Completed joint project: Renewable fuels for electricity production

The picture shows a cement plant.

Renewable fuels from solar energy have the potential to replace fossil fuels and create CO2-free alternatives.

Renewable fuels from solar energy have the potential to replace fossil fuels and create CO2-free alternatives – this has been proven by the NRP 70 joint project “Renewable fuels for electricity production” headed by Dr. Andre Heel from the ZHAW School of Engineering in Winterthur.

The research project examined how this CO2 from cement production – mainly unavoidable geogenic CO2 from the lime stone – could be put to good use to create a new value chain via CO2 methanation and thus help to reduce the consumption and import of fossil fuels in Switzerland. With the power-to-gas technology, this CO2 along with regenerative hydrogen from solar-to-fuel technologies can be converted into renewable synthetic natural gas, fed into the existing natural gas grid and consumed from fuel cell technologies.

This means it has been possible to develop four innovative approaches in the fields of materials research and modelling to enable a CO2 saving value chain for energy production.