Ramana Power Cycle (RPC)

RPC is a newly developed patent (pending) technology from Australia to generate a base load power (24x7) using Renewable Hydrogen and CO2 with Zero emission,

The process discloses a method and system to generate CO2 from seawater along with Hydrogen using any renewable energy source to produce synthetic methane gas known as renewable synthetic methane (RSMG) to generate a base load power. The CO2 can be from various sources apart from sea such as power plants using fossil fuel, steel, cement, coke oven gas, or any syngas generated from various known methods from various sources such as steam methane reformer etc. The process can use any Oxy-combustion CO2 power cycle such as CES, Graz cycle, Allam cycle (using super critical CO2 as a working fluid) or a conventional combined cycle power plant using air combustion to generate a base load power 24 x 7 with ZERO EMISSIONS. The cost of power is estimated to be competitive even in the absence of Carbon pricing or Carbon tax. Needless to mention the unit cost of power can be further reduced by using Carbon pricing or Carbon tax. It is up to individual governments to introduce such a mechanism in order to deploy RPC on a larger scale.

The advantage with the system is it can generate electric power from CO2 with the highest electrical efficiency up to 70% while achieving Zero emissions. It effectively solves the global warming and climate changes problems using existing technologies and infrastructure without a need to develop a new power technology from scratch.

It can be retrofitted with any existing and operating fossil fuel-based power plant OR any large-scale renewable energy plant. It does not require storage batteries or any energy storing devices. The minimum viable capacity starts with 100 Mw and can be scaled up to 500 Mw and beyond and power can be exported to the grid directly through a substation. Optionally the process requires only sun and sea (ocean is the largest reservoir of Carbon, Hydrogen and heat to generate a base load power along with potable water with Zero Carbon emission and achieves circular economy).

Can Hydrogen substitute Carbon and avoid catastrophic climate change?

 The answer is most likely NO for the following reasons.

It has been established that man-made GHG emissions mainly by CO2 is causing the globe to warm by a phenomenon known as “Greenhouse gas effect” triggering change in climate. Therefore, many are suggesting Hydrogen as an alternative clean fuel to reduce or eliminate CO2 emission. But replacing Carbon with Hydrogen we will only substitute Oxides of Carbon (CO2) with Oxides of Hydrogen (H2O). But water vapor too is a potent greenhouse gas GHG and it may enhance the warming of the globe by a phenomenon known as Feedback effect as explained by NASA and American chemical society (ACS) by the following references:

1.  https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/climatesciencenarratives/its-water-vapor-not-the-co2.html

2.  https://phys.org/news/2014-03-effect-vapor-climate.html

3.  http://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-carbon-dioxide-has-such-outsized-influence-on-earths-climate-123064

4. https://www.nasa.gov › topics › earth › features › vapor_warming

 Moreover, Renewable Hydrogen is still very expensive compared to Hydrogen derived from fossil fuel such as coal and gas even though cost of renewable energy has reduced substantially in recent past. By injecting valuable renewable Hydrogen into existing pipeline carrying natural gas one will generate additional issues because of varying physical and chemical properties of Hydrogen and its flammability and explosive nature compared to natural gas. Hydrogen is an unstable atom and readily forms a bond with Oxygen and Carbon and that is why Nature does not produce free Hydrogen. It requires a Carbon backbone. Only an emission free power generation technology can solve the problem of global warming. It is only possible by recycling Carbon (Carbon recycling technology) with the help of renewable Hydrogen and to achieve a circular economy. There is no shortcut.