Eric Walker <eric.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I think this has been mentioned here before, but what about diverting the > unneeded power to drive electrolysis and capture the hydrogen for later use > in a generator that makes use of an internal combustion engine or is sold > on the consumer market? >
A fuel cell would be more efficient than an internal combustion engine or gas turbine. There is ongoing research to develop that. I think at present this is not as efficient as pumped hydro storage (70% to 85% -- as I mentioned). It has the advantage that you can send the hydrogen by pipeline and recombine it closer to a big city where they need the electricity. That may have lower transmission losses than electric power lines do. Also pipes are cheaper and take up less space than high voltage electric power lines. Do a Google search for "electrolysis energy storage" and you find stuff like this: http://www.incoteco.com/upload/ENSFinalReport.pdf - Jed
