Engineers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have successfully implemented a new technique capable of converting and using the excess energy from solar panels or wind farms. The new technique, dubbed as power-to-gas hydrogen pipeline injection, showed the excess sustainable energy, which would otherwise go to waste, can be converted into hydrogen that can be blended with natural gas and be used in everything from power plants to home appliances.
The central component of the conversion process is the electrolyzer. The electrolyzer takes in water and uses the excess sustainable energy to power an electrochemical reaction, splitting the water into hydrogen and oxygen. While the excess oxygen is released in the atmosphere, the hydrogen is compressed and sent about 60 feet through a pencil-thin, stainless steel tube to an injection point in UCI’s natural gas pipeline. The hydrogen is then is mixed with natural gas and then burned in the gas turbine power plant to generate electricity and heat in the campus.