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Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

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4 SummaryThe transition from fossil <strong>and</strong> nuclear fuels to regenerative energy sources goes h<strong>and</strong>-inh<strong>and</strong>with a decrease in <strong>the</strong> importance of <strong>the</strong> previously dominant role played byconventional energy storage in <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>m of <strong>for</strong> example natural gas <strong>and</strong> crude oil caverns,characterized by <strong>the</strong> very high volumetric energy storage density. This transition iscoupled to an increase in <strong>the</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> large-scale energy storages, particularly <strong>for</strong>fluctuating wind power as well as PV energy.During <strong>the</strong> transition period, energy storage will primarily be required to make balanceenergy available to compensate <strong>for</strong> divergences in wind power <strong>for</strong>ecasts. Possibleoptions here are pumped hydro storage <strong>and</strong> CAES power plants, although <strong>the</strong>y aredependent on local topography or geology, <strong>and</strong> public acceptance.If <strong>the</strong> proportion of renewable energies <strong>the</strong>n dominates <strong>the</strong> energy mix, large volumes ofexcess wind energy will be generated over longer periods of time which can no longer bestored in pumped hydro <strong>and</strong> CAES plants <strong>for</strong> technical <strong>and</strong> economic reasons. Thisscenario is behind <strong>the</strong> current considerations in Germany of converting <strong>the</strong> excess energyinto hydrogen <strong>and</strong> using this hydrogen mainly <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> chemical industry, <strong>for</strong> poweringfuture fuel cell vehicles, <strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> replacement of natural gas by green hydrogen.An energy economy based purely on regenerative energy sources will have a very highdem<strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> energy storages, mainly to compensate <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> seasonal fluctuations in powergeneration. Even a rough estimate of <strong>the</strong> storage capacities involved show that thisscenario could only be realised by constructing a enormous number of hydrogen storagesin underground geological <strong>for</strong>mations, which <strong>the</strong>n leads to <strong>the</strong> next question of whe<strong>the</strong>r<strong>the</strong>re is adequate geological potential to satisfy this dem<strong>and</strong>. A solution might be tomaintain a certain natural gas reserve – even in an - almost complete renewable energybased world.Risø International <strong>Energy</strong> Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 415

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