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energy storage; gas storage; geological storage; natural gas; hydrogen; salt caverns; aquifers; pore-space storage sites. Published Online: 21 JUN 2013
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550 - Earth sciences
Abstract:
The increasing importance of renewable energy sources such as wind energy as a supplement to or replacement for existing energy sources such as fossil fuels adds challenges to the current and future energy market. Since most of the renewables are generally noncontinuous in the delivery of electrical energy, for example, there are times with high peak power but also with zero power output, new options have to be considered. One of them is the conversion of electricity to hydrogen gas. The energy produced, especially electrical energy, can then be used at different times rather than when peak power is available. Additionally, the use of hydrogen as an intermediate energy carrier is CO2 free and can be applied in various chemical and engineering processes. Since huge amounts of energy need to be buffered to cope with the seasonal variations of production and consumption, geological storage options for hydrogen gas are strongly favored. An overview of currently established geological storage options for natural gas is presented and used as a reference to provide an outlook on future but near-term storage options for hydrogen gas.
