Shifting the paradigm: Synthetic liquid fuels offer vehicle for monetizing wind and solar energy

The steady decrease in the cost of wind and solar energy technologies in recent years has greatly intensified the market penetration of renewable energy. The ongoing renewable energy discussion assumes, almost by default, that wind and solar energy is converted to electricity and supplied into the existing electricity grid to be delivered to the consumers. This leaves aside nearly 80% of total energy demand that is currently satisfied by natural gas and petroleum fuels.
Integration of wind and solar electricity generation with water electrolysis, CO2 capture and liquid hydrocarbon synthesis - all developed commercial technologies - would allow converting renewable wind and solar energy into liquid fuels compatible with existing infrastructure. Systems producing and accumulating renewable liquid fuel, independent of the electrical grid, can be located in remote areas where cheap and reliable wind or solar resources are available. Cost estimates of renewable fuel production suggest that the cost for renewable methanol produced from wind electricity can be in the range of market prices for methanol made from natural gas and coal. Maxim Lyubovsky, ORISE Fellow at the Fuel Cell Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy, explains.