Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality
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8.4 Future Supply and Demand Expectations
As the fraction of power generated via wind and solar energy increases,
progress also needs to be made in finding new ways to balance supply
and demand. It is already becoming clear that energy storage, such as with
batteries, will be increasingly important. The capacities of batteries for energy
storage can also be expected to increase in the future, just as they have in the
past. There will continue to be a need, though, for on- demand electric power
generation that can be produced when it is needed. The current expectation
is that this need will probably be met by facilities such as natural gas power
plants. These plants will be needed to provide power when the stored power
is running low and more power is required to balance supply and demand.
There will also be a need for power sinks – locations and uses where excess
power can be delivered to accomplish goals that are not time sensitive. These
may be industrial processes that require large amounts of electricity. Since
the cost of power is often a very important factor in terms of production
economics for these industries, it makes a lot of sense to delay operations
in order to take advantage of low energy costs. One example of this type of
industry is the production of aluminum. It makes good economic sense to
produce aluminum when and where the cost of power is low (Peck, 2015).
Another example of this type of industry is the production of hydrogen.
Hydrogen production is important to society for several different
applications (Baxter, 2018; IRENA, 2018). Hydrogen can be produced from
electrolysis of water with oxygen as a co- product, and it can be stored in
tanks. Small quantities of hydrogen can be added to natural gas lines and
mixed with the methane gas. This blended gas can then be used as fuel to
generate electricity when it is needed. The mixture can also be used for
heating by burning the gas in a furnace or hot water heater. Hydrogen is also
needed to make ammonia, which is used as a nitrogen fertilizer. Since the
market for electricity varies with the seasons of the year, there is the potential
to use excess electrical power to produce hydrogen via electrolysis of water
during times of the day and times of the year when excess power is available.
Since both the efficiency of converting electricity to hydrogen using electrolysis is high and the efficiency of recovering energy using hydrogenpowered fuel cells is high, producing hydrogen when there is excess electricity
is a good option. The applications for hydrogen- powered fuel cells include
powering vehicles When these hydrogen fuel cells are used, the product of
the reaction is water rather than pollutants. Thus, fuel cell- powered vehicles
do not contribute to air pollution or carbon emissions.
The International Energy Agency has produced a new report on hydrogen
which indicates that the future of hydrogen is very positive, with multiple
uses as a versatile green product (IEA, 2019). The report points out that the
costs of hydrogen from renewable electricity are expected to decrease as the
costs of solar and wind energy decrease. Since the electrolysis of water to
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82
8.4 Future Supply and Demand Expectations
As the fraction of power generated via wind and solar energy increases,
progress also needs to be made in finding new ways to balance supply
and demand. It is already becoming clear that energy storage, such as with
batteries, will be increasingly important. The capacities of batteries for energy
storage can also be expected to increase in the future, just as they have in the
past. There will continue to be a need, though, for on- demand electric power
generation that can be produced when it is needed. The current expectation
is that this need will probably be met by facilities such as natural gas power
plants. These plants will be needed to provide power when the stored power
is running low and more power is required to balance supply and demand.
There will also be a need for power sinks – locations and uses where excess
power can be delivered to accomplish goals that are not time sensitive. These
may be industrial processes that require large amounts of electricity. Since
the cost of power is often a very important factor in terms of production
economics for these industries, it makes a lot of sense to delay operations
in order to take advantage of low energy costs. One example of this type of
industry is the production of aluminum. It makes good economic sense to
produce aluminum when and where the cost of power is low (Peck, 2015).
Another example of this type of industry is the production of hydrogen.
Hydrogen production is important to society for several different
applications (Baxter, 2018; IRENA, 2018). Hydrogen can be produced from
electrolysis of water with oxygen as a co- product, and it can be stored in
tanks. Small quantities of hydrogen can be added to natural gas lines and
mixed with the methane gas. This blended gas can then be used as fuel to
generate electricity when it is needed. The mixture can also be used for
heating by burning the gas in a furnace or hot water heater. Hydrogen is also
needed to make ammonia, which is used as a nitrogen fertilizer. Since the
market for electricity varies with the seasons of the year, there is the potential
to use excess electrical power to produce hydrogen via electrolysis of water
during times of the day and times of the year when excess power is available.
Since both the efficiency of converting electricity to hydrogen using electrolysis is high and the efficiency of recovering energy using hydrogenpowered fuel cells is high, producing hydrogen when there is excess electricity
is a good option. The applications for hydrogen- powered fuel cells include
powering vehicles When these hydrogen fuel cells are used, the product of
the reaction is water rather than pollutants. Thus, fuel cell- powered vehicles
do not contribute to air pollution or carbon emissions.
The International Energy Agency has produced a new report on hydrogen
which indicates that the future of hydrogen is very positive, with multiple
uses as a versatile green product (IEA, 2019). The report points out that the
costs of hydrogen from renewable electricity are expected to decrease as the
costs of solar and wind energy decrease. Since the electrolysis of water to