H2, CO2 and Renewable Energy in the context of Chemicals, Fuels and Feedstocks.
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H2, CO2 and Renewable Energy in the context of Chemicals, Fuels and Feedstocks.
Mon, 25/07/2016 - 15:00 to 16:00
Location:
Speaker:
Dr. Robin J. White
Affiliation:
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany
Synopsis:
One mechanism to store intermittent renewable electricity and provide an opportunity to equilibrate grid supply and demand is to convert it to chemical energy, in the form of either a gaseous (Power-to-Gas; PtG) or liquid (Power-to-Liquid; PtL) storage molecule such that electrical energy is stored in the form of chemical bonds. If this is conducted in such a manner that the product is appropriate for chemical upgrading to other products, renewable electrical energy has the potential to play a significant role in the provision of feedstocks to the chemical industry. In this context, PtG schemes based on water splitting (e.g. via electrolysis) to H2 and its chemical reaction with CO2 to produce liquid compounds (PtL) such as methanol or dimethyl ether are of significant interest. The PtG and PtL approaches are currently being investigated and evaluated at all points in the process chain by the Hydrogen Technologies (H2T) Division at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Scheme 1). One of the efficiency determining steps in the PtL process scheme, as a consequence of energetics and molecular bonding, is the catalysed hydrogenation of H2 with CO2. This reaction is currently receiving renewed interest as a consequence of its potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, provide sustainable liquids fuels, which in turn can act as renewable energy carriers. Complimentary to the hydrogenation of CO2, the use of H2 in the catalytic conversion of biomass (and associated residues) is also receiving significant interest. The development of such production pathways in combination with PtG schemes enables the establishment of “Power-to-X” (PtX) schemes, where X = renewable chemicals, fuels, intermediates and feedstocks. Analogously to PtL, this represents a significant chemical challenge (e.g. the conversion of large/polar biomolecules in the aqueous phase). The presentation will focus predominantly on the R&D work of the H2T Division at the Fraunhofer ISE, with regard to the utilisation of renewable H2 in the context of energy, mobility, fuels and chemical production.
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Biography:
Robin White holds a doctorate from University of York (UK), concerning the development of porous polysaccharide-derived materials and associated carbonaceous Starbon® materials (with Prof. J. H. Clark). He is a co-founder of the Spin-off company Starbon Technologies® Ltd., which is commercialising these porous carbon materials. Since 2009, he has worked at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (with Prof. M. Antonietti and Prof. M. M. Titirici; Hydrothermal Carbonisation), the Technische Universität Berlin (with Prof. A. Thomas; Mesoporous Zeolites), the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam (with Prof. C. Rubbia; the Methanol Economy), and the Freiburg Materials Research Centre (sustainable nanomaterials). In May 2015, Dr. White was awarded a “Fraunhofer Attract” grant by the Fraunhofer Society to establish his own research group, named “Sustainable Catalytic Materials”, within the Hydrogen Technologies Division at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Research and development in the group focuses on catalytic materials, synthetic fuels, CO2 conversion and applications in the context of ‘Power-to-Liquid’ and ‘Power-to-X’ schemes (where X = chemicals, intermediates, materials etc.). He is the author of 5 WIPO patents; > 35 peer reviewed articles, recently edited the Royal Society of Chemistry Green Chemistry Series book “Porous Carbon Materials from Sustainable Precursors” and is currently co‐editing the volume ‘Chemical Energy Storage’ in the forthcoming ‘Handbook of Energy Storage’ from Wiley GmbH. His research interests include porous materials particularly carbons and their application/characterisation, renewable resource utilisation, heterogeneous catalysis, hydrogenation chemistry, CO2 capture and conversion, and in general the transdisciplinary challenge of establishing sustainable energy, fuel and chemical provision schemes.