions, but they are keen to encourage LH2 from cheap coal. They have already approved a pilot plant in the state of Victoria and only future can tell whether such a decision is prudent or not. Japanese companies may prefer to invest in Australia to generate and export clean liquid hydrogen leaving behind all emissions including CO2 in Australia. They may generate LH2 from natural gas and export it to Japan, but it may not be acceptable by Japanese companies because it has a potential to poison the Platinum catalyst used in their Fuel cell cars. In fact, Australia has an enormous potential to generate renewable hydrogen and then use it locally as well as to export. This will be more sustainable in the long run.Toyota mirai layoutToyota mirai power supplyToyota miraiCO2 cloud

It is time UN acted on climate change

Carbon footprint of capital per person as a function of GDP per capitaCarbon emission caused by human beings has become a major issue for our environment and future economy due to changing climate. But there are still few countries who are skeptical about the science of climate change and reluctant to act and refuse to be a part of United Nation’s action on climate change. These countries are either fossil fuel producers such as coal, oil and gas or large economies who have been traditionally depending on usage of fossil fuel for their economy and security. The transition from Carbon economy to non-Carbon economy may not be easier for them is the absence of an alternative technology that can guarantee not only complete elimination of CO2 emission but also efficiency and sustainability. There is a strong political motivation too behind such dithering and they create a fear of slowing economy and large-scale unemployment among the people in the absence of a viable alternative energy source. Therefore, United Nation has an important role to play at this critical juncture of transition to non-carbon economy and save the planet earth from imminent danger of environmental and economic collapse. UN can also stop mass extinction of species and migration of refugees for a better life.

UN was successfully able to bring together 174 countries to the negotiating table during Paris climate change conference. However, they failed to reach a unanimous Agreement and announce a concrete action plan to act. They failed to articulate the ways and means of reducing or eliminating man made CO2 emissions in a stipulated time frame. They also failed to bring powerful nations such as USA to the table which made the task even harder. But this situation can be changed if UN is able to articulate a concrete Action plan which is agreeable to all the parties involved. This is possible only if UN can address all the issues involved such as the alternative technology, funding, implementing in a stipulated time frame, measuring and monitoring the progress and achieving the final goal. UN should first be able to create the same level playing field where all Countries can take part equally without any discrimination. It depends completely on focusing the type of technologies to be deployed to achieve the above goals and It should be able set a specific date to implement such a plan. Currently renewable energy is considered as one of the alternatives along with renewable Hydrogen which can act both as an energy storage and as well as energy carrier. But renewable Energy is intermittent and energy storage has become part of the system. With our limited experience in renewable energy deployment over a decade renewable energy alone Cannot be the solution to address the issue of CO2 emissions. One must estimate the life cycle CO2 emissions of hardware used in renewable energy systems such as PV solar panels, Solar concentrators, wind turbines, storage batteries. Renewable Hydrogen generators, Fuel cells etc. Each of them has their own Carbon footprint that must be incorporated in life cycle assessment.

Similarly, even fossil fuel-based power generators such as boilers, steam or gas turbines, pumps and compressors etc too have Carbon footprint that should be assessed. Carbon footprint should be assessed as fixed carbon footprint and variable carbon footprint and then these data should be used to arrive at the Carbon footprint to generate power (tons of CO2/Mwh) Once a life cycle assessment of their Carbon footprint is estimated then it will be easier to rate each technology based on their “Carbon Rating” which will be a measure of their Carbon footprint. The Carbon rating is measured and allocated “number of stars” based on Carbon footprints. Lowest emitting technology will be rated with highest number of stars while highest emitting technologies will get the lowest number of stars.

Carbon rating will be a good measure to assess the technology that can be used worldwide. Countries who are reluctant to reduce CO2 emissions will be discouraged to participate in government and private tenders worldwide and exports. Such countries will be treated as “Pariahs” and rejected by consumers due to their low Carbon rating. Technologically advanced countries or companies who can use fossil fuel but with lowest or Zero CO2 emissions will also be able to compete with renewable energy technologies. Carbon Rating will offer everybody the same level playing field. Carbon is the fundamental building block of organic life on earth which is essential for human survival but unabated CO2 emission by human activities is the culprit. I strongly believe Zero Carbon emission can be achieved even while using fossil fuels by constantly recycling CO2 in the form of regenerated synthetic natural gas. It will not only eliminate CO2 emission but also generate synthetic fuel using renewable Hydrogen without any necessity to exploit fresh fossil fuels. Using renewable Hydrogen as a storage medium or as energy carrier may be expensive due to inherent nature of Hydrogen atom. UN can introduce Carbon Rating as a single tool to measure the Carbon footprint of a specific technology with the lowest or Zero CO2 emission worldwide to start with. They should be more proactive in promoting technologies with highest Carbon rating and encourage countries to adopt such measures.

 

Can renewable technologies mitigate climate change?

Energy generation and usage is considered not only as a mark of progress of a nation but also security of a nation. That is why countries go to extraordinary distance to achieve such a security and everything else becomes secondary in the path of their goal. That is why countries with high oil and gas reserves enjoy good relationship and privileges with powerful nations of the world. Countries who do not have their own oil and gas reserves and who completely rely on import of oil and gas have no choice but maintain a good relationship with oil rich countries despite their difference in ideologies and policies. But with warming globe and changing climate the dependence on fossil fuels is fast becoming unsustainable and countries look for alternatives. It is good news for the whole world especially for nations who depend completely on import of oil and gas because they can develop their own renewable energy sources to lower their emissions. But there is one major difference. Countries who depend on import of oil and gas required to develop only an infrastructure to store and distribute oil and gas, But with renewable energy they have to develop an infrastructure to produce the hardware necessary to use alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal  but also energy storage such as batteries. The warming globe and changing climate have become a grave threat to the plant earth and a threat to lives of entire future generations. It is the greatest challenge of the industrialized world. One can view this as threat or as an opportunity. But it is time to act irrespective of our views and we must act now.

It is an opportunity for scientists and engineers to view energy sources and their applications in a new perspective. It is an opportunity to understand how human activities affect our environment and how not to damage them but preserve them for our future generations while developing new alternatives. Humanity is just a part of a larger environment and any damage to planet earth is at our own peril. It is an ancient wisdom, but we neglected them. When an aboriginal of Australia said “we belong to earth and earth does not belong to us” we failed to listen to them. We(people) became bigger than They (environment).

In pursuit of a new energy source one must be extremely careful in examining Nature and how she operates so that we do not make the same mistakes of the past. As we develop renewable energy as a potential energy source of the future, we should be aware of the life cycle of such a system and their impact on environment. Renewable energy requires hardware that uses exotic metals, catalysts, polymers, new Carbon sources and glasses. As we switch to Carbon free economy, we should make sure that there are no emissions in developing renewable energy sources and if necessary impose Carbon tax on such emissions and, to develop recycling technologies to recycle that hardware safely and environmentally friendly manner. It is critically important issue as we move forward. According to an article published in Chemical engineering News

“The potential quantities of waste are enormous. By 2025, waste batteries removed from electric vehicles will total 95 Giga watt hours, according to an estimate by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That pile will weigh roughly 600,000 metric tons.

A similar amount of old solar panels will have accumulated by then, according to projections by the International Renewable Energy Agency. IRENA anticipates solar panel waste could reach 78 million metric tons by 2050. And Europe could see 300,000 metric tons per year of decommissioned wind turbine blades in the next two decades, says the trade association Wind Europe.

Each year, approximately 300,000 metric tons of lithium-ion battery waste is generated around the world, says Sheetanshu Upadhyay, an analyst with India’s Esticast Research & Consulting. Most of those batteries come from mobile devices, but that waste will soon be overshadowed by old electric car batteries. Sales of plug-in electric vehicles are expected to surpass 2.6 million in 2020, according to Navigation Research.”

The above data shows the amount of CO2 emission associated with implementation of renewable energy sources soon. There is a potential for large scale recycling industries on renewables, but it will come with a price and environmental issues. Right now, the main problem is the CO2 emission and the only way to tackle this problem is impose Carbon tax on emissions while encouraging industries with low emission technologies. It should be possible for UN to pass a unanimous resolution among the nations to address climate change by imposing Carbon tax uniformly across the nation. By such resolution UN can bring all those countries to the table who are currently reluctant to be a party to the Paris accord. Countries can use “Carbon rating” similar to “energy ratings” currently used for measuring energy efficiencies in appliances such as Heaters and air-conditioners. The lowest emitting technologies will get the highest Carbon rating while high emission technologies will get the lowest Carbon ratings. By using such a method country who are reluctant to act on climate change will be disadvantaged; they will not be able to compete in international market or export their goods to low emitting countries based on Carbon ratings.

 

Recycling PV solar panelsRecycling renewablesRecycling wind turbines

Why Carbon is inevitable to achieve Zero Carbon emissions?

Generating electricity using fossil fuel is a well-established technology, that has been practiced over several decades all over the world, despite its low efficiency. But this technology inherited certain disadvantages even before it was commercialized such as post combustion emissions, large amount of waste heat, and water intensity. Millions of people died of Carbon pollution over decades. Large scale usage of water both inland and on shore power stations created shortage of drinking water in many parts of the world resulting in desalination technologies creating its own environmental issues. Large scale mining of coal and unsustainable exploitation of oil and gas both on shore and off shore caused enormous environmental pollution. However, such emissions were completely ignored while the world celebrated the discovery of electro-magnetism, steam engine and petrochemicals. Millions of people were employed, and industries grew worldwide. Energy became synonymous with security of a nation. Population grew exponentially. However, we have reached a point in the history of mankind and all great discoveries once acclaimed as human achievements have started a new painful chapter of warming globe and changing climate for new generations to deal with. It is a great challenge of our time, but new generation can take this challenge and convert them into opportunities. The past lessons can show them a new clean and sustainable pathway while dealing with ever increasing population growth.

The challenge for the new generation is to curtail and eliminate Carbon pollution completely while meeting the energy demand in a time bound manner because we are running out of time. Currently renewable energy generation is too low to meet these challenges within the time frame to avert disastrous consequences scientists predict. Renewable Hydrogen is a potential substitute for fossil fuel to eliminate Carbon pollution but that will not solve our current problem soon because renewable energy generation is too small and too slow while our energy demand is huge. Battery technology is only a storage technology and without a base load power generation all other forms of technologies will not meet our current challenges. I am not discounting the potential of renewable energy and its critical role in the future energy mix but that alone will not solve the current crisis. Hydrogen is a weak and unstable atom and it requires a backbone such as Carbon. That is why Hydrogen do not exist in a free state in Nature, but it exists in the form of water or natural gas. Therefore, it is only logical to convert renewable hydrogen into renewable natural gas so that it can be used as a fuel as we have been using for decades. It does not require to create a special type of infrastructure such as required for Hydrogen or any storage technologies.

Our focus should be to achieve Zero Carbon emission in the shortest time scale possible while generating a base load power of 24 x7 using a renewable energy source. It looks like a daunting task but, it is not too big a challenge to overcome. In fact, the technologies are already available, and we are almost there to achieve the above, but governments should understand the challenge and its gravity and extend all the support it requires. Government around the world should implement the following with great urgency to achieve the above objectives.

1.Tax Carbon with immediate effect and minimum tax should be $500/ Mt of CO2 emitted. It should be centrally monitored by government agencies with appropriate technology implementations.

  1. Encourage Oxy combustion technologies for coal, oil and gas-based power plants with incentives to eliminate emissions pollution and reduce the cost of Carbon capture.
  2. Encourage large scale deployment of super critical Carbon dioxide power generation technologies with liberal grants and low interest loans for research and development of super critical CO2 technologies using Brayton cycle using fossil fuels with Zero Carbon emission.

4.Encourage large scale deployment of SNG plants using CO2 and renewable Hydrogen.

By using the above steps all fossil fuel-based power plants existing and operating can be converted and continue to generate base load power 24 x7 with Zero Carbon Emission within a time frame. Simultaneously it will generate large scale renewable hydrogen and renewable synthetic natural gas which can generate base load power with Zero Carbon emission. Such Zero emission power plants can then power all electric and fuel cell cars and eliminate Carbon pollution completely from our roads. The above implementation will create millions of jobs worldwide!

The greatest advantage of these technologies is to recycle Carbon indefinitely while generating power using renewable natural gas with Zero Carbon emission and fresh fossil fuel usage will be gradually eliminated from our planet earth.

 

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