Power‐to‐X: Between Electricity Storage, e‐Production, and Demand Side Management

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The common understanding of Power-to-X is exclusively the use of renewable electricity to manufacture products currently based on fossil sources. In this paper, it is argued that beyond such e-Production many of these technologies also include aspects related to demand side management and temporal storage of electricity. Therefore, a definition of Powerto-X is suggested that encompasses all three aspects. It is discussed, which of these are relevant under which conditions and illustrative examples are highlighted, which show how process systems engineering can help address common challenges for Power-to-X technologies.

Comparing pathways for electricity-based production of dimethoxymethane as a sustainable fuel

“…The results of the LCA for the best case scenario show clearly: If renewable electricity for DMM production is used exclusively (according to the power-to-X concept 53 ), the cradle-to-grave impact on climate change of DMM does not differ significantly between pathways and levels (Fig. 6).…”

“…Efficiency model for DMM processes. Since renewable electricity dedicated to e-production (nonconventional production of commodities, fuels, or heat using processes that predominantly utilize renewable electricity 53 ) will remain limited in the short-to medium-term, process efficiency is one of the KPIs for e-fuel production. In the present work, we consider exergy efficiency to restrict the energy output of the system to energy that is actually usable.…”

Do investments in flexibility enhance sustainability? A simulative study considering the German electricity sector

“…Our analysis focuses on fluctuations on an hourly‐to‐daily scale, which is typically considered in DSM due to, in general, limited storage capacities. Note that the lower frequencies are nevertheless of interest for different technologies addressing, for example, seasonal storage 66 …”

Power-to-X in Denmark: An Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

“…However, activities have progressed at a considerably faster rate than had been predicted just a couple of years ago, with a total of 220 P2X research and demonstration projects in Europe either been realized, completed, or currently being planned as of June 2020 [10]. Nevertheless, technical aspects, like the utilization of intermittent renewable resources and the degradation processes [11], as well as non-technical aspects, like regulatory frameworks [12], lack of market formation [13], social acceptance, current prices and lack of comprehensive life-cycle assessment (LCA), challenge the introduction of P2X [14] Figure 1 illustrates a keyword analysis on Scopus, showing a significant increase of publications about the topic "Power-to-X" in recent years, indicating that this concept is indeed discussed in the scientific literature. However, there still exists a knowledge gap concerning SWOT factors, as none of the publications included in the review have looked into this specific topic.…”