IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v275y2020ics0306261920306243.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aluminum and its role as a recyclable, sustainable carrier of renewable energy

Author

Listed:
  • Trowell, K.A.
  • Goroshin, S.
  • Frost, D.L.
  • Bergthorson, J.M.

Abstract

An energy system completely reliant on renewables requires an energy carrier to mitigate the geographic and seasonal variability of such resources. The cost of renewable electricity is now below the cost of hydrocarbon-generated electricity, and low enough that it is economically sensible to produce fuels using renewable electricity (Power-to-X). Aluminum is well suited to play the role of “X” in a power-to-X system. Aluminum possesses the characteristics that are most important for a sustainable energy carrier: high energy density, abundance, recyclability, and it is anticipated that the alumina-reduction process will soon be free of carbon emissions. Oxidation of aluminum yields a cycle efficiency of approximately 25% if the product(s) of oxidation are used to power a heat engine with an efficiency of 40%. This compares favourably to other proposed energy carriers, such as hydrogen and ammonia. These fuels yield cycle efficiencies of no more than 23% and 18% respectively, if the carbon-free production route is used to produce the hydrogen and ammonia. Aluminum fuel can be competitive with a $50 barrel of oil if the reduction process is powered by electricity priced at $26/MWh or less.

Suggested Citation

  • Trowell, K.A. & Goroshin, S. & Frost, D.L. & Bergthorson, J.M., 2020. "Aluminum and its role as a recyclable, sustainable carrier of renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:275:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920306243
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920306243
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115112?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shkolnikov, E.I. & Zhuk, A.Z. & Vlaskin, M.S., 2011. "Aluminum as energy carrier: Feasibility analysis and current technologies overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4611-4623.
    2. Malte Meinshausen & Nicolai Meinshausen & William Hare & Sarah C. B. Raper & Katja Frieler & Reto Knutti & David J. Frame & Myles R. Allen, 2009. "Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 °C," Nature, Nature, vol. 458(7242), pages 1158-1162, April.
    3. Bergthorson, Jeffrey M. & Yavor, Yinon & Palecka, Jan & Georges, William & Soo, Michael & Vickery, James & Goroshin, Samuel & Frost, David L. & Higgins, Andrew J., 2017. "Metal-water combustion for clean propulsion and power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(P1), pages 13-27.
    4. Jacobson, Mark Z. & Delucchi, Mark A., 2011. "Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1154-1169, March.
    5. Buttler, Alexander & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2018. "Current status of water electrolysis for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2440-2454.
    6. Bergthorson, J.M. & Goroshin, S. & Soo, M.J. & Julien, P. & Palecka, J. & Frost, D.L. & Jarvis, D.J., 2015. "Direct combustion of recyclable metal fuels for zero-carbon heat and power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 368-382.
    7. Wang, H.Z. & Leung, D.Y.C. & Leung, M.K.H. & Ni, M., 2009. "A review on hydrogen production using aluminum and aluminum alloys," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 845-853, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alviani, Vani Novita & Hirano, Nobuo & Watanabe, Noriaki & Oba, Masahiro & Uno, Masaoki & Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi, 2021. "Local initiative hydrogen production by utilization of aluminum waste materials and natural acidic hot-spring water," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    2. Janicka, J. & Debiagi, P. & Scholtissek, A. & Dreizler, A. & Epple, B. & Pawellek, R. & Maltsev, A. & Hasse, C., 2023. "The potential of retrofitting existing coal power plants: A case study for operation with green iron," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    3. Nathália C. G. Silveira & Maysa L. F. Martins & Augusto C. S. Bezerra & Fernando G. S. Araújo, 2021. "Red Mud from the Aluminium Industry: Production, Characteristics, and Alternative Applications in Construction Materials—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Bennett, Carly & Blanchet, Jocelyn & Trowell, Keena & Bergthorson, Jeffrey, 2023. "Decarbonizing Canada’s energy supply and exports with solar PV and e-fuels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    5. Abbas, Shujaat & Sinha, Avik & Saha, Tanaya & Shah, Muhammad Ibrahim, 2023. "Response of mineral market to renewable energy production in the USA: Where lies the sustainable energy future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    6. Wei, Manhui & Wang, Keliang & Pei, Pucheng & Zhong, Liping & Züttel, Andreas & Pham, Thi Ha My & Shang, Nuo & Zuo, Yayu & Wang, Hengwei & Zhao, Siyuan, 2023. "Zinc carboxylate optimization strategy for extending Al-air battery system's lifetime," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    7. Gai, Wei-Zhuo & Deng, Zhen-Yan, 2024. "Enhanced hydrogen production from Al-water reaction: Strategies, performances, mechanisms and applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Xinyue Gao & Chang’an Wang & Wengang Bai & Yujie Hou & Defu Che, 2022. "Aluminum-Based Fuels as Energy Carriers for Controllable Power and Hydrogen Generation—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Haller, Michel Y. & Amstad, Dominik & Dudita, Mihaela & Englert, Alexander & Häberle, Andreas, 2021. "Combined heat and power production based on renewable aluminium-water reaction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 879-893.
    10. Cyril Anak John & Lian See Tan & Jully Tan & Peck Loo Kiew & Azmi Mohd Shariff & Hairul Nazirah Abdul Halim, 2021. "Selection of Renewable Energy in Rural Area Via Life Cycle Assessment-Analytical Hierarchy Process (LCA-AHP): A Case Study of Tatau, Sarawak," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    11. Neumann, Jannik & Fradet, Quentin & Scholtissek, Arne & Dammel, Frank & Riedel, Uwe & Dreizler, Andreas & Hasse, Christian & Stephan, Peter, 2024. "Thermodynamic assessment of an iron-based circular energy economy for carbon-free power supply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    12. Zhuk, A.Z. & Shkolnikov, E.I. & Borodina, T.I. & Valiano, G.E. & Dolzhenko, A.V. & Kiseleva, E.A. & Kochanova, S.A. & Filippov, E.D. & Semenova, V.A., 2023. "Aluminium – Water hydrogen generator for domestic and mobile application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bergthorson, Jeffrey M. & Yavor, Yinon & Palecka, Jan & Georges, William & Soo, Michael & Vickery, James & Goroshin, Samuel & Frost, David L. & Higgins, Andrew J., 2017. "Metal-water combustion for clean propulsion and power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(P1), pages 13-27.
    2. Maas, Pascal & Schiemann, Martin & Scherer, Viktor & Fischer, Peter & Taroata, Dan & Schmid, Günther, 2018. "Lithium as energy carrier: CFD simulations of LI combustion in a 100MW slag tap furnace," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 506-515.
    3. Debiagi, P. & Rocha, R.C. & Scholtissek, A. & Janicka, J. & Hasse, C., 2022. "Iron as a sustainable chemical carrier of renewable energy: Analysis of opportunities and challenges for retrofitting coal-fired power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    4. Bergthorson, J.M. & Goroshin, S. & Soo, M.J. & Julien, P. & Palecka, J. & Frost, D.L. & Jarvis, D.J., 2015. "Direct combustion of recyclable metal fuels for zero-carbon heat and power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 368-382.
    5. Schiemann, Martin & Bergthorson, Jeffrey & Fischer, Peter & Scherer, Viktor & Taroata, Dan & Schmid, Günther, 2016. "A review on lithium combustion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 948-965.
    6. Janicka, J. & Debiagi, P. & Scholtissek, A. & Dreizler, A. & Epple, B. & Pawellek, R. & Maltsev, A. & Hasse, C., 2023. "The potential of retrofitting existing coal power plants: A case study for operation with green iron," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    7. Trainer, Ted, 2013. "Can Europe run on renewable energy? A negative case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 845-850.
    8. Wang, Hongqi & Wang, Zhi & Shi, Zhihao & Gong, Xuzhong & Cao, Jianwei & Wang, Mingyong, 2017. "Facile hydrogen production from Al-water reaction promoted by choline hydroxide," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 98-105.
    9. Jamey Davies & Stephanus P. Du Preez & Dmitri G. Bessarabov, 2022. "The Hydrolysis of Ball-Milled Aluminum–Bismuth–Nickel Composites for On-Demand Hydrogen Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    10. Yang, Weijuan & Zhang, Tianyou & Liu, Jianzhong & Wang, Zhihua & Zhou, Junhu & Cen, Kefa, 2015. "Experimental researches on hydrogen generation by aluminum with adding lithium at high temperature," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 451-457.
    11. Gai, Wei-Zhuo & Deng, Zhen-Yan, 2024. "Enhanced hydrogen production from Al-water reaction: Strategies, performances, mechanisms and applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    12. Haller, Michel Y. & Amstad, Dominik & Dudita, Mihaela & Englert, Alexander & Häberle, Andreas, 2021. "Combined heat and power production based on renewable aluminium-water reaction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 879-893.
    13. Yang, Weijuan & Zhang, Tianyou & Zhou, Junhu & Shi, Wei & Liu, Jianzhong & Cen, Kefa, 2015. "Experimental study on the effect of low melting point metal additives on hydrogen production in the aluminum–water reaction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 537-543.
    14. Bozorg, Mehdi Vahabzadeh & Doranehgard, Mohammad Hossein & Hong, Kun & Xiong, Qingang & Li, Larry K.B., 2020. "A numerical study on discrete combustion of polydisperse magnesium aero-suspensions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    15. Bennett, Carly & Blanchet, Jocelyn & Trowell, Keena & Bergthorson, Jeffrey, 2023. "Decarbonizing Canada’s energy supply and exports with solar PV and e-fuels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    16. Neumann, Jannik & Fradet, Quentin & Scholtissek, Arne & Dammel, Frank & Riedel, Uwe & Dreizler, Andreas & Hasse, Christian & Stephan, Peter, 2024. "Thermodynamic assessment of an iron-based circular energy economy for carbon-free power supply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    17. Lund, Henrik & Skov, Iva Ridjan & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Korberg, Andrei David & Chang, Miguel & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Kany, Mikkel Strunge, 2022. "The role of sustainable bioenergy in a fully decarbonised society," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 195-203.
    18. Valerie Eveloy & Tesfaldet Gebreegziabher, 2018. "A Review of Projected Power-to-Gas Deployment Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-52, July.
    19. Mohareb, Eugene A. & Kennedy, Christopher A., 2014. "Scenarios of technology adoption towards low-carbon cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 685-693.
    20. Garra, Patxi & Leyssens, Gontrand & Allgaier, Olivier & Schönnenbeck, Cornelius & Tschamber, Valérie & Brilhac, Jean-François & Tahtouh, Toni & Guézet, Olivier & Allano, Sylvain, 2017. "Magnesium/air combustion at pilot scale and subsequent PM and NOx emissions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 578-587.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:275:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920306243. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.