Australian Academy of Science Calls for Fuel Cell Feed-in Tariff
The Australian Academy of Science has released a report on ‘Australia’s Renewable Energy Future’. The report builds on a lecture series hosted by the Academy, including a presentation by Dr Karl Föger, Chief Technology Officer of Ceramic Fuel Cells.
The report includes a strong endorsement of the need to transform Australia’s energy system, and the role for highly efficient fuel cell generators.
Some notable quotes from the report (with some emphasis added):
The adaptation of the electricity and power distribution grid to facilitate the low-carbon economy appears to be pivotal. The current model of a ‘dumb’ grid, centralised power generation, and high-loss transmission is unsustainable.
A successful model for the low-carbon economy must also embrace efficient non-renewable forms of energy such as liquid natural gas (LNG). Natural gas provides notable advantages in electricity generation, heating and transport as it yields relatively less greenhouse gas emissions per energy output, and can make use of modern, efficient equipment.
Although not strictly a ‘renewable’ energy resource, the combined heat and power (CHP) technology, of which fuel cells are one type, represent an important part of Australia’s energy future, given our very large resources of natural gas. This technology is suitable for use at both grid and domestic scales, and could save between 8 to 16 tonnes of per capita emissions of CO2 equivalent per year.
The advantages of fuel cell technology can be summarised as follows:
very high efficiency of conversion to electrical power
low CO2 emissions and noise
ideal for dispersed electrical generation
excellent load-following capability
suitable for co-generation (heat plus electricity).
Fuel cell technology has the potential to overcome the issue of limited load cycles associated with truly renewable energy resources such as wind and solar photovoltaic. Fuel cell grid systems provide a ‘controllable’ generator able to respond rapidly to changes in load, and would therefore make a substantial contribution to grid stability, comparable to installation of significant energy storage.
The fuel cell technology is available ‘off the shelf’, but requires stimulation of demand to achieve significant market penetration in Australia, as volume manufacturing and sales are required to achieve commercially attractive cost targets.
The report recommends several options for encouraging the deployment of fuel cell products, including a national system of feed-in tariff rates for combined heat and power (CHP) domestic generation.
Many other markets have introduced premium feed-in tariffs for small scale natural gas fuel cell generators, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France and The Netherlands. California is consulting now on a similar policy.
Ceramic Fuel Cells will continue to lobby Governments in Australia to introduce a feed-in tariff for small scale natural gas fuel cell generators. We welcome the support of the Australian Academy of Science. www.cleanenergypartnership.de
