Breakthrough Ideas in Energy for the Next Years
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Association on development of the international research and projects in the field of energy «Global Energy» BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS IN ENERGY FOR THE NEXT YEARS 2 3 CONTENTS Dear colleagues! Carbon capture 4 Popularisation and support of research and energy, and biofuels that formalise environmentally developments in the sphere of energy alongside clean solutions, is served by technological burst of with assisting the expansion of energy cooperation new concepts of energy generation, creation, and Smart Grid and Digitalisation of Energy System 9 have always been the crucial to the development of production of new materials, as well as development Russia’s fuel and energy sector. and implementation of digital solutions. These are the materials prepared under Digitalisation of production facilities, problems Hydrogen and High Capacity Hydrogen Carriers 20 the initiative of The Global Energy Association of reducing the volume of harmful emissions into on development of the international research and the atmosphere and climate change as a result projects in the field of energy with the participation of anthropogenic activity of mankind, the Small Modular Reactors 25 of representatives of world expert community, development of alternative energy, fighting energy leading specialists and energy scientists. poverty – these and many other issues are reflected Power-to-Gas 37 Today’s society is actively searching for in this report. adequate solutions to challenges driven by the It is clear that promising planning and rapidly changing and competitive world of high tech. sustainable development projects for Russia’ Technologies for Compact and Efficient Energy Storage 43 Technological development cannot be stopped, fuel and energy complex should be based on the so the efficiency and sustainability of companies’ results of continuous scientific research, advanced business activities depend on the way they are ready technologies, and innovative technical solutions. Waste-to-Energy 53 to react to technological transformations. That is I am sure that the working results of experts, why the work of the Global Energy Association is specialists, and scholars presented in this report essential both from the standpoint of the activity of will find good use in business activity and make Energy recycling 65 its members (PJSC Gazprom, PJSC Surgutneftegaz, their contribution to perspective development PJSC FGC UES, etc.) and from the standpoint of the of Russian energy sector. development of Russia’s energy sector in general. Chemical Fuel of Sunlight 77 The activity aimed at transformation, distribution, and usage of energy resources Artificial Photosynthesis 90 is now undergoing serious change. Thus, the With best regards, traditional technologies of energy production are transforming greatly while the alternative ways of Yury Borisov its generation are applied. The development and Deputy Prime Minister growing popularity of renewable sources, hydrogen of the Russian Federation 4 5 CARBON CAPTURE FIG. 1. Carbon Capture and Stotage (CCS) Rodney John Allam, Partner, 8Rivers Capital; The Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2007 INTRODUCTION The whole world has been disrupted by the future way in which we want to live with significant sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which changes to our social, commercial, industrial, seems to have had a disproportionate effect technological and political systems. How will this on Western developed economies. The affect the world’s energy systems? Energy is a basic enforced pause in our whole society has given need for all human activity and development. All the Carbon capture technology applied CC projects in the world, capturing 31.5 Mt of CO us an opportunity to reassess our future. Should world’s population has a basic right to have access 2 to a modern conventional power plant can reduce per year, of which 3.7 is stored geologically2. we continue on the path of extensive growth, much to energy in the form of fuel and electricity. Our CO emissions up to 80–90% compared to a plant Capturing CO is most effective at point of it unsustainable while we continue with the guiding principle must be clean and sustainable 2 2 without carbon capture technology installed. sources, such as large fossil fuel facilities destruction of our planetary environment on land, in energy available to all. The air we breathe The key challenge here is that if used on or industries with major CO emissions, natural the sea and in the air? As the world economy slowly is by far the most fragile part of our environment 2 a power plant capturing and compressing CO , gas processing, synthetic fuel plants. Capturing re-establishes itself we are faced with a very deep and its protection is absolutely imperative regardless 2 other system costs are estimated to increase CO from air is also likely, but due to the significantly world depression, massive unemployment, major of cost. It is up to us to devise reliable low 2 the cost per watt-hour of energy produced by lower concentration of CO in the air compared disruption of global trading and severe strains cost power production and fuel supplies using 2 21–91% for fossil fuel power plants; and applying to combustion sources, this direction has on the international monetary system. Our lives technology, which meets these criteria. the technology to existing plants would be even significant engineering problems. have suddenly changed. We can now decide on the more expensive. As of 2019, there are 17 operating KEY CHALLENGES TO ADDRESS TECHNOLOGY The use of fossil fuels for energy production commercially viable clean coal systems with near with carbon capture and storage must be a focus 100% CO2 capture. for immediate demonstration at commercial scale Carbon capture is the technology allowing In general, there are three different methods fuels. In this case, carbon dioxide is captured followed by rapid implementation. Coal is the capturing waste carbon dioxide. It can be captured of capture technologies: post-combustion, from flue gases or other large point sources. This major source of CO2 emissions. Coal will continue directly from the air or from other sources, like pre-combustion and oxygen-fuel combustion: technology has been well studied and is currently to be used on a large scale in China, India, and Asia power plants’ flue gas, using different kind being used, although not on a large scale. This in spite of its obvious effects since huge populations of technologies including absorption, adsorption, In post-combustion capture, CO2 is removed method is a most popular one because existing still need access to cheap electricity to lift them out chemical looping, membrane gas separation or gas after burning fossil fuels — this is a scheme power plants can be retrofitted to incorporate CCS 1 of poverty. The only solution is to quickly develop hydrate technologies . suitable for power plants that burn fossil technology into their configuration3. 1 — Bui et al., 2018 2 — IPCC special report, 2005 3 — Sumida et al., 2012 6 7 Pre-combustion technology is widely used There is room for significant improvement in the production of fertilisers, chemicals, and to existing systems, especially the oxygen-fuel COSTS gaseous fuels. In these cases, the fossil fuel system combined with the use of new energy cycles is oxidised. The CO from the resulting synthetic of the CO2 working fluid. What can be done now is to combine international efforts to demonstrate gas (CO and H2) reacts with the added steam new technical solutions in the field of clean energy It is believed that there are a number of reasons per ton of injected CO2, plus an additional US $ 0.10– (H2O) and converts to CO2 and H2. The resulting using coal fuel. New clean power units using coal why carbon capture and storage is expected US $ 0.30 for monitoring costs. However, if storage CO2 is captured from the already clean exhaust can only be installed as the existing power units to cause a rise in prices when used in gas-fired power is combined with enhanced reservoir recovery gas stream. The resulting H2 can be used as fuel; carbon dioxide is removed before become obsolete and must be replaced. This plants. First, the increased energy costs of capturing to extract additional oil from an oil field, storage can combustion begins. This method is suitable for means that coal will remain a constant, though and compressing CO2 significantly increase the bring a net benefit of US $ 10–16 per ton of injected new power plants. decreasing, source of pollution for the next 40–50 operating costs of CCS-equipped power plants, not CO2 (based on 2003 oil prices). This would probably years. Electricity production using natural gas to mention investment and capital costs. negate some of the carbon capture effect when oil In oxygen-fuel combustion, fuel is burned reduces CO2 emissions per kWh by more than 50% If we talk about chemical plants, most of the was burned as a fuel.If CO2 capture was part of a fuel in oxygen instead of air. Flue gases consist compared to coal. construction of CCS blocks is capital-intensive. cycle then the CO2 would have value rather than be mainly of carbon dioxide and water vapour, Pre-commercial demonstration projects are likely a cost. According to UK government estimates made the latter of which condenses when cooled. to be more expensive than mature technologies; in the late 2010s, carbon capture will add 7 pounds The result is an almost pure stream of the total additional cost of an early large-scale per MWh by 2025 to the cost of electricity from carbon dioxide that can be transported and demonstration project is estimated at 0.5-1.1 billion a modern gas-fired power plant: however, most stored. Such cycles are called zero emission euros5. of the CO2 will need to be stored, so the total The cost of CCS depends on the method used.