Challenge – How to store renewable energies?
The use of renewable energy from the sun and wind poses a significant challenge: Their production depends on the weather and is rarely synchronized with the current energy demand. While energy surpluses often occur when there is strong sunshine or high wind speeds, there is a lack of sufficient energy when it is dark and there is no wind.
Generated electricity cannot always be used exactly when it is produced. In addition, it is not always possible to feed it into the power grid due to fluctuating utilization. Effective energy storage systems are therefore indispensable.
Why does renewable energy remain unused?
The answer lies in the structural and technical limits of our current energy infrastructure:
- Irregular production: Renewable energies are dependent on the weather, which makes their availability difficult to plan.
- No immediate use: Electricity must be used directly or stored. Without suitable storage technologies, this energy is lost.
- Grid utilization as an obstacle: If the electricity grid is overloaded, green electricity cannot be fed into the grid and generation plants are curtailed – valuable renewable energy remains unused.
- Lack of long-term storage: Battery storage systems quickly reach their limits with large amounts of energy. They are expensive, unsustainable and prone to loss during longer storage periods.
These problems mean that a considerable proportion of renewable energy is not being used effectively. This not only hinders the energy transition, but also wastes enormous climate protection potential.
The solution – eFuels as an innovative storage technology
eFuels offer a forward-looking way of converting surplus renewable energy into synthetic fuels. These can be stored for the long term and used in a variety of ways when required – an ideal addition for a sustainable energy future.
Why are eFuels so revolutionary?
- Long-term storage: In contrast to batteries, eFuels remain stable and usable for months or years.
- Simple infrastructure integration: They can be used with existing filling stations, pipelines and transportation routes.
- Versatile use: Whether in vehicles, heating systems or in industry – eFuels can be used flexibly and do not require any radical changes to existing technologies.
Conclusion: eFuels – a key to the energy transition
The energy transition requires more than just renewable energies. In order to exploit the full potential of sun and wind, solutions such as eFuels are needed to efficiently store surplus energy and make it accessible. Together with other technologies such as batteries, they form a stable and future-proof energy system that makes a significant contribution to climate protection.
Further information can be found at Storing and harnessing renewable energy efficiently – with eFuels and on the website “Huge advances in energy storage are needed – are batteries the solution?” by Andrew Moore.
