Empa Materials Sciences and Technology, Department of Environment, Energy and Mobility, Division of Hydrogen & Energy, , CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. andreas.zuettel@empa@ch
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2010 Jul 28;368(1923):3329-42. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0113.
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century the limitations of the fossil age with regard to the continuing growth of energy demand, the peaking mining rate of oil, the growing impact of CO2 emissions on the environment and the dependency of the economy in the industrialized world on the availability of fossil fuels became very obvious. A major change in the energy economy from fossil energy carriers to renewable energy fluxes is necessary. The main challenge is to efficiently convert renewable energy into electricity and the storage of electricity or the production of a synthetic fuel. Hydrogen is produced from water by electricity through an electrolyser. The storage of hydrogen in its molecular or atomic form is a materials challenge. Some hydrides are known to exhibit a hydrogen density comparable to oil; however, these hydrides require a sophisticated storage system. The system energy density is significantly smaller than the energy density of fossil fuels. An interesting alternative to the direct storage of hydrogen are synthetic hydrocarbons produced from hydrogen and CO2 extracted from the atmosphere. They are CO2 neutral and stored like fossil fuels. Conventional combustion engines and turbines can be used in order to convert the stored energy into work and heat.
自 21 世纪初以来,化石能源在满足不断增长的能源需求方面的局限性、石油开采峰值的出现、CO2 排放对环境的影响的不断增加以及工业化世界的经济对化石燃料的依赖,这些问题变得非常明显。有必要在能源经济中从化石能源载体向可再生能源流进行重大转变。主要的挑战是有效地将可再生能源转化为电能并储存电能或生产合成燃料。氢气可以通过电解器用电从水中产生。氢气以分子或原子形式储存是一个材料挑战。一些氢化物已知具有与石油相当的氢密度;然而,这些氢化物需要复杂的存储系统。该系统的能量密度明显小于化石燃料的能量密度。一种替代直接储存氢气的有趣方法是使用从大气中提取的氢气和 CO2 生产合成烃。它们是 CO2 中性的,并像化石燃料一样储存。为了将储存的能量转换为功和热,可以使用传统的内燃机和涡轮机。